Background: Health equity requires sustained, meaningful partnerships with communities most affected by health disparities. This presentation will outline how the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute’s Community Engagement Core (CCTSI CE) has built a pipeline of programming, training, coaching, and leadership grounded in long-term community partnerships. We will show how opportunities are co-developed and integrated across all areas of programming, ensuring relevance to diverse populations statewide and advancing public health at the local and state level.
Methods: The CCTSI CE programmatic pipeline was created in 2008 and quickly built a foundation for fostering and strengthening long-term community-academic partnerships. This includes training that connects public health practitioners and researchers with underrepresented communities in Colorado, a pilot grants program to support relationship-building between practitioners and communities, and follow-up funding for collaborative projects. Governed by Community Research Liaisons and a Council that includes community members, academic partners, and a Public Health Institute, to ensure community priorities guide the work. We will highlight meaningful metrics that reflect how sustained engagement and training opportunities increase trust in community-academic partnerships and encourage practitioners to prioritize engagement in their work long term.
Results: Our pipeline has strengthened relationships between practitioners and underrepresented communities while expanding leadership opportunities for community members. Many continue to deepen their involvement, becoming pilot grant reviewers, committee members, trainers, or Council members, completing the full cycle of engagement. We will highlight success stories, best practices, and the impact of long-term partnerships on health equity goals, including our natural shift toward community-centered approaches that embed equity across all program areas.
Implications: Linking training, funding, and leadership opportunities through sustained community relationships been essential for or equitable public health practice. This model offers practical, replicable strategies for public health professionals and organizations seeking to deepen community engagement, strengthen partnerships, and advance health equity in Colorado.
