The March 3 Community Engaged Scholarship Forum, titled “Community-Centered Futures,” included a full day of featured speakers and workshops, including keynote speaker Justin Heck, senior director of research and data production at Opportunity@Work, and the presentation of awards to students, faculty and staff who have significantly impacted their communities.
Winners of the annual awards are:
Tracy Soska and John Wilds Outreach and Engagement Leadership Award: Celeste Welsh, director of community engagement for Pitt Athletics, won for her dedication, inspirational leadership and ability to foster meaningful connections between Pitt Athletics and the local community.
CESF Collaboration Champion Award: Tina Ndoh, associate dean for public health practice and associate professor of environmental and occupational health in Pitt’s School of Public Health, was honored for her deep commitment to community partnerships and meaningful collaboration rooted in trust-building, healing and a sustained commitment to equity.
Partnerships of Distinction Awards: These awards recognize outstanding partnerships that are exemplars of community engagement. Honorees are:
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Bracuí Community Engagement Partnership: History, Memory and Justice. This is a long-term collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh and the Quilombo of Bracuí, a community of descendants of enslaved Africans located in Rio de Janeiro.
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Data Justice for Pittsburgh’s Black Neighborhoods: This community-driven initiative led by the Black Equity Coalition in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh, the City of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University's Create Lab, the Larimer Consensus Group, the UrbanKind Institute and independent health professionals. The initiative works to build decision-making power for Black Pittsburghers who have historically been excluded from conversations about how data is collected, used, governed and disseminated.
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Social Medicine Fellows Program: This is a yearlong experiential training program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine that prepares medical students to become leaders who bridge the gap between academic medical institutions and communities.
Read more at Pittwire.