About BCCA

Established in 2021 by Malin Burnham and Tad Seth Parzen, the Burnham Center for Community Advancement (BCCA) is dedicated to moving our cross-border region forward, recognizing that meaningful impact requires more than just good ideas—we are steadfast in our commitment to taking decisive action. We invite you to learn more about BCCA.

Our Mission

To help make the San Diego region a better place to live, work and play for all, the Burnham Center for Community Advancement:

  1. Engages and informs the public through quality civic dialogue and a dedicated Community Advisory function.

  2. Identifies opportunities to solve challenges and create a vibrant future.

  3. Collaborates, organizes and mobilizes to bring opportunities to life.

We build community around creating our collective future. Together.

Our Challenge

As a community, we have big aspirational ideas. We face exciting opportunities, and we wrestle with vexing, persistent challenges. Through collaboration, we can narrow our divisions, heal disaffection, accelerate progress and live into and up to our full potential as a region. BCCA will encourage and support our community to come together and act upon our shared needs, values, and aspirations.

Our Solution

We believe that through community engagement, vigorous dialogue, research, data and best practices, we can build a platform for our community leaders, businesses, educators, workers, researchers, faith-based organizations, nonprofits, residents and government to move us forward.

Our goal is to tap the power of community collaboration and civic innovation to foster a region that opens doors, provides opportunity, helps the people of our great region prosper and becomes a place we are all proud to call home.

Our Strategic Plan and Annual Reports

Our strategic plan provides a clear framework for driving meaningful impact in the San Diego region. It identifies key priorities and actionable goals to foster collaboration, innovation, and measurable progress.
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Explore our Strategic Plan Summary and 2023 Annual Report to learn more about our work and accomplishments.

Our Values

Transformation: We’ll strive for new solutions that will move our region in a new direction by finding novel ideas to address our most persistent problems.

Ideas to Action: We’re not just dreamers. We’re doers. One of the most important dimensions to this model is that ideas will become action.

Future Focused: Tomorrow’s San Diego begins today.

Diversity: An array of people and ideas are essential to move the region forward.

Collaboration: We believe collaboration can narrow our divisions, heal disaffection, and accelerate progress. Engagement, partnership, and cooperation allow us to achieve things we often can’t do on our own.

Our Model