Civic Engagement as a Catalyst for Community 

Change: 2021 Research Grantee Dialogue.

June 10, 2021

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Rising Up to the Challenge: 

Civic Engagement in the Time of COVID
Welcome

Tuesday, June 8, 2021 – Thursday, June 10, 2021

Civic Engagement as a Catalyst 

for Community Change: 

2021 Research Grantee 

Dialogue

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Mary Hyde, Ph.D.

Director, 

Office of Research and Evaluation
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Melissa Gouge, Ph.D.

Research Analyst

Office of Research and Evaluation/ 

AmeriCorps NCCC

Panel Moderator

Rising Up to the Challenge: Civic 

Engagement in the Time of COVID
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Rising Up to the Challenge: Civic 

Engagement in the Time of COVID

Dawn Jackman Murphy, MAT, MAHOS

Marie Fielder Fellow – PhD Candidate

Fielding Graduate University, School for Leadership 

Studies

Leading from the Roots: US Community-Based Folk 

Schools Inspiring Social Action

2018 Community Conversations Grantee

Fielding Graduate University /School for Leadership Studies

Kirsten Skoglund

Program Coordinator

Marine Mills Folk School
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Rising Up to the Challenge

• 9 Folk Schools Engaged in Participatory 

Action Research in 8 states

• 10 Community - Based Participatory 

Action Research Plans and Projects led 

by Heritage Artists, Craftspeople, and 

Culture Bearers

• 8 Participatory Research projects

• 10 Mini - documentaries

• Leveraged community cash $100,000+

• 13,470 Pounds of food donated 

• Hundreds of Herbal Care Packages 

delivered to BIPOC community members

• Hundreds of volunteer hours

Grantee Program Accomplishments
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Rachel Wenrick, MFA

Founding Director, Writers Room Associate Teaching Professor of English

Drexel University

2018 Grantee

Rising Up to the Challenge: Civic 

Engagement in the Time of COVID

Ayana Allen-Handy, Ph.D.

Founding Director, Justice-oriented Youth 

Education Lab

Assistant Professor of Urban Education

Drexel University

2018 Grantee

From “We Exist in Multitudes” (2020), 

a Writers Room collaboration with 

Mark Strandquist, Courtney Bowles 

and Mural Arts Philadelphia

Anti-Displacement: the Untapped Potential 

of University-Community Cooperative Living
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Our Community - led Participatory Action Research 

(CPAR) study aims to investigate the effects of 

gentrification on residential displacement and 

affordable housing options in West Philadelphia.

C O - DESIGNED

Centers the voices, expertise, and lived 

experiences of long - standing community 

members

INTERGENERATIONAL

Researchers ages 18 - 80 represent Robeson HS, 

YouthBuild Philly, Drexel, and the Mantua and 

Powelton neighborhoods 

INTERDISCIPLINARY

Incorporates creative writing, photography, 

music, architecture, design, and green building 

construction

Rising Up to the Challenge: Civic 

Engagement in the Time of COVID

Anti-Displacement: the Untapped Potential 

of University-Community Cooperative Living
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In response to these urgent issues in our 

community, we are co - creating an 

intergenerational cooperative living network, 

Second Story Collective.

CROSS - SECTOR

Collaborators include MCA, PVCA, PA Department 

of Aging, ArtistYear , and YouthBuild

INCLUSIVE

Demographically diverse collective expands 

cohousing’s current reach of white, older 

participants with advanced degrees and higher 

incomes

ARTS - CENTERED

Leverages the arts to spark community cohesion, 

neighborhood stability, and economic mobility

Rising Up to the Challenge: Civic 

Engagement in the Time of COVID

Anti-Displacement: the Untapped Potential 

of University-Community Cooperative Living
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Marisol Clark-Ibáñez, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology,

California State University San Marcos

2017 Grantee

Arcela Nuñez-Alvarez, Ph.D. 

Research Director,

National Latino Research Center ,

California State University San Marcos

2017 Grantee

National Latino Research Center –

Cultivando Sabiduría / Cultivating Wisdom

Rising Up to the Challenge: Civic 

Engagement in the Time of COVID
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Cultivando Sabiduría sought to connect Latinx 

elders to civic engagement curriculum and 

activities. 

- Culturally and linguistically appropriate 

pedagogy

- Popular Education model (Paolo Freire) 

- Honors elders’ life experiences

- Cultivates learning, wellness, community 

leadership, and civic engagement. 

- Created by Universidad Popular or People’s 

University (founder Dr. Nuñez-Alvarez)

Grantee Program Accomplishments

Rising Up to the Challenge: Civic 

Engagement in the Time of COVID
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- Successful enrollment of over 300 

students for class once a week:

- Began with breakfast & movement

- Civic engagement “charla” 

- Class: Technology for computers, 

Technology for smart phone or tablets, 

crafting, literacy for Spanish, and 

multilingual literacy 

- Field trips 

- Used mixed methods to understand 

the students’ experiences: 

- Photo-ethnography 

- Pre- and post-surveys 

- Qualitative Interviews 

Grantee Program Accomplishments

Rising Up to the Challenge: Civic 

Engagement in the Time of COVID
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- Major findings

- Survey data is being analyzed

- Descriptive data indicates strong 

voting practices 

- Increased knowledge of political 

issues, especially local 

- Elders expressed excitement for going to 

“school,” a dream that they had to defer 

most of their lives

- Leadership and volunteer opportunities 

reported by students through connections 

in the class 

- Connection to literacy was crucial to civic 

engagement 

Grantee Program Accomplishments

Rising Up to the Challenge: Civic 

Engagement in the Time of COVID
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Maren King

Associate Professor

SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 

Department of Landscape Architecture, in partnership with 

the Syracuse Peacemaking Project

2018 Grantee

SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry

Community Conversations 

Rising Up to the Challenge: Civic 

Engagement in the Time of COVID
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Grantee Program Accomplishments

Raising the Next Generation of Community 

Leaders: A Participatory Research Project in the 

Near Westside Neighborhood of Syracuse, NY

Research Topic: How crime and violence affects lives of 

community members

• Suite of participatory methods: focus groups, mapping, 

storytelling, interviews

A Youth Participatory Action Research project with goal 

of creating a Youth Community Impact Team.

• Youth as integral members of research team

• Transdisciplinary, intergenerational, multicultural

• Placemaking as a vital practice
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Raising the Next Generation of Community Leaders: 

A Participatory Research Project in the Near 

Westside Neighborhood of Syracuse, NY

Findings:

• Proximity to supportive neighbors, programs and services 

affects sense of safety

• Poor physical conditions create hazards and access 

problems, and vacant buildings communicate lack of 

care

• Crime and violence affects the lives of everyone in the 

neighborhood

• COVID presented unexpected challenges

Accomplishments:

• Placemaking – Gathering Garden

• Dissemination – Posters, Presentations, Social Media
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Panelist Discussion and Q&A

Dawn Jackman Murphy, 

MAHOS, MAT, ACC 

Fellow, Fielding Graduate University's 

Marie FieldeDawn Murphyr Center 

for Democracy, Leadership, and 

Education 

Board Secretary, Folk Education 

Association of America 

Maren King

Associate Professor, 

Landscape Architecture 

SUNY College of 

Environmental Science and 

Foresty (ESF) 

Director of the ESF Center for 

Community Design Research

Rachel Wenrick, Ph.D.

Founding Director, Writers Room

Associate Teaching Professor of 

English

Drexel University, College of Arts 

and Sciences

Marisol Clark-Ibanez, 

Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

California State University San 

Marcos

Rising Up to the Challenge: Civic 

Engagement in the Time of COVID

Ayana Allen-Handy, 

Ph.D.

Founding Director, Justiceoriented Youth Education Lab

Assistant Professor of Urban 

Education

Melissa Gouge, Ph.D.,

Research Analyst 

Office of Research and Evaluation/ 

AmeriCorps NCCC

Kirsten Skoglund

Program Coordinator

Marine Mills Folk School

Arcela Nuñez-Alvarez, 

Ph.D. 

Research Director,

National Latino Research Center 

California State University San 

Marcos