Build cultural competence and humility: engage and listen to communities before acting, using funded advisory boards and listening sessions¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

A funder practice of directly engaging communities before acting, spending time "listening to, understanding, and building trust in communities, rather than jumping right into developing or training community members." Participants agreed funders "can't just come into wanting to do equity work without understanding communities first." Strategies include formal consultation through funded advisory boards of institutions and intermediaries closest to the students, and informal engagement with community members and trusted local partners.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Funders must consult, connect, and collaborate with the communities they wish to serve to maximize impact.

Constraints¶

• Different situations may require different approaches: with a marginalized community a funder has not previously engaged, the funder might be better off listening first and acting later.

Target Learners¶

• Black, Latino, and Indigenous students and their communities
• students from low-income backgrounds

Target Learning Goals¶

• equity-focused investment design that reflects community context and priorities

Related Strategies¶

• Rely on existing experts and invest in building expertise from within the communities served, including Grow Your Own faculty recruitment
• Put student voices first: make colleges student-ready, give students agency over educational choices, and provide wraparound supports for basic needs
• Build direct employer-listening channels and AI-specific advisory structures for small and mid-sized firms

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Byon, A. H., & Elliott, K. C. (2022). Equity First: Priorities for Higher Education Partnerships and Investments. The Education Trust. https://edtrust.org/resource/how-to-end-the-hunger-and-homelessness-crisis-among-college-students/