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Netter Center for Community Partnerships

A farm for the community
lila watering plants

A farm for the community

The Food and Wellness Collaborative, which emerged from the ‘Your Big Idea’ competition, has turned an expanse of turf into a productive growing space.

Katherine Unger Baillie

‘Motivated to vote’
i voted sticker

I Voted Today! stickers convey the excitement and enthusiasm of Penn students.

‘Motivated to vote’

Co-directors Eva Gonzalez and Harrison Feinman of Penn Leads the Vote push for 100% student voter registration in the Year of Civic Engagement.

Kristina García

Introducing the Year of Civic Engagement
The Year of Civic Engagement text logo in the foreground with Center City Philadelphia in the background

Introducing the Year of Civic Engagement

The latest theme year was ushered in last week with the Penn Reading Project. In a time of great distance, the University asks the community to think about how it can enact great engagement.
Shining a light on the dangers of lead
paint chipping off of wood

Shining a light on the dangers of lead

Lead poisoning robs children of opportunity, and the impact is worse in underserved communities. Faculty and students at Penn are bringing scientific and policy attention to the problem, while empowering young people to minimize their risk and be leaders for change.

Katherine Unger Baillie

High school meets business with Bridges 2 Wealth
Costumed student feeds cloth through a sewing machine as five others look on

Kayden Perren (foreground) feeds cloth through a donated sewing machine as India Watson (far right) teaches him how to construct a pocket. Image taken in February. 

High school meets business with Bridges 2 Wealth

Bridges 2 Wealth, a financial literacy program that celebrated its one-year anniversary with the Netter Center in February, collaborates with Penn students and Philadelphia schools to close the wealth gap.

Kristina García

A ‘Collective Climb’ to combat poverty
Three side-by-side portraits of Penn students

From left to right: Hyungtae Kim, Mckayla Warwick, and Kwaku Owusu.

A ‘Collective Climb’ to combat poverty

With the President’s Engagement Prize, seniors Hyungtae Kim, Kwaku Owusu, and Mckayla Warwick will work to combat poverty in West Philadelphia through education, shared resources, and community collaboration.

Kristina García

Universities must help shape the post-COVID-19 world
University World News

Universities must help shape the post-COVID-19 world

Ira Harkavy of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships contributed to an article about the role of universities in establishing a post-COVID-19 world. “Higher education can add momentum by renewing our commitment to our core values of academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and engagement by students, faculty, and staff, and re-emphasising the role of higher education institutions as societal actors for the public good,” Harkavy and his co-authors wrote.

Walter Licht’s legacy of civic engagement
Person sits on corner of conference table with wall of books behind them, smiling at the camera. History professor Walter Licht in his office earlier this semester. He is stepping down from his duties at Civic House in June.

Walter Licht’s legacy of civic engagement

For more than 40 years at Penn, Walter Licht has crafted a career of equal parts renowned historian, teacher, and community activist, including creating the Penn Civic Scholars Program. Licht recently announced he is stepping down from his positions at Civic House.

Kristen de Groot

Learning civil discourse and open-mindedness from high schoolers
gse student at carver high school

Learning civil discourse and open-mindedness from high schoolers

In the city’s first regional Ethics Bowl, facilitated by Penn philosopher Karen Detlefsen and Graduate School of Education doctoral student Dustin Webster, six local teams competed for a chance at Nationals.

Michele W. Berger

Balancing academic rights and responsibilities
University World News

Balancing academic rights and responsibilities

Ira Harkavy of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships wrote about the challenges universities face when balancing academic advancements and social responsibilities. “Higher education institutions would better fulfill their core academic functions, including advancing knowledge, teaching and learning, if they focused on improving conditions in their societies, particularly their local communities,” he argues.