CONNECT Conference
The Community Engagement office co-sponsors and hosts the annual CONNECT conference that brings VCU faculty and staff working on community engagement together with community members and non-profit leaders.
More information on the CONNECT conference can be found in this story from last year's conference.
Connect 2023
Friday, November 3, 2023, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
VCU Student Commons Richmond Salons I, II, III and IV
907 Floyd Avenue, Richmond, VA 23284
FREE TO ATTEND
Connect Community Engagement Conference is an annual gathering of community members, community organizations, VCU faculty, staff, students and Alums and other community and regional stakeholders that come together for a day of learning, networking and skill development to help university and community partners build more effective and mutually reciprocal community collaborations and partnerships. Connect is held annually to create a regular venue with the community to strengthen trust and advance mutual learning about each others’ needs and provide a space for creating new opportunities.
The conference program is designed to build skills, networks and core knowledge for those wanting to learn more about community engagement and for those already involved who are looking for professional development opportunities to hone their skills and expand their social and professional networks among VCU and community partners.
The program includes both sessions and hand-on, skill building and networking activities.
AGENDA
| 8:00-8:30 | Coffee and Networking (Registration) |
| 8:30-9:00 | Welcome and Opening Remarks: Maghboeba Mosavel, Ph.D. Associate Vice President of Community Partnerships |
| 9:00-10:00 | Principled Engagement: Advancing Mutually Reciprocal Partnerships In this session, participants will learn about, and from each other, the importance of, strategies for and challenges of establishing and implementing the core principles that fuel successful community partnerships. |
| 10:00-10:10 | Stretch Break |
| 10:10-11:10 | Fireside Chat: Bridging the Gap: Injury and Violence Prevention Partnerships |
| 11:10-11:15 | Transition Break |
| 11:15-12:15 |
Fireside Chat: Gun Violence Prevention and Positive Youth Development |
| 12:15-1:00 | Lunch and free time |
| 1:00-1:45 | Keynote Speaker: Sean Miller, President and CEO, The Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond |
| 1:45-2:00 | Transition Break |
| 2:00-3:15 | Location, Location, Location Neighborhoods have their own aspirations, histories and cultures. Thus, many partnerships start or focus on work in a specific neighborhood or location. In this session, we will learn how places function in our local and regional community partnerships. |
| 3:15-3:20 | Transition to final session |
| 3:20-4:20 | Working together, working regionally. This session ties together the lessons of the day to ask how we can work as a region and better align our work to improve and expand our impact across partnerships, borders and the boundaries. |
| 4:20-4:30 | Closing |
Connect 2023 Conference Planning Committee
Shari Garmise, Ph. D. Executive Director, Collective Urban and Regional Impact, VCU Division of Community Engagement, Chair
Tyler Agee, Director of Community Health, VCU Health System
Kimberly Battle, Clinical Associate Professor, Family and Community Health Nursing, VCU School of Nursing
Faye Belgrave, Associate Dean, Equity and Community Partnerships, VCU College of Humanities and Science
Verenda Cobbs, Senior Manager, Community Partnerships and Civic Innovation, VCU Division of Community Engagement
Stephen Davenport, Assistant Vice President, Social and Economic Development and Administrator, VCU Division of Community Engagement
Vaughn Garland, Youth Program Manager, Mary and Frances Youth Center, VCU Division of Community Engagement
Meghan Gough, Associate Professor and Chair, Urban and Regional Planning Program, VCU L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs
Elsie Harper-Anderson, Associate Professor, VCU L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs
Anderson Hayes, Senior Manager of Special Projects and Communications, NextUpRVA
Manjari Kumarappan, Postdoctoral Fellow, Innovation and Human-Centered Design, VCU da Vinci Center for Innovation
Brittany Seward, Program Manager, Leadership and Community Development, ChamberRVA
Emily Zimmerman, Director of Community Engaged Research, Center on Society and Health, Assistant Professor, VCU Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, Division of Epidemiology
