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Community Engagement Program

Supporting bi-directional community engagement to improve the relevance, quality, and impact of research.

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Collaborative Catalyst

Connecting community partners and researchers is integral to producing more equitable research outcomes. To this end, Collaborative Catalyst is an initiative that focuses on creating or strengthening these connections through community-centered relationship building. Our goal is to foster relationships between community members and researchers who share common interests so that together research can be grounded in community priorities and trusting partnerships can arise that benefit both groups.

Flow chart showing the Collaborative Catalyst process. The first box is titled Community Generated Topic. This phase is when community partners suggest a pressing health topic and the Community Engagement program team invites community members and researchers interested in that topic. This leads to the second box, Kickoff Event. Community members and researchers engage in facilitated activities that foster shared ideation - creatively generating and sharing priorities within the chosen topic. This leads to the next box, Expanded Network. During this phase, the team continues to grow connections made at the kick-off events through coffee chats - events co-hosted by attendees. Quarterly newsletters keep everyone updated on current community events, research interests, and more. This leads to the last box, Strengthened Partnerships. During this phase, community members and researchers develop truly bidirectional partnerships. Examples include collaborative grant applications, sharing skills, and co-hosting events.

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Our current topics of focus are maternal health equity and youth mental health, as suggested by our Community Advisory Board.

If you would like to be added to our newsletter mailing list, submit an entry, or have questions about Collaborative Catalyst, please email Kamini Mallick at kmallick@hsph.harvard.edu.