Building Collaborative Partnerships

The office of Community Enhancement & Engagement works to develop sustainable, collaborative community partnerships to improve the quality of life in Grinnell by addressing relevant community priorities.

  • Nonprofit Apprenticeships.  Working with 6 local community development nonprofits to advance thier work, improve inter-agency connections, and provide a unique professional development opportunity for students.
  • Nonprofit Workshops.  In collaboration with the Claude W. and Dolly Ahrens Foundation and the Wilson Program in Enterprise and Leadership, the office sponsors a series of capacity-building "lunch and learn" workshops for local nonprofits.   Speakers are Grinnell College alumni who have returned to campus to work with students and who have generously offered to share their time with the broader Grinnell community.  Examples include:  "Temperment and Teamwork" (2009, Nord Brue '67); "Boards and Staff/Non-Profit Leadership in Action" (2010, Ellen McDonald '81);  and "Moving to a Sustainable Revenue Model" (2011, Tom Triplett '69). The response to these workshops has been overwhelmingly positive, with participants reporting that the workshops have facilitated new understandings of once unfamiliar concepts and offered new tools and strategies to support their missions. Past participants have returned for recent workshops and report that they will continue to attend in the future, suggesting the value of these workshops for local nonprofit professionals.
  • Partners in Education.  Enhancing educational opportunities at Grinnell High School and Grinnell College
  • Dual Career Network.  Run by the University of Iowa and administered locally through the Grinnell College Office of Human Resources, the DCN offers employment counseling and networking for dual-career working couples seeking to establish themselves professionally in central Iowa. 
  • Summer Camp. Working with Grinnell Community Daycare to provide small-scale K-4 summer childcare.
  • Walk to School Day.  Annual event in partnership with multiple community organizations to foster fitness, family, fun and raise awareness of Grinnell as a Walkable Community.
  • Strand Showings.  Working with the Fridley theater company, the office has developed an agreement to enable campus departments to host and screen special showings in the recently renovated Strand Theatre in downtown Grinnell.  In 2011, one outstanding example was Parisian Nights in Grinnell — a French-themed series of events combining French films, French photographs, French food and live theater, made possible through the collaboration between the Grinnell Area Arts Council, the historic Strand Theater, Bourbon Street restaurant, the Grinnell College French Department, Grinnell College Center for International Studies and the office of Community Enhancement & Engagement. The series played to packed audiences and showcased some of our town’s unique assets such as our renovated historic downtown theater, our terrific restaurants, the breadth of cultural activities and the range of college programs available to the public.