Embedded Files
The Community Engagement Toolkit is designed to help you develop and practice skills to engage with your community for social change. The toolkit will help you to explore how and why you want to engage within the community, to find the tools to make meaningful connections with your communities, and to build your sense of community agency to become a catalyst for change.
Portland State seeks to support all students in developing the skills and motivation to see themselves as active participants in their communities with a strong commitment and responsibility to work with others on the pressing social, economic and ecological challenges we face as a society. Let this toolkit launch you into the community engagement you are seeking, or deepen the skills and awareness you have in the work you are already engaged in.
📣 Community Voices:
Why Engage with Your Community?
📣 Community Voices:
Why Engage with Your Community?
PSU students, alumni, community partners, and staff share the "why do it?" on community engagement. What has inspired them to get involved?
"To challenge yourself, to grow as a person, to build a better community and home for yourself for and others, as well - I think it's the most meaningful thing you can do."
- Marcos Villanueva, PSU Staff
The Toolkit's Guiding Questions:
The Toolkit's Guiding Questions:
What knowledge will help you build a sense of civic identity and community agency?
What is important to consider and care about in your community engagement practice?
What skills do you need to engage effectively with and in the community?
This toolkit will guide you through five action modules - offering student and community insights in short videos, interactive activities and resources, and essential information about how to engage with communities to avoid harm and support social change.
If you complete each module in order, it will lead you through a series of community and self-knowledge activities to guide your path towards meaningful and successful community engagement.
However, for those who are already actively engaged with their communities, each module, activity, and resource can stand alone to support deeper knowledge and confidence in your community engagement and leadership.
You can navigate through each module on the side bar or directly from the end of one module to the next. Also keep your eyes out for guiding icons that will alert you to:
📣 Community Voices: Personal perspectives from Portland and Portland State Community Leaders
🔑 Essential Activity: Make your learning personal to get yourself ready for action
🔍 Useful Resource: Extra readings, videos, and activities to support your engagement
Community Engagement Toolbox Modules
Community Engagement Toolbox Modules
Click the titles below to navigate to each module.
The toolkit begins with Module 1 introducing you to what community engagement is and helping you to explore what it might be for you. Module 2 helps you take that knowledge to understand the skills and steps to get started. Module 3 offers community wisdom to make sure you are engaging with care and awareness, and Module 4 offers you support to make sure all those skills, energy and attention you are bringing to your engagement is actually effective. The toolkit closes with Module 5 offering more resources for how to take your engagement experience and share it with others.
Objective:
Distinguish and describe your own motivations, interests, and passions for engaging with your communities.
Explore the diversity of ways to get engaged and work towards social change.
Module 2:
Module 2:
Objective:
Identify the skills and experience you want to utilize, and the level of commitment you are ready to offer.
Develop understanding of the communities and opportunities you want to engage.
Create and implement an outreach plan to get started with confidence.
Module 3:
Module 3:
Objective:
Recognize and understand ethical community engagement.
Distinguish and articulate your own ethical worldview and the possible impacts of your position within your communities.
Practice authentic relationship-building to engage in interpersonal and systemic social change.
Module 4:
Module 4:
Objective:
Proactively balance community engagement with your other responsibilities.
Gather personal and community-based insights to bring cultural humility into your engagement practice.
Develop partnership communication skills to set mutual goals, exchange meaningful feedback, and successfully close a community engagement experience.
Module 5:
Module 5:
Objectives:
Create opportunities for others to join you in collaborative social change and engagement.
Practice emergent leadership & group facilitation skills, applying principles of ethical and effective community engagement.
Plan collaborative community engagement events or opportunities, using adaptive and accessible event planning tools.
Looking for help using this with your students? Follow the link to a simple toolkit guide for faculty and facilitators supporting students' use of the Community Engagement Toolkit. The guide includes learning objectives, sections, and sequencing support for the toolkit's five modules. The guide also includes ideas for how to include and assign resources and activities into your course or workshop, as well as additional facilitation and faculty support resources.
Collaborators & Community Voices
Collaborators & Community Voices
This Community Engagement Toolkit was created during the summer of 2022 through the collaborative efforts of many people both at PSU and in the greater community, in partnership with the Civic Identity Workgroup convened by the PSU President's Office and the Student Community Engagement Center.
Community Engagement Toolkit Creation Team:
Ari Vazquez -- Community Engagement Specialist and Project Manager
Melia Tichenor -- Staff Liaison and Program Coordinator
Amie Riley -- Community Engagement Curriculum Consultant
Eric Shelby -- Videographer
Community Partner Voices (Videos):
Carmen Denison -- Oregon Campus Compact
Etsegenet Ayele -- Oregon Campus Compact
Isabela Villarreal -- Next Up Oregon, PSU Alumni
Felipe Ferreira -- Many local community partner affiliations, PSU Alumni
Gabby Thuillier -- Blanchet House
PSU Student Voices (Videos):
Savannah Moore -- PSU Alumni (2022)
Mike Shin -- PSU Student
Jaeyden Ballou -- PSU Student
Raiyasha Paris -- PSU Student
Michelle Harris -- PSU Alumni (2022)
Ari Vazquez -- PSU Alumni (2022)
PSU Staff Voices (Videos):
Marcos Villanueva -- Student Activities & Leadership Programs
Serena Dressel -- Student Sustainability Center
Melia Tichenor -- Student Community Engagement Center
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