Building Trust in Local Community Organizations: Where Do We Start, and How Can We Make a Difference?

Trust is the glue that binds organizations and communities together. Building trust in local community organizations has been identified as a viable strategy for the economic development of organizations, communities, and regions. In this article, we identify how Extension professionals can begin working with local boards (of any type) to promote the building of trust among members. We develop the board member accountability and expectations (BMAE) tool, which can be used to more clearly identify new board member expectations. More clearly identifying board member expectations is one of many steps that local boards should take to build trust among members.