2022 - 2023 Impact Report

20222023 July 1, 2022 June, 30 2023

IMPACT REPORT Presented September 20, 2023 to The Office of the Provost, University of Denver

About Us CCESL connects students, faculty, staff, and community partners through programming to promote far-reaching and sustainable outcomes for the public good.

Who we are 1

OUR VISION A university collaborating with communities to improve lives.

OUR MISSION

2

To activate university and community potential through partnership.

OUR VALUES

3

Collaboration for the public good characterized by mutual benefit, fierce optimism, tenacity, rigor, democratic participation, equity, and inclusion.

MEET THE CCESL TEAM

Cara DiEnno

Anna Antoniou

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

John Macikas

Maddie Duven

Angelica Ortiz

STUDENT PROGRAMS MANAGER

BUSINESS PROGRAM MANAGER

OUTREACH & COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR

CONTENTS BRIDGING LEARNING & DOING Community-Engaged Teaching 101 ..........................................

Faculty Community of Practice .................................................

Eats & Engagement: A Faculty Learning Series ....................

Community-Engaged Teaching Funding .................................

Community Engagement Luminaries ........................................

6-7 8 9 10-11 12

INVEST IN DISCOVERY Public Good Fund Grants ...........................................................

14-15

CONNECTING CHANGEMAKERS CCESL Scholar Shop .....................................................................

17

Service Opportunities ..................................................................

18

News & Social Media Presence .................................................

19

GALVANIZING TOMORROW'S CIVIC LEADERS Puksta Scholars ..............................................................................

21 - 22

DU Service & Change ....................................................................

23

CCESL Courses ................................................................................

24

Voter Registration ..........................................................................

25

Community Engagement Trainings (multi-modal) ................

26

Graduate Community of Practice ...............................................

27

AMPLIFYING UNIVERSITY & COMMUNITY VOICES Public Good Celebration .............................................................

29

Co-Sponsored Events and Consultations ...............................

30

Recognizing Community-Engaged Students ..........................

31

TACKLING GRAND CHALLENGES Collective Impact Cohorts ...........................................................

33

DU Grand Challenges Forums/Spark Sessions .....................

34

Community-Engaged Fellows .....................................................

35

DU Grand Challenges Student Scholars ..................................

36

A Community Table ........................................................................

37

Advancing Community-Engaged (ACE) Student Scholars Grants... 38-39

BRIDGING LEARNING & DOING We work with faculty to transform teaching and curriculum while championing hands-on learning in collaboration with community partners.

This approach gives students practical experiences in tackling some of today’s critical challenges as they learn key collaboration skills.

COMMUNITY-ENGAGED TEACHING 101 The Community-Engaged Teaching 101 program supports instructors who are new to communityengaged teaching. The training is geared towards appointed faculty but staff, adjunct and graduate student instructors are also able to participate. This year, we offered the hybrid two-day training twice, once during the winter interim and once in June.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Increase participants’

Enhance participants’ self-reported

knowledge about

understanding of the definition of community-engaged

community-engaged

learning

learning key concepts,

confidence in their ability to implement community-

including different

engaged learning classes

approaches,

confidence in their ability to assess the impact of

characteristics, and

community-engaged learning classes

assessment tools

impact of community-engaged learning on their professional development.

It was eye-opening to learn about different community-engaged work project that instructors do around DU (e.g. the prison initiative), the impact that it has on both the students and community members. I've learned that I don't need to start with a full-scale community-engaged learning project (aka direct) but could introduce small parts of it gradually to build my confidence.

- CET 101 Participant

I am taking away different strategies for creating a community-engaged learning environment. When I started this workshop, I was unsure if I could incorporate community-engaged learning into my classroom, since the class I teach is large, a required course, and a healthfocused policy-driven course.

However, I can now see ways to make the course more community-engaged, hopefully leading to more community engagement in the future.

- CET 101 Participant

AT A GLANCE 30

21 Schools, Departments, Institutes,

Participants joined from across DU

and Programs Represented

including faculty members, post doctorate fellows, and graduate students

19 Appointed faculty who were teaching a communityengaged course partcipated

FACULTY COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE 13 Faculty and staff

The faculty Community of Practice creates a small cohort of crosscampus faculty who are experienced community-engaged teachers to engage in communal reflection, collective problem-solving, and knowledge sharing as the group discussed where their communityengaged teaching has been and where they would like it to go. This was our third year offering the faculty Community of Practice.

participated in this year's faculty Community of Practice

I deeply appreciate the work and labor the folks at CCESL have put into creating such a great space for activist/scholar discussions!

- Faculty Participant

9 Departments were represented in this year's faculty Community of Practice

The faculty support, informal conversation, troubleshooting, sharing of ideas...this is a space I really needed and a space I do not have within my department. It really allowed me to be vulnerable and re-engage with my creative energy---very much needed to be able to do good work.

- Faculty Participant

EATS & ENGAGEMENT: A FACULTY LEARNING SERIES Eats & Engagement is a series of conversational-style meetups for faculty members to gather to exchange feedback, advice, and ideas on communityengaged teaching topics over lunch. This year marked the second edition of this faculty learning series.

While faculty enthusiasm remains high, this year we observed a shift in faculty interests and needs. Formal, in-person events like the Eats & Engagement sessions saw lower attendance than in previous years. To address this, we plan to adapt our approach for the upcoming academic year to better meet the needs of faculty members.

6 Faculty Featured at the Eats & Engagement Sessions

2022-2023 Sessions: Drugs Treatment Courts, Due Process, and Jail Sanctions Michaeil Sousa, Sturm College of Law Creating Synergies: How can community-engaged faculty members cooperate to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects?

Alejandro Cerón, Anthropology; Erin Willer, Communication Studies; Aleysia

2

Whitmore, Lamont School of Music; Julianne Mitchell, Graduate School of

Eats & Engagement

Social Work; Marquisha Scott, Graduate School of Social Work

sessions were held throughout the academic year

COMMUNITY-ENGAGED TEACHING GRANTS Community-Engaged Teaching Funds support instructors in

10

developing and promoting their community-engaged teaching.

DEPARTMENTS

These funds support:

REPRESENTED

Community-engaged class projects Development of community-engaged courses Institutional capacity building (e.g., bringing together instructors who teach similar courses to develop collaborative ideas for

32

community-engaged activities)

COMMUNI TY

Community-Engaged Student Assistants

PARTNERS

Professional development (e.g., scholarship of teaching and learning for community-engaged teaching)

After participating in voter registration and education, nearly everyone in the class said that they will commit to being more actively engaged in democracy, including at minimum paying much more attention to elections and political news.

- Dr. Alena Wolflink, Community-Engaged Teaching Grantee for her fall 2022 course, Radical Democracy

Congratulations to 2022-2023 Grantees: Dr. Ana Babic Rosario, Marketing - Marketing Research

Dr. Kelly Krumrie, English & Literary Arts - ENGL 3982:

Colleen Cummings, Graduate School of Social Work - Building

Writers in the Schools

Regenerative Futures

Dr. Logan Middleton, University Writing Program - WRIT

Dr. Jenalee Doom, Psychology - SHARE (Students Helping

1122: Rhetorics and Literacies of Mutual Aid

Advocate for Research and Equity) Youth Advisory Board

Dr. Lina M. Reznicek-Parrado, Spanish Langauge, Literary, &

Dr. Annie Zean Dunbar, Graduate School of Social Work -

Cultural Studies - Internship in Spanish

Community and Organizational Change: Theory for Practice

Dr. Julia Roncoroni, Counseling Psychology - Immigration

Dr. Sarah Hart Micke, University Writing Program - WRIT 1622

Enforcement, Human Rights, and Social Justice

Advanced Rhetoric and Writing

Dr. Basil Vendryes, Lamont School of Music - 2023 Bogota

Dr. Veronica House, University Writing Program - WRIT 1133 Food Matters Dr. Barbekka Hurtt, Biological Sciences - STEM Mentoring Internship

Residency Dr. Alena Wolflink, Political Science - PLSC 2704 Radical Democracy

With the support of the CommunityEngaged Teaching funds, I had the opportunity to invite guest speakers and community members to engage and support my students throughout the quarter. Specifically, I invited Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), women and femmes of color to share their/our expertise and theories of change that broaden the canon of social change theories and actors... I had the opportunity to welcome perspectives and people into the classroom in a way that enabled an equitable exchange of ideas and resources. My students remarked in their evaluations that the guests helped them contextualize the course in tangible ways.

- Community-Engaged Teaching Fund Recipient

AT A GLANCE $16,737

13

Amount of Newly Awarded

Newly Awarded Community-

Community-Engaged Teaching Funds

Engaged Teaching Awards

Community Engagement Luminaries Luminaries are a vibrant network of faculty and community leaders who have expertise in campus-community partnerships and provide consultations to DU faculty, staff, and students as well as share their knowledge through events and other opportunities.

In addition to the opportunity to consult with CCESL staff, the Community Engagement Luminaries program supports faculty using community-engaged methods with expert consultations from experienced community-engaged faculty and community collaborators.

Who are luminaries?

6

FACULTY LUMI NARI ES Alejandro Cerón Associate Professor Department of Anthropology Julia Roncoroni Assistant Professor Counseling Psychology, Morgridge College of Education John Tiedemann Teaching Associate Professor, University Writing Program Barbekka (Barb) Hurtt Teaching Associate Professor, Biological Sciences Paula Cole Teaching Professor Economics Veronica House Teaching Assistant Professor, University Writing Program

Luminaries played a key role in supporting the Eats & Engagement series, the Graduate Community of Practice, the Faculty Community of Practice, mentoring, and the annual Community-Engaged Teaching 101 workshop.

3

COMMUNI TY PARTNER LUMI NARI ES Kasey Neiss Data Activist Frontline Farming and Project Protect Food System Workers Bryan Rojas-Aruaz Scholar-Activist & Mental Health Provider, Reaching HOPE Ozy Aloziem Social Worker & Racial Equity Advocate

luminary impact

INVESTING IN DISCOVERY We advance scholarship and creative work that is rooted in mutually beneficial relationships with community partners. Our investment in faculty, staff, and students who work alongside community partners leads to outcomes and impact that are farreaching and sustainable.

PUBLIC GOOD FUND GRANTS 5 4 12 8

PUBLIC GOOD

CCESL oversees an annual fund to promote faculty community-engaged

GRANTS

research and creative work. This fund supports: Public Good Grants: for projects that will result in measurable public

BRIDGE GRANTS

impact through community-engaged research or creative work that is conducted in the context of mutually-beneficial and reciprocal community partnership.

GRANT

BRIDGE Grants: for well-established community-engaged projects

RECIPIENTS

where bridge funding is needed to sustain an ongoing project as COLLEGES AND

faculty pursue external funding for long-term sustainability.

DEPARTMENTS REPRESENTED

2022-2023 Grantees: Public Good Grants:

BRIDGE Grants:

Orange Shirt Day Denver Project – A Needs-Assessment for Denver Urban American Indian Survivors and Descendants of Indian Boarding Schools | Dr. Ramona Beltrán, Graduate School of Social Work & Dr. Kelly Fayard, Anthropology

Snapshots of Confinement | Dr. Esteban Gómez & Dr. Bonnie Clark, Anthropology

Broadening the Impact of the Philadelphia Obituary Project | Dr. Reginald Byron, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Digital Media Literacy for High Schoolers: Designing and Evaluating a Week-long Intervention | Dr. David Coppini & Dr. Kareem El Damanhoury, Media, Film, and Journalism Studies.

Black Catholic Liturgical Renewal | Dr. Roger Holland, Lamont School of Music Promoting Positive Schooling Experiences in Denver Public Schools | Dr. Kamilah Legette, Psychology

The Rural Innovative School Leadership Networked Improvement Community: Learning from Each Other Across Rural Communities | Dr. Kristina Hesbol, Morgridge College of Education Northern Ghana Agroecology Project | Dr. Hanson NyantakyiFrimpong, Geography & the Environment Achieving Excellence Academy: A partnership between the Denver Public Schools and the University of Denver | Dr. María del Carmen Salazar, Morgridge College of Education

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT USI NG PHOTOVOI CE TO UNDERSTAND COMMUNI TY RESI LI ENCE UNDER ANTI CI PATED CLI MATE CHANGE I MPACTS

Dr. Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong, Department of Geography & the Environment

Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpon used a Public Good Grant to initiate a community-based, participatory research project in 2018 to build resilience to looming climate threats and improve food and water security in Ghana. The project ended in December 2022 and was run in collaboration with two community partners, Northern Ghana Agroecology Group and Global Tree Partnership. The project involved participatory scenario planning workshops with over 400 people from 10 communities in discussing future climate scenarios and potential land use activities for adaptation and mitigation. A survey conducted in December 2022 showed that over the four-year project period, participating farmers saw significant improvements in food security, agricultural water management, and climate change resilience. Farmers who benefited from the project also expressed a desire that the discoveries made be expanded to address similar challenges throughout Ghana and the world.

CONNECTING CHANGEMAKERS We serve as connectors and facilitators because we maintain an unrelenting belief in the power of partnerships. By supporting relationships between the campus and community that are forged from mutual trust, respect, and commitment, projects focus on strengths and assets, build power, and rely upon a sharing of resources for mutual benefit.

SCHOLAR SHOP CCESL's Scholar Shop connects DU students, faculty, and staff with community organizations to develop collaborations that advance discovery and meet community-identified needs.

Projects include student-led and faculty-supervised thesis projects, student collaborative projects, community-engaged learning projects linked to credit-bearing courses, and facultyled scholarship projects.

Through the Scholar Shop...MS Marketing students partnered with A Little Help to improve their retention of volunteers... This insight helps A Little Help redirect limited funding to initiatives more targeted to maintain engagement.

- Faculty member matched with a Scholar Shop partner

International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Global Engagement Living & Learning Community The Global Engagement Living & Learning Community connected with the International Rescue Committee to create a signature experience for their students and a longstanding partnership.

Mi Casa Resource Center & Colorado Family

EXAMPLE PARTNERSHIPS FROM THIS YEAR

and Medical Leave Insurance Program (FAMLI)

13 Community Partners and their projects listed in the database

A faculty member connected with Mi Casa to create a partnership around studying the impact of the new FAMLI program in CO.

SCHOLAR SHOP COMMUNITY PARTNERS A Little Help Girl Scouts of Colorado Girl's Inc of Metro Denver International Rescue Committee Metro Caring

Mi Casa Resource Center Mirror Image Arts Parents of Adults with Disabilities in Colorado Realm of Caring Soccer Without Borders Metro Denver Nature Alliance Valverde Movement Project

21 Collaborative connections made through Scholar Shop

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES CCESL tracks student participation in community service opportunities to help capture DU’s contributions to the public good.

All of our internship organization partnerships were successful and provided meaningful opportunities for our students to learn.

- Individual from Graduate School of Social Work

We are very proud of our global partnerships and the work our GMH interns do. We also have success for local refugee resettlement centers and community mental health centers.

- Individual from MA International Disaster Psychology Program

8,157

1,020,013 hrs

Approximate Number of DU Students Engaged

Approximate Total Hours of Service

in Community Service in the academic year

Engaged in by DU Students

NEWS & SOCIAL MEDIA

CCESL connects with both campus and community stakeholders through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Additionally, we highlight campus and community accomplishments in our Public Good

71

CROSS-PROMOTI ONS

22

POSTS/STORI ES SHARED

HI GHLI GHTI NG WORK OF DU

Impact newsletter and work with local and

DEPARTMENTS & CENTERS

institutional outlets to share stories.

This year, CCESL worked more closely with

HI GHLI GHTI NG COMMUNI TY-

other DU departments and centers to cross-

ENGAGED WORK

promote opportunities, thereby increasing awareness for both their programs and CCESL programs.

FEATURED PUBLIC GOOD IMPACT BLOG POSTS

USING PHOTOVOICE TO UNDERSTAND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE UNDER ANTICIPATED CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS

WRITERS IN THE SCHOOLS

PUKSTA SCHOLAR HIGHLIGHTS THE EFFECTS OF GENTRIFICATION AT HOME

GALVANIZING TOMORROW'S CIVIC LEADERS We recognize that higher education’s civic mission is key to building 21st century careers and communities. Working with communities allows students to develop knowledge, skills, and civic identity through collaboration. Students become agents of collaborative change as they come to believe in their own power to act in concert with others.

The University of Denver Puksta Scholars Program is a fouryear civic development program in which Scholars engage in public work internships and projects that center antioppression analysis and action.

PUKSTA SCHOLARS

Scholars are supported to integrate their academics, personal and career interests, skills, and passions to advance their civic identity development and pursuit of social justice with communities. This is accomplished using the community organizing model and includes curricular and co-curricular personal and civic development training, personal and group critical reflection, and mentoring.

PUKSTA HIGHLIGHTS

A Puksta Scholar interned with Girls Inc. of Metro Denver to provide youth with advocacy curriculum and the tools to create change.

A Puksta Scholar explored the creation of safe and informed environments for LGBTQIA+ youth. This included discovering how to make mental and physical health resources more accessible.

This program has inspired me to go out

Being a part of Puksta has allowed me to

into the work and execute meaningful

build a sense of community and be part of

work and change utilizing my skills and

such a wonderful space. It has been a

interests.

blessing to a part of this family.

- Puksta Scholar

- Puksta Scholar

Puksta has given me the opportunity to explore my passions outside of my scientific background. It allows me to help and understand the purpose and meaning of being a civic-engaging person. I also get to see my fellow scholars excel in their own.

- Puksta Scholar

AT A GLANCE 14

830

Number of Scholars in the DU

Total Hours Dedicated Towards

Puksta Program

Support & Professional Development

2,280 Hours Spent in Community

DU SERVICE & CHANGE DU Service & Change (DUSC) is a student organization that engages the DU community in diverse service opportunities that facilitate positive change for the greater public good.

DUSC serves as an entry point for DU community members interested in deepening their community engagement efforts. DUSC supports the development of mutually beneficial partnerships between DU and the larger community.

Students engaged in meal service at Denver Rescue Mission 8 times over the course of the academic year with one outing serving 560 meals.

Students wrote letters of gratitude to custodial staff at the University of Denver

Students wrote letters and made care packages for students in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at the Asian Pacific Development Center after the 2023 Lunar New Year shooting.

CCESL COURSE SEQUENCE CCESL’s course series equips students with the skills, knowledge, and commitments necessary to collaborate with communities for the public good. Through these courses, students of diverse backgrounds, politics, and values learn together and from one another in a safe and

Denver Urban Issues and Policy In the course, students learn how Denver's past has impacted the critical issues Denver now faces today.

Students are then introduced to local efforts and resources addressing those issues. This course creates a space for students to explore social change actions that can be taken based on their interests and personal strengths.

challenging learning environment.

This year, CCESL offered four two-credit courses: an honors seminar on communityengaged methods, and the three courses in the

Community Organizing In this course, students first learn how to critically examine power, privilege, oppression, and white supremacy in the

Spectator-to-Citizen course sequence. This was

context of working for social change.

the first year CCESL offered an honors seminar.

Students then learn about the history of community organizing in the United States, the role of community organizing in contemporary social movements, and

Honors Seminar

the components of the community

Students learned about community-

organizing process.

engaged methods in collaboration with community partners. Students partnered with an organization through CCESL’s Scholar Shop to apply communityengaged methods of research and/or creative work to address a project identified by the partner. By the end of the course, students contributed to the public good through the completion of a project meaningful to a community partner.

Public Good Theory to Action In this course, students integrate personal, professional, and academic goals with a focus on social change, culminating in a personal action plan they implement to address a social justice issue of their choosing. Students gain a clear sense of their identity as a public good scholar, learn to apply an anti-oppression analysis, and center the knowledge/voices of the communities most impacted.

Community organizing is one of those classes that makes you a better person…and there aren’t many classes that feel that way. I had a great experience in this class and would suggest that anyone that is interested in contributing to a better collective future take it too.

- Student in Community Organizing Class, Winter 2023

32 DU Students in the Program

VOTER REGISTRATION CCESL continued a decade-long partnership with a nonpartisan community organization, New Era Colorado (NEC), to support members of the DU community in registering to vote. New Era offered robust opportunities to register DU community members, such as tabling on campus and programming for National Voter Registration Day

13 105

I N PERSON VI SI TS HELD

BY PARTNERS AND SUPPORTED BY CCESL

DU STUDENTS WHO REGI STERED TO VOTE FROM DI RECT SUPPORT OF NEC

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TRAININGS During the 2022-2023 AY, CCESL provided numerous community-engaged trainings for students in various modalities, including online modules, in person trainings with guest speakers, and orientation.

All trainings were grounded in principles of community-engaged scholarship and teaching as well as in a community organizing framework.

67 21 92

DU UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT PARTI CI PANTS

DU GRADUATE STUDENT PARTI CI PANTS ESTI MATED TOTAL STUDENT ATTENDANCE AT CCESL-WI DE TRAI NI NGS

IN-PERSON COMMUNITY-ENGAGED TRAININGS FEATURING GUEST SPEAKERS CCESL had five in-person trainings for the 2022-2023 AY. These trainings were facilitated by local community organizers in the Denver Metro area and DU faculty and were open to all students on campus. They were designed to engage community organizing principles and practices that students could then apply to their community-engaged work. The trainings were: Building Relationships – by organizer Jacob Smith Identifying Issues – by organizer Molly O’Connor Root Cause Analysis – by organizer Roshan Bliss Anti-oppression Analysis – by organizer Roshan Bliss Telling Your Story – by organizer Roshan Bliss Interprofessional Education – by DU faculty members Julianne Mitchell, Kim Gorgens, and Lynett Henderson Metzger

GRADUATE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

This year, we launched a new Graduate Student Community of Practice. brought together a small cohort of cross-campus graduate students who are incorporating community-engaged methods into their scholarly work.

7

They met 2x per quarter to do some communal reflection, collective problemsolving, and knowledge-sharing on the unique challenges and opportunities of doing community engagement work as a graduate student.

Graduate students participated in the first Graduate Community of Practice.

Engaging in community practices with fellow graduate students allowed me to reflect on my own identity, privileges, and roles. It was in these discussions that we shared the struggles and difficulties we faced in disseminating research results. These conversations pushed the boundaries of my thinking, making me consider not only the academic journals I would choose to publish my work in but also the ethical considerations of bringing community voices into the dissemination process. The challenges ahead seemed daunting, but I realized that incorporating community voices is not just a matter of improving research practices; it is a matter of social justice.

-Graduate Student Participant

6 Departments were represented in this year's Graduate Community of Practice.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be included in this group. It was amazing to hear about the work everyone else was doing and definitely cemented my belief that community-engaged scholarship is vital to social justice initiatives both inside and outside academia.

-Graduate Student Participant

AMPLIFYING UNIVERSITY & COMMUNITY VOICES We pull on diverse traditions and fields to create a distinctively DU approach to university-community collaboration that bridges community organizing, collective impact, community-engaged scholarship, and anchor mission work. This broad approach puts students, staff, faculty, and community members in dialogue and relationship, and leads to financial, resource, and collaborative strength.

PUBLIC GOOD CELEBRATION In collaboration with the Office for Public Good Strategy and Research, CCESL hosted the first annual Public Good Celebration to recognize university and community partners whose collaborative work advances the public good. This event also highlighted the university’s recent Carnegie Foundation’s Elective Classification for Community Engagement application and the people whose public good work made the reclassification possible.

AT130 A GLANCE

ATTENDEES I NCLUDI NG STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF FROM ACROSS DU AND COMMUNI TY PARTNERS

COMMUNITY COMMONS

THE PUBLIC GOOD SUITE

COMMUNITY COMMONS ROOFTOP

ART GALLERY Displayed the photos and written

Displayed posters highlighting

Showcased posters with projects, people,

statements submitted for the

student work advancing the

and initiatives that contributed to the

Public Good Photo Showcase.

Public Good at DU and beyond,

public good work being done at DU.

CO-SPONSORED EVENTS AND CONSULTATIONS

CCESL was responsive to ongoing requests for consultation on a range of topics, from communityengaged learning implementation and communityengaged research to volunteer development and community partnership building. Further, we supported and co-sponsored a variety of events, as described below.

#WOMENLIFEFREEDOM:

DU UNDERGRADUATE

YOUTH ORGANIZING

IRAN TODAY EXHIBIT

SHOWCASE FOR RESEARCH,

SHOWCASE

CCESL supported a digital art

SCHOLARSHIP, & CREATIVE WORKS

CE Fellows Daniela Chavez and

revolutionary human rights

CCESL participated in the annual DU

movement, Women LIfe Freedom.

undergraduate DUGC Student

Undergraduate Showcase, which

The exhibition, curated by

Scholars Will Sciepko, partnered with

recognizes the research, scholarship,

Community-Engaged Fellow Mona

Dr. Martin Luther King Early College to

and creative work achievements of

Moayedi, Professor Laleh Mehran

support youth organizing. Through the

undergraduate students across

(Emergent Digital Practices) and

Youth Organizing process and

departments. Once more, CCESL was a

Assistant Professor Dr. Poupeh

curriculum, high school students

sponsor of the showcase and

Missaghi (Department of English and

enrolled in the class, Socially Just

collaborated in the planning process

Literary Arts), showcased protest

Education, learned about and worked

alongside the Undergraduate Research

artworks contributed by artists of both

through work through the principles

Center and the University Honors

Iranian and non-Iranian origins

and practices of community

program.

organizing to address a community

exhibition titled in honor of the

spanning the globe, alongside pieces created by students of the University

Brandon Arneson, along with

issue through a public project.

of Denver's Emergent Digital Practices course.

Other 2022-2023 Co-Sponsorships Collaborations with the Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of (in)Equality Earth Week of DU-ing Collaboration with the Center for Sustainability

RECOGNIZING COMMUNITYENGAGED STUDENTS CRIMSON & GOLD AWARDS

PUBLIC GOOD PHOTO SHOWCASE WINNERS The Public Good Photo Showcase highlights

CCESL honors the outstanding community-engaged work of students during the annual Crimson & Gold Awards Ceremony. This year's graduate and undergraduate awardees are:

student and faculty photos and stories that illustrate the impact of their communityengaged work in their experience at DU. Prizes

PUBLIC GOOD STUDENT OF THE YEAR

are awarded for submissions that embody the

Graduate Students: Jenna Wyatt, Environmental Policy & Management Jackie Tran, Social Work

spirit of CCESL's pathways to the public good,

Undergraduate Student: Eli Zehe, Geography, Political Sciences, and Geographic Information Sciences COMMUNITY ORGANIZER OF THE YEAR Graduate Student: Mona Moayedi, DU/Iliff Joint Program in Religion Undergraduate Student: Will Sciepko International Studies & Public Policy SERVICE STUDENT OF THE YEAR Graduate Student: Ashton Mach, Viola & Music Theory Undergraduate Student: Seraphina Loukas, Molecular Biology

KIMMY FOUNDATION COMMUNITY SERVICE PROFESSIONAL AWARD Annually, the Kimmy Foundation Community Service Professional Award recipients are chosen from seniors graduating in the spring from DU's traditional undergraduate program based on: Past contributions to community service as a DU student Future contributions to society via community service or engagement following graduation

KIMMY RECIPIENTS OF THE YEAR:

Brandon Arneson, Media, Film & Journalism Studies and Social Work Emma Finch, Psychology

Think. Connect. Act. Reflect.

STUDENT WINNERS

Jay Keodonexay, Psychology and Gender & Women's Studies Sunjoi Gandhi, Computer Science & Socio-legal Studies Samantha Rodriguez, Sociology

FACULTY/STAFF WINNER

Matthew Taylor, Geography & the Environment

TACKLING GRAND CHALLENGES We are fiercely optimistic that universities and communities can tackle some of the most urgent and persistent problems when we work together. DU Grand Challenges was born of the belief that DU can work with the community to identify shared aspirations toward collaborative actions for the public good.

COLLECTIVE IMPACT COHORTS

Since 2019, DU Grand Challenges has launched 6 Collective Impact Cohorts. Cohort are comprised of community members, faculty, staff, and students who participate in a structured, facilitated collective impact process to design initiatives and implement projects to spark systemic change. Many of the projects initiated through the cohorts have catalyzed ongoing

29 41 73

initiatives STUDENT PARTI CI PANTS

that

continue

to

collaboratively

address

Grand

Challenges in the Denver region.

PROJECTS LAUNCHED

BY COHORTS

FACULTY/STAFF PARTI CI PANTS

COMMUNI TY PARTNER PARTI CI PANTS

Urban Sustainability Cohort

FOCUS AREAS

Campus-City Partnerships: Valverde Movement Project Teaching Care in the Climate Crisis: Partnering with Denver Public Schools

Migration Cohort Crime & Safety

Migration

Food & Housing Insecurity

Creation of the Business Development Certificate through University College and DU’s Center for Professional Development

Housing & Food Insecurity Cohort The Colorado Safe Parking Initiative Education Equity & Justice

Mental Health & Wellness Collaborative

Sustainability in an Urban Environment

SNAP Gap @ DU

DU GRAND CHALLENGES FORUMS/SPARK SESSIONS As part of DU Grand Challenges (DUGC), CCESL continued to host Forums, later renamed to Spark Sessions, in AY 2022-2023.

DUGC Forums/Spark Sessions highlight topics related to the interconnected issues of: Improving Daily Living Increasing Economic Opportunity Advancing Deliberation and Action for the Public Good

They bring together campus and community experts share bold and provocative ideas that spark discussion among attendees on how the topic impacts our communities, providing fuel and inspiration for bold actions that help our communities thrive.

This year, we hosted two centering on Education Equity and Eco Justice

COMMUNITYENGAGED FELLOWS

Community-Engaged Fellows advocate for community engagement and pursue community-engaged work. During the academic year, Fellows serve as ambassadors for CCESL, mentor undergraduate students, learn and reflect with their peers, and develop and

18 10 16

implement a community-engaged project. Through these communityengaged projects, Fellows connect their academic and professional

FELLOWS

endeavors to supporting thriving communities.

DEPARTMENTS REPRESENTED

I have grown from my Community-Engaged Fellow experience through developing both action-oriented and reflection-oriented responses to social change. I have

COMMUNI TY PARTNERS

traditionally been inclined to primarily emphasize action, but have learned this year that reflection and valuebuilding can be equally impactful.

- Brandon Arneson, Youth Organizing with Dr. Martin Luther King Early College

2022-2023 Community-Engaged Fellows: Mitra Aflatooni, Environmental Policy and Management Sandcreek Regional Greenway Equitable Engagement

Sho McClarence, DU/Iliff Joint Program in Religion - Supporting Queer Artists and Trans People

Brandon Arneson, Media, Film, & Journalism Studies and Graduate School of Social Work - Youth Organizing with Dr. Martin Luther King Early College

Mona Moayedi, DU/Iliff Joint Program in Religion - Revival of Roots and Heritage

Derek Brannon, Morgridge College of Education Curriculum and Instruction - Higher Education: Responding to Global Environmental Change​​

Kristen Park, Morgridge College of Education Counseling Psychology A Participatory Action Based Research Project: First-Generation College Students' Meaning Making of Remittances

Daniela Chavez, Psychology - Youth Organizing with Dr. Martin Luther King Early College

Shubham Sapkota, DU/Iliff Joint Program in Religion - Buddhist Teachings & Values as Pedagogical & Research Methods

Lusungu Chirambo, International Development - Empowering Girls through Education

Bennett Shapiro, Environmental Policy and Management Environmental Justice in Denver

Colleen Cummings, Graduate School of Social Work - Valverde Movement Project

Natcha Srimaneerungroj, Graduate School of Social Work - Stories of Researchers

Calvin Lee, Morgridge College of Education Counseling Psychology - Leveling Up for All: Celebrating Diversity in Online Gaming Mental Health Spaces

Jackie Tran, Graduate School of Social Work - What does it mean to belong?

Ashton Mach, Lamont School of Music - Participatory Action Research Project on Community Music Programs in Denver Leslie Macias, Graduate School of Social Work - Valverde Movement Project & Sand Creek Regional Greenway Equitable Engagement Project

Jenna Wyatt, Environmental Policy and Management - Metro Denver Nature Alliance Liaison & Valverde Movement Project Naichen Zhao, Morgridge College of Education Educational Leadership & Policy - K-12 Education Equity

Through the DU Grand Challenges (DUGC) Student Scholars Program, students integrate their learning across DU experiences and reflect on their public identities and potential to contribute to work on complex public problems. Faculty or CCESL staff mentor students in critical reflection and the intersection between students' future

DU GRAND CHALLENGES STUDENT SCHOLARS

aspirations, their DU education, and public good work.

This year taught me about the importance of action and change. I learned about the true impact of pushing pebbles instead of trying to move mountains and the impact asking questions, listening, empathizing, and brainstorming has on enacting meaningful and impactful change. I learned about myself as a leader as I deepened my own understanding of my communication and leadership style through problem solving and communicating with stakeholders, project participants, and peers.

- DUGC Student Scholar

53 28 23

TOTAL STUDENT SCHOLARS THI S YEAR

NUMBER OF COMMUNI TY PARTNERS I NVOLVED

NUMBER OF DI SCI PLI NES REPRESENTED

Engaging in community outreach has been an incredibly fulfilling and transformative journey. Through empathy, collaboration, and a steadfast commitment to social change, I have witnessed firsthand the tremendous impact that can be achieved when individuals come together to support and empower one another.

- DUGC Student Scholar

Using e-portfolios, students developed critical reflection skills while demonstrating how their DU experiences connect to their future aspirations as well as their public good identities.

A COMMUNITY TABLE Alongside these programs, we also offered the A Community Table toolkit, readily available on the DU Grand Challenges (DUGC) webpage. This toolkit facilitates structured meaningful, solution-oriented conversations about the issues that matter most.

To empower individuals in hosting and leading these conversations, DUGC provides essential tools such as sample invitations, conversation guides, and facilitation training webinars, among others. All materials, including tutorials for various web meeting platforms, are fully accessible on the DUGC website, catering to both Spanish and English speakers who wish to utilize them

Advancing Community-Engaged (ACE) Student Scholars Grant

ADVANCING COMMUNUTYENGAGED STUDENT SCHOLARS GRANT

support students in implementing community-engaged research or creative work designed to: Improve daily living Create economic opportunities in our local and/or global communities Facilitate deliberation and action for the public good ACE grantees are DU Grand Challenges Student Scholars. They work with a mentor to integrate their academic experiences, personal interests, and community-engaged work through critical reflection.

2022-2023 ACE Recipient Projects Addressing the Nature Gap for DEI Students Kate Courtney, Maite Monte Gonzalez, Alisha Pravasi, Logan Simson, & Zeyta Whitson-DeHerrera Are Place-Based Storytelling Tours an Effective Way to Combat the Effects of Redlining? Jenna Wyatt DU-Westminster STEM Mentoring Collaboration Seraphina Loukas Ecological-Minded Professional Development and Research in Denver Public Schools Derek Brannon Enhancing Equitable Community Listening Kristopher Tetzlaff Environmental Education for Urban Elementary Students Kabe Aberle, Jacon Hughes, Madeyln Kavalieros, Annabelle Kiely, Loklin Nord, Braden Rodgers Food Pantry Community Outreach Nicholas Greenspan Health Reach of Latin America Volunteer Trip Naya OgbonnaUkuku Imagining a climate just future: A participatory action research project Colleen Cummings Reported School Climate for Diversity and Feelings of Belonging for Latinx Students Emma Finch

37 22 23 19

GRANTEES

PROJECTS SUPPORTED

COMMUNI TY PARTNERS

DEPARTMENTS REPRESENTED

Rick's Sustainability Engagement Soffy Anderson & Melissa Kreppein Sand Creek Greenway Equitable Engagement Eli Zehe Sand Creek Regional Greenway Project Ella Williamson & Jenna Wyatt Sustainable Tourism Becomes Interactive Lilith Diringer The Power of Youth Artivism Maddie Heiken The Same Foot Project Soffy Anderson, Lauren Butler, Cade Palmer, & Sergio Sandoval The Valverde Movement Maria Roth & Jenna Wyatt Writers in the Schools Community Outreach Mario Da Silva Melo, Lydia McCann, & Hayley Sayre Youth Organizing Will Sciepko

I was craving community partnership....Yet, I was missing the heart of this work – the people, community partners, and connections needed to make change happen.

Partnership with Valverde Movement and the Sand Creek Regional Greenway Projects has allowed me to go ‘heart’ first into the Denver Metro Community.

Like DUGC Student Scholars, ACE grant recipients submitted an ePortfolio that documented their learning journey and project outcomes. Students reflected on what they did, how it contributed to their development as a scholar, and how they would apply what they learned moving forward. At their project’s conclusion, students shared their outcomes and findings with their community partner and/or the larger community.

In wider reflection, my experience with the Ace Student Scholars Grant and as a Student Scholar has led me to having a deeper appreciation of how to tackle large issues in a way that is sustainable not only for me, but for broader communities. I’ve learned that often when communities are involved in the decisions that impact them, they have invaluable insight that make the end solutions that much more effective.

- From Student’s ACE Grant ePortfolio

Engaging in community outreach has been an incredibly fulfilling and transformative journey. Through empathy, collaboration, and a steadfast commitment to social change, I have witnessed firsthand the tremendous impact that can be achieved when individuals come together to support and empower one another.

- From Student’s ACE Grant ePortfolio