Join Us: A New Tool for Understanding Belonging in Your Community

What does it take for people to feel that they truly belong in their communities? The Center for Inclusion & Belonging (CIB) at the American Immigration Council recently released its 2026 Belonging Barometer, offering new research on how Americans experience belonging, along with a free tool organizations can use to better understand their communities.

The research found that 61% of Americans do not report a strong sense of belonging, while only 24% believe they can influence decisions that affect their communities. For health nonprofits and other community-serving organizations, the tool offers an opportunity to explore questions around community engagement, trust, connection, and inclusion and how these factors may inform programs and partnerships.

On September 29 at 3 p.m. ET, CIB will host “Using the Belonging Barometer to Strengthen Communities,” featuring researchers and practitioners discussing how organizations are putting the research into practice.

We see so many potential applications for the Belonging Barometer with the many nonprofits, community and service organizations, companies, and partners we work with. The mission to advance belonging in our communities, is one we all share. If you see an opportunity to use the tool in your work, we’d love to hear about it! Or let us know if you’d like an introduction to CIB.