The IRCT is a university-based effort that helps community residents and leaders in the public and private sectors frame workable policies that will bolster the political, economic, and social participation of marginalized communities within the larger metropolitan community. The IRCT's vision is inclusive. Not only does it encompass concerns for the poor, but leaders of the Initiative also believe that in order for metropolitan regions to support sustainable and livable communities, all sectors of civil society must be involved and see a shared interest.

As a learning initiative, the IRCT helps communities and community-based organizations understand and articulate their understanding of the links between the fortunes of poor places they are seeking to rebuild, the regional community, and intermediaries that might help them develop new and innovative public policies.

This is both a challenge and a path for major changes in the way we envision community development, economic development, workforce development, the environment, and sustainability. It is not easy to achieve a working relationship and exchange among all these perspectives. The process of articulating a new paradigm of urban and metropolitan development entails helping leaders in civil society understand places where social justice, economic development, and efforts to be good stewards of the environment can help produce greater inclusion and development of communities now marginalized.