Models of community empowerment help us understand the process of gaining influence
over conditions that matter to people who share neighborhoods, workplaces, experiences,
or concerns. Such frameworks can help improve collaborative partnerships for community
health and development. First, we outline an interactive model of community empowerment
that describes reciprocal influences between personal or group factors and environmental
factors in an empowerment process. Second, we describe an iterative framework for
the process of empowerment in community partnerships that includes collaborative planning,
community action, community change, capacity building, and outcomes, and adaptation,
renewal, and institutionalization. Third, we outline activities that are used by community
leadership and support organizations to facilitate the process of community empowerment.
Fourth, we present case stories of collaborative partnerships for prevention of substance
abuse among adolescents to illustrate selected enabling activities. We conclude with
a discussion of the challenges and opportunities of facilitating empowerment with
collaborative partnerships for community health and development.