Start From Strength Foundation
Strength exists in every community. Opportunity should, too.
Expanding access to strengths-centered education, recovery support, prevention, and human development so more people can build from what is already strong within them.
Explore a Community PartnershipWhy we exist
A person’s opportunity to grow should not depend entirely on the resources available to their school, recovery program, or community.
Start From Strength Foundation was created to help make that opportunity more accessible.
Our work begins with a different question. Rather than asking only what is wrong, what is missing, or what needs to stop, we also ask: What is already strong within this person, and how can that strength become a resource for what comes next?
The Foundation brings that starting point into charitable programming, education, community partnerships, and research.
What we are building
Greater access to developmental opportunities
We aim to reduce financial and practical barriers to educational experiences that support recovery, prevention, resilience, identity, and connection. Depending on community needs and available resources, Foundation-supported initiatives may include facilitated programming, participant materials, digital learning, and subsidized access.
Local people prepared to carry the work forward
A community needs more than access to a program. It needs people prepared to use it well.
Our priorities include education and training for peer-support specialists, educators, recovery and prevention professionals, community leaders, and others who help people navigate change. The goal is to build local capacity that continues beyond a single project or funding cycle.
Research that helps communities make better decisions
We plan to conduct and support research and evaluation, collaborate with educational institutions and researchers, and share findings that help strengthen practice.
That means examining outcomes, understanding participant experiences, identifying limitations, and using what we learn to improve the work.
Where the work can take root
The Foundation’s priorities span recovery and behavioral wellbeing, youth prevention and education, justice and reentry, workforce and leadership development, and community connection.
These settings are connected by the lives of the people moving through them. A young person becomes an adult. Someone in recovery returns to work. A person coming home from incarceration rebuilds relationships and finds a place to contribute.
Our aim is to support development that people can carry with them across those transitions.
We welcome conversations in Kentucky and Appalachia, as well as opportunities to learn and collaborate with communities nationally.
Built on the Trait-Based Model
The Foundation’s educational approach draws on the Trait-Based Model and the Start from Strength experience.
Trait-Based provides a framework for recognizing and developing capacities such as resilience, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, authenticity, and creativity. Start from Strength brings that framework into learning, reflection, relationships, and everyday practice.
The Foundation’s role is to advance this work for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes, with particular attention to people and communities facing barriers to access.
Governance and public benefit
Start From Strength Foundation Inc. is a Kentucky nonprofit corporation governed by a Board of Directors.
The Foundation is distinct from CTBT Group LLC, a separate commercial organization. Its governance provides for oversight and conflict-of-interest safeguards when considering relationships with related organizations.
The Foundation is pursuing federal recognition of tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3).
Bring the conversation to your community
We welcome schools, recovery organizations, community groups, public agencies, researchers, and philanthropic partners interested in expanding access to strengths-centered human development.
Start a conversation about the people you serve, the opportunities you see, and what a meaningful partnership could make possible.
Contact the FoundationPlease share organizational or project information only. Do not include private health or participant information.