Presented by Marquette University and American Family Insurance
When the pandemic broke, and COVID-19 exposed to an even greater extent the disparities and inequities impacting marginalized and socio-economically disadvantaged communities in the City of Milwaukee, Marquette University and its partners pivoted quickly to launch the President’s Challenge—COVID-19 Response Grant in partnership with American Family Insurance, and Johnson Controls. The grant program provided funding for innovative, interdisciplinary, collaborative work that addresses needs in Milwaukee’s community that have been created or magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic and represent critical areas in the community’s recovery efforts. The program supported proposals up to $50K for one year and were selected from the following community-informed focus areas: Mental health and wellness, Economic revitalization, Health services. Over the course of 5-weeks, we hosted two different virtual events, provided over 10 virtual community advising sessions, and attracted 12 strong proposals, representing over 35 faculty, 25 different community organizations, and numerous students and staff. Attendees of this session will: -understand how to utilize existing partnerships in new and creative ways; -learn a dynamic process for engaging faculty members and community partners in a virtual environment; -consider how university-industry partnerships can have meaningful university and community impacts; and, -learn about the opportunities at in community-university-corporate partnerships.