Learn more about local and national organizations centered on community engagement, civic learning, and anti-racism practices!
Campus Compact
Campus Compact is a national nonprofit organization. They are the largest and oldest higher education association dedicated to higher education civic and community engagement. Their members make up a force of thousands of presidents, faculty, researchers, students, and civic and community engagement experts at colleges and universities.
Campus Compact advances the public purposes of colleges and universities by deepening their ability to improve community life and to educate students for civic and social responsibility. Campus Compact envisions colleges and universities as vital agents and architects of a diverse democracy, committed to educating students for responsible citizenship in ways that both deepen their education and improve the quality of community life. They challenge all of higher education to make civic and community engagement an institutional priority.
They offer comprehensive programming, tools, and opportunities that serve the whole campus—senior leaders, faculty, staff, and students—in building the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need for effective civic and community engagement.
International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement
For over twenty years, IARSLCE has been known to thousands of scholars as a network that consolidates the value of SLCE for our understanding of the world and communities and has helped launch the scholarship of many brilliant publicly engaged researchers.
IARSLCE is the only international organization whose expressed primary purpose is to cultivate, encourage, and present research across all engagement forms and educational levels. The Association promotes high quality trans-disciplinary research across a wide range of approaches and forms and builds the capacity of scholars, practitioners, and community partners to engage in such research.
AmeriCorps
For decades, this organization has worked to make service to others an indispensable part of the American experience. AmeriCorps' six impact areas are Disaster Services, Economic Opportunity, Education, Environmental Stewardship, Healthy Futures, and Veterans & Military Families. As the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, AmeriCorps provides opportunities for Americans of all backgrounds to serve their country, address the nation’s most pressing challenges, and improve lives and communities.
Research Aspect:
For the past 20 years, AmeriCorps has collaborated with the US Census Bureau to collect data on volunteering and civic engagement to take the pulse of our nation’s civic health. The Current Population Survey Civic Engagement and Volunteering Supplement is the most robust longitudinal survey about volunteerism and other forms of civic engagement in the United States. The 2021 survey covers volunteering and other civic behaviors from September 2020-2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data informs AmeriCorps’ Volunteering and Civic Life in America report, which examines national rates of organizational volunteering, helping others informally, charitable giving, and other civic behaviors. This research supports evidence-based decision making and efforts to understand how people make a difference in communities across the country.