The Power of Cross-Sector Partnership

Welcome to the first issue of College Park Connected, the monthly newsletter of the College Park City University Partnership! With this launch, we are excited to share our work – what we’re doing, why we are doing it, and how we are advancing the priorities of the University Community Vision 2030, College Park’s shared roadmap to a more growing, thriving, more sustainable community.  

As the Partnership’s new Executive Director, I’m impressed by both the breadth of the Partnership’s accomplishments over the last 25 years, and the scope and vision slated for decades ahead. I jumped at the opportunity to advance cross-sector efforts to tackle the biggest challenges facing many communities today – affordable homeownership, neighborhood preservation, educational equity, sustainability, and community health to name only a few. As an educator, city planner, community and economic developer, I worked with (and for) cities across the country struggling to address these issues. In my experience, communities often recognize issues in clear need of response, be it with a policy or program, but there are limited resources, staff capacity, and time to devote to implementation. College Park stands out nationally amongst peers as a town in which leaders across institutions and sectors have a sustained commitment to collaborate and distribute the resources necessary to advance change. This collaboration makes needed physical, programmatic and policy changes to support residents, businesses, employees and community possible. 

The Partnership works across sectors to advance projects and programs that reflect a shared commitment to the community. We convene, connect, facilitate and implement. As a nonprofit partner to both the City and the University of Maryland, the Partnership tackles challenges jointly important to our supporting institutions. The Partnership is designed to be dynamic, allowing to propel tasks which otherwise may get stuck between the siloes of our independent institutions. Over the last few years, the Partnership convened and led a process to develop the University Community Vision 2030, an ambitious vision of key strategic priorities ranging from housing to transit, to education to community health. We know these are big goals and continuing to work together will be essential if we are going to achieve them. 

The Partnership is part of a broader trend of town and gown communities, based in recognition that by working together, and strategically leveraging resources, any community can advance further than if partners worked independently. Across the country, cross-sector partnerships are forming to address community concerns at different scales, from hyper-local projects at the neighborhood and block levels – improving parks, beautifying neighborhoods and fostering neighborhood connections are a few examples – to projects addressing the most pressing societal challenges, housing affordability, racial and educational inequity, and economic mobility.  

The composition of every partnership – like every city and community – reflects the unique context and contributions of local and regional institutions. Our work is defined to date by our key institutional partners, the City of College Park and the University of Maryland. Elsewhere, institutional partners include school districts, business improvement districts, employers, hospitals and philanthropic foundations. While the composition of partnerships and the scale of initiatives vary across places, best practices have emerged to provide guidance for future endeavors: 

• Establishing a shared vision for the future;  

• Defining partner roles and accountability for implementation; 
• Using data to measure outcomes, evaluate success and guide interim course correction, if needed; and, 
• Dedicating resources to sustain commitment and momentum over time. 

We strive to infuse best practices into projects of all sizes and complexities. Check out this month’s articles below to learn more about our work across sectors to support community and advance the priorities articulated in the University Community Vision 2030 – expanding access to affordable homeownership, supporting educational opportunities for College Park families and students, and implementing improvements to strengthen public safety.  

Each month we will share not only what we are doing to support College Park’s vision, but also how and why we are doing it. We will share best practices from other communities across the country, as well as those underway in our own backyards.