The Swearer Center partners with a wide range of entities (nonprofit organizations, local educational agencies, state/local government agencies, etc.). We ‘match’ these entities with the institutional resources/stakeholders that are best positioned to collaborate with them to advance their work. Our goal is to facilitate partnerships between the Greater Providence community and Brown University that are focused on community development and social change. The Swearer Center can support your efforts to:

Identify an institutional partner or resource
Use the Community Partnership Interest Form to tell us about an opportunity that your agency wishes to partner on. This might be a project, event, internship or an idea in its very early stages.

Recruit Brown students
Through BrownEngage (our volunteer recruitment and management platform) we can support you in publicizing your summer, semester or academic year volunteer and internship opportunities to students through). You can also use the Community Partnership Interest Form to tell us more about your agency’s opportunity.

Access opportunities for networking, training, and technical assistance
Engage with other local agencies, faculty, researchers, and community members through the Swearer Center’s Community Partner Network (CPN). 

Facilitate learning and development opportunities for students, staff, and community stakeholders
The Swearer Center connects community partners to opportunities to be compensated for the knowledge that they share with students, staff, faculty, and community stakeholders. Community partners lead walking tours, deliver workshops, serve as guest speakers in community-engaged courses etc.

On August 9, 2022 the Swearer Center’s Community Advisory Board (CAB) announced the recipients of the 2022 CAB Awards at the Center’s monthly Community Partner Network meeting. The CAB is a diverse group of community stakeholders that advises Swearer Center staff on the implementation of the Center’s community engagement practices. 
 

Through nominations from community members, the CAB identified one awardee in each of these three key areas:

• Community joy and resilience  - Roger Williams Park Conservancy

• Diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racist practice  - The Refugee Dream Center

• Work to address the needs of the most vulnerable Rhode Islanders - The Petey Greene Program
   

Community Joy and Resilience - Roger Williams Park Conservancy (RWPC) 

In response to the impact of social isolation and economic hardship created by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Roger Williams Park Conservancy has provided low or no-cost multicultural programs at Roger Williams park. These programs have served roughly 7000 people. 

One participant in these programs shared, “My time in the park helped me heal and provided the space needed for self-care. I thank the RWPC for programming free events like those I attended, which encouraged us to get outside and share space with others during a difficult time in our history.” 

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racist Practice - Refugee Dream Center (RDC)

The Refugee Dream Center supports members of the refugee community in their efforts toward self-sufficiency and integration. RDC includes members of the diverse refugee community at all levels of decision-making and employment within the organization. Founded and led by refugees from the Gambia, RDC works closely with the community they serve to ensure that the programming and resources that they offer accurately address the community’s unique needs.

Work to Address the Needs of the Most Vulnerable Rhode Islanders - The Petey Greene Program (PGP) The Petey Greene program engages volunteer tutors in supporting the academic goals of currently and formerly incarcerated individuals. PGP supports a wide range of educational goals, from earning a high school diploma to pursuing a Ph.D. to improving English language skills. Volunteer tutors forge vital human connections with PGP students while deepening their understanding of the carceral system and ways that they might reimagine and change the system of crime and incarceration.