Community Engagement Lab

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What's Included

We invite you to participate in this unique and innovative 12-week team-based learning experience! This program involves teams of 4-6 participants working together to explore ways to create actionable change and make a lasting impact in communities at home and abroad. The lab is designed for participants to explore the fundamentals of making change, work collaboratively in successful teams, identify areas of challenge and growth to better advocate for the needs of community-based organizations, and ultimately, produce a feasible capstone action plan.

  • FIELD EXPERTS will support you through creative ideation, help you develop skills to identify community needs, and provide real-world feedback on your action planning.
  • CULTURAL COACHES will keep your solutions global, with cultural insight to guide development of your concept, enhance your impact, and maximize your global reach.

In the lab, participants will:

— Engage with a team of peers to produce an action plan for community engagement to support community-based organizations locally with a global perspective.

— Learn from cultural coaches and field experts about various approaches to community organizing, advocacy, civic engagement and allyship for marginalized communities.

— Build a global-to-local advocacy action plan leveraging domestic and international network of community partners to enact change.

"I'm thankful for the opportunity to participate in the Community Engagement Lab. It’s a unique opportunity to learn professional methodologies in an innovative way and to understand new global realities in a multicultural environment...I definitely recommend participating in this kind of experience." ~Nico C., API Community Engagement Lab participant

What's Included?

  • Advising
  • Community-building activities and cultural resources in a digital learning workspace
  • Career readiness materials and support, including how to reflect this experience on a resume and at job interviews
  • Live events featuring speakers, activities, networking and more
  • API Digital Badge Stack
  • Post-program evaluation
  • Access to API alumni network & API Ambassador Program

Application Requirements

  • A current resume or CV
  • Personal statement outlining a local community-based organization and your interest in creating a plan of action to support their goals
Dates & Fees
Session Program Dates Program Cost Application Deadline Extended Application Deadline Payment Deadline
Fall Sep, 2023 - Dec, 2023 $1,500 Aug 1, 2023 No Extension Sep 1, 2023
Spring Feb, 2024 - Apr, 2024 $1,500 Jan 7, 2024 No Extension Jan 23, 2024

API Lab participants pay a $150 application deposit with the initial application and the remaining balance is due upon acceptance. Participants who apply on the application deadline are responsible for submitting 50% of the program fee with the application.

Program Details

What You’ll Study

API Global Community Engagement Lab participants will participate in dynamic team-based, experiential learning utilizing a flipped classroom model to move an innovative idea for community engagement through design and development to create an action plan for longitudinal change.

Alongside the guided modules and supported learning opportunities with field experts and cultural coaches, teams will level-up their learning along the way by earning the Global-to-Local Community Engagement badge stack. These badges certify meaningful engagement with the learning outcomes of the API Community Engagement Lab and will enhance the earner’s LinkedIn profile, personal website and digital resume, and more.

Global-to-Local Community Engagement badge: Create meaningful community engagement opportunities locally with a global perspective. Connect impactful solutions to real-world challenges and create change by actively enacting plans developed, designed, and delivered with community goals in mind.

Global Teamwork: Earn this digital badge by working with a team to create innovative solutions to global problems. Diverse perspectives, cultural competence, and a drive to succeed are all key to collaborations that make an impact. Assess your collaborative skills, practice peer review, and refine your individual approach to leadership in team settings.

Global Problem Solving: Refine global problem solving skills by embracing diverse perspectives, leveraging curiosity, networking with experts, and piloting solutions. Design, implement, assess, and modify to test your hypotheses and grow skills of resilience and change management.

  • Caroline headshot

    Caroline Mobley

    Caroline Mobley will be your Program Coordinator and will help prepare you for your API program.

    (she / her / hers)

Courses
Click Here to Find Classes

Team-based learning is a central component of the API Global Community Engagement Lab. Teams will have different skill sets, expertise, and areas of interest. Weekly modules will guide teams through exploring fundamentals of community engagement, collaborative ideation to identify a community-based challenge to address, defining the concept and approach, communicating value and exploring global to local impact, and ultimately, developing an action plan that the team will pitch to field experts and cultural coaches. The lab follows the Lean Launchpad methodology, a process that uses the scientific method to frame discovery and experiential concept design through active testing of hypotheses and ideas. Teams will be guided by experts, cultural coaches, and lab facilitators and can expect to dedicate 3-5 hours to lab work each week. The teams will be assessed on ideation, concept development, creating value and impact evaluation, collaborative teamwork, and the feasibility of their community engagement plan.

During the 12-week experience, learners will engage each of the following four modules alongside their teammates: