The Power Line: Strengthening Academic-Community Partnerships for Change

Authored by Dr. Chris Benner, Darío León, and Sue Grasso

March 2025

This report examines the role of academic-community partnerships in strengthening and sustaining community power-building efforts. The study builds on the Lead Local initiative, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), which explored how community power catalyzes and sustains conditions for healthy communities. A key recommendation that emerged from this initiative was to strengthen networks of scholars capable of partnering with and bolstering the work of community power-building organizations. This report is designed to help inform such efforts.

Community power-building organizations are a distinct type of community based organization, in that they focus on organizing grassroots leadership and engaging in advocacy to hold decision-makers accountable, not just providing services or running programs. Collaborations between academic scholars and community power building organizations present unique challenges, requiring scholars to navigate complex ethical, political, and institutional dynamics. This report analyzes promising practices for creating mutually beneficial partnerships that integrate academic research with community power-building efforts, and provides recommendations for Universities and Foundations that can help support those efforts.