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201 Achieving the Promise of Community–Higher Education Partnerships: Community Partners Get Organized Community Partner Summit Group “We are here because we are passionate about these partnerships, but they are not working.” —Ira SenGupta, Cross Cultural Health Care Program, Seattle, WA “We have identified what authentic partnerships are—what’s working and not working is our way of defining what is and isn’t authentic. We have come to some consensus about that.” —E. Yvonne Lewis, Faith Access to Community Economic Development, Flint, MI Partnerships between communities and higher educational institutions as a strategy for social change are gaining recognition and momentum. Despite being formed with the best of intentions, however, authentic partnerships are very difficult to achieve. Although academic partners have extensively documented their experiences and lessons learned, the voices of community partners are largely missing. We believe that if true partnerships are to be achieved, community partners must harness their own experiences, lessons learned, and collective wisdom into a national, organized effort to address this issue. Twenty-three experienced community partners from across the country convened for the Community Partner Summit held April 24–26, 2006, at the Wingspread Conference Center in Racine, WI. The Summit was sponsored by Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Johnson Foundation, and Atlantic Philanthropies and supported by the Community-Based Public Health Caucus of the American Public Health Association, the National Community-Based Organization Network, and the National Community Committee of the CDC Prevention Research Centers Program. The overall purpose of the Summit was to advance authentic community–higher education C O M M U N I T Y P A R T N E R S U M M I T G R O U P 202 partnerships by mobilizing a network of experienced community partners. The intended outcomes of the Summit were to: Develop and gain clarity on the current state of community–higher education partner- • ships Uncover community perspectives on the key insights and ingredients of effective, authen- • tic community–higher education partnerships Build the case for the importance of community–higher education partnerships • Develop a set of actionable recommendations for maximizing the potential of • community–higher education partnerships Develop ongoing mechanisms for increasing the number and effectiveness of commu- • nity–higher education partnerships and ensuring that communities are involved in dialogues and decisions about these partnerships This chapter summarizes the dialogue that occurred at the Summit, our review of the literature on community–higher education partnerships, and the collaborative work we have undertaken since the Summit. In articulating community partner perspectives on community–higher education partnerships, we hope this chapter serves to motivate readers to critically reflect on their partnerships and deepen them. We encourage readers to use this chapter as a tool to facilitate dialogue and action within and across partnerships. The Current Reality of Community–Higher Education Partnerships “Where is the respect for working in the community outside of this room? Outside of this room, there is an assumption that we’re doing this work because we couldn’t ‘do’ a PhD. But it’s a choice. It’s about what we value.” —E. Yvonne Lewis, Faith Access to Community Economic Development, Flint, MI “Many communities start doing community-based research with academics because the funding is there. But oftentimes, before any common ground is established through someone who can serve as a bridge or translator, the study moves forward and the community is left with a different understanding of what was supposed to happen.” —Vince Crisostomo, GUAM HIV/AIDS Network Project and Pacific Island Jurisdictions AIDS Action Group, Arlington, VA In order to understand the current reality of community–higher education partnerships, we began by reviewing and discussing the state of these kinds of partnerships on a national level and then assessing how they are being realized on a local level. We have summarized and categorized these into ten overarching observations from community partners about the current state of community–higher education partnerships: 1. There is a “community engagement buzz” in higher education and funding circles, including a plethora of policy statements and organizations working in this arena. A c h i e v i n g t h e P r o m i s e o f C o m m u n i t y – H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n P a r t n e r s h i p s 203 Higher educational...

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