Making University-Community Partnerships Work

Building strong university-community partnerships isn’t easy. Power imbalances, competing goals, and trust issues can get in the way, turning good intentions into missed opportunities. So how can nonprofits and universities work together more effectively? In this episode, Roger and I sit down with Toye Watson, Director of Community Impact at UNC Charlotte, to unpack the common challenges and share how to create partnerships that truly work. Skip Ahead: (00:52) Why communities are looking beyond government solutions and what that means for partnerships. (05:10) What UNC Charlotte’s urbanCORE is trying to accomplish. (11:23) The reason some collaboration efforts don’t work out. (16:37) The first thing nonprofits should do if they want to build university partnerships (24:32)  What’s different about a partnership with local nonprofit versus a city government and how you might approach those differently (29:01) How urbanCORE supported the Three Sisters Market, a food collaborative in West Charlotte Connect with Toye Watson and learn more about urbanCORE. Learn more about the Data-Driven Leadership Series (The Strategist, The Analyst, The Storyteller) Read the full show notes HERE.