Members of the 2023 Civic Collaboration Team Chattanooga: Colin O’Hagerty ’26, Aditi Sengupta ’26, host Geoff Millener, Flavia Nunez-Ludeiro ’26, and Mark Dingfelder ’26.
The inaugural Civic Collaboration Host Summit in September brought partners together from throughout the country to share experiences, build connections, and generate ideas for sustaining the signature second summer of the Morehead-Cain Summer Enrichment Program.
For Civic Collaboration, teams of scholars embed themselves in cities across North America to investigate community challenges and propose real, innovative solutions. Sixteen teams were deployed on projects this past summer.
Since founding in 2015, Civic Collaboration has positively impacted more than 30 cities through scholar-led projects in city governments, community foundations, and local nonprofits.
Jason Cameron of the City of Calgary (Alberta, Canada) said at the summit that the public service program brings “new energy to your organization from the country’s future leaders.”
“Civic Collaboration allows you to explore, signal, and socialize ideas for community issues and opportunities, while raising the profile of your organization and highlighting your commitment to community development,” the host said.
Buff Grace ’91 of Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light said that as a small nonprofit in Minneapolis, having a high-caliber team of scholars join for a summer can make an immediate difference.
“They’re learning, and we’re learning from them. It’s just a really good collaboration,” the alumnus and multi-year host said.
