CBI employs Coaches and an information development (ID) team to engage community members in hands-on experience and reflection that connects theory and knowledge to real-world situations. The CBI support team provides training and skill development but focuses more on community development. They do so in the context of the unique environmental, social, historical, and political realities of a community.

• Focusing on the goals of a particular neighborhood rather than on SJF organizational goals
  
• Pairing Coaches with a CBI neighborhood for the term of the initiative
  
• Providing training and technical assistance directly to a neighborhood through the Coach
  
• Tailoring support to each neighborhood based on its unique conditions: the physical place, existing capacities, needs, and interests of the people who live there
  
• Advancing an experiential model — a learn-by-doing approach — rather than simply presenting information on how to do something
  
• Focusing on action — not just knowledge transfer and skill development
  
• Recognizing that not all communities enter the Initiative with the same knowledge and experience — coaching begins with determining a community’s existing baseline capacities and builds from there
  
• Fully engaging community members in the learning process — success relying on neighbors who are receptive and committed to the work of CBI