The Daily Bulletin

Please join the Civic and Community Engagement Office for the webinar "Anchor Institutions, Coalitions, and Collective Impact Approaches: More Than the Sum of the Parts," presented by Alan Delmerico, Laura Hill Rao, and Talia Rodriguez from Buffalo State College; and Kevin Aman from Rich Products on Friday, November 12, at 1:30 p.m.

Broad and robust community partnerships are essential for the success of institutions of higher education in fulfilling the anchor mission. Collective impact approaches that leverage the position of anchor institutions as backbone organizations are a key strategy deserving of more attention and discussion. A backbone organization such as a higher education institution or corporate partner can provide essential infrastructure support including space, technology, procurement supports, professional development, management, and more. Higher education anchors and corporate anchors are naturally aligned to serving as central and coordinating bodies within coalition structures and other collaborative collective impact approaches. These anchors and their community-based peers bring the power to convene diverse community partners, technical and scientific expertise, experience in governance and strategic and action planning, and the stability to propel collaborative community-based projects. A case study of the West Side Promise Neighborhood coalition in Buffalo, New York will be exhibited, demonstrating the multi-anchor supports provided by Buffalo State College and Rich Products Corporation and their support of anchor mission-aligned coalition efforts and impacts. A discussion of challenges and future directions will also be included, including how these approaches might be integrated into the current quantification of anchor efforts and impacts within the metrics of the Anchor Learning Network.

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Immediately following this presentation is "Case Study: A University-Community Partnership in Health Equity," presented by Jamie Byrne-McCollum from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock.

The University of Arkansas-Little Rock and the American Cancer Society worked together to provide funding for raised garden beds in the University District area of Little Rock to help address food insecurity. Takeaways would include the value of a metropolitan university having a dedicated University District where it can focus time, resources, and talents; the value of faculty being involved with the University District as well as with community nonprofit organizations; and the fact that this work can occur in an environment where  participants are not in a face-to-face environment.

This hour-long event is presented by the CUMU Learning and Sharing Virtual Series and is free to members of the Buffalo State community. Please register online for this webinar and any others in the series you may be interested in.