Anchor Institutions Task Force News
September 2026
Values in Action – Annual Event
AITF’s Annual Event will take place on November 5 between 10am and 3pm Eastern at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in Princeton, New Jersey, which will continue exploring our theme, Values in Action.
This will be our second Annual Event on this theme, which reinforces AITF’s values – a commitment to place and community; collaboration and partnership, including cross sector collaboration; democracy and democratic practice; social justice and equity, including racial justice and racial equity. The event will be an opportunity to illustrate how these values are being applied through anchor institution-community partnerships to confront some of our most pressing challenges.
Our three plenary sessions during the event are as follows:
Panel 1: Values in Action at the Local Level in These Times
This session will feature cross sector place-based partnerships involving anchor institutions working across fields such as higher education, health care, arts and culture, philanthropy, and others, and pursuing values-driven local solutions on education, health, economic development, and more.
Panel 2: Foundations as Anchor Institutions
During this session, we will hear from a few different types of foundations sharing their range of experiences collaborating with local partners on numerous creative approaches to strengthen how philanthropic institutions can become viable values-driven place-based institutions that benefit the communities in which they are situated.
Panel 3: Strategic Directions for the Anchor Field
At this moment in time, which has brought significant challenges to local ecosystems of anchor institutions and various community stakeholders, it is important to be able to not only respond to current adversity (e.g. budget cuts), but to envision the future as well. This session will explore new strategies and innovations in the anchor field, including communications and storytelling approaches, new partners, and more.
We hope you will be able to join us for this event. If you expect to attend, please make sure to register.
Anchor Fellows
During the event we will also hear reflections from this year’s cohort of Fellows. Our Fellows’ reflections at the annual event have always been instructive and inspirational.
Additionally, we are also pleased to announce our Fellows for 2027. Congratulations to our new Fellows!
The Anchor Fellows Program has brought together a critical mass of future leaders of engaged anchor institutions, many of whom remain involved in AITF.
Communications and Storytelling – Call for Essays
We have extended the deadline for our collection of essays on experiences communicating about and telling the story of being an engaged anchor institution locally to October 15. The essays can include stories about specific programs, projects and actions that illustrate the internal and external realities of being an engaged anchor institution. Please use APA style if including any references or citations.
Member Profile – University of San Diego
Thanks very much to the University of San Diego (USD) for providing our latest member profile. USD, which is located 25 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, is actively building sustained relationships in local communities. USD, a contemporary Catholic university, has launched several initiatives in the neighborhood where it has been located since 1949, Linda Vista. USD has also embraced its connection to Tijuana and the border region, and the responsibility to matters of immigration and economic equality that come with its proximity to Mexico. You can read the full profile below.
If you have a story you would like to share about efforts in your community that demonstrate AITF’s values, please let us know. It is crucial that we continue to tell stories of how anchor institutions and local partners are making vital contributions to their communities.
AITF Member Spotlight
The University of San Diego as a Binational Anchor Institution
USD is a contemporary Catholic university located in Linda Vista, one of San Diego's most diverse neighborhoods, less than 25 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. Being part of Linda Vista and the broader border region has profoundly shaped how we understand our mission, our responsibilities, and our role as an anchor institution.
USD's anchor mission calls us to confront society's grand challenges while building reciprocal partnerships with local and global communities. Embodying that mission means moving beyond the language of "community engagement" and asking what it means to be in sustained relationship with the places we call home.
Beginning in Our Own Neighborhood
USD's anchor commitment begins in Linda Vista, home to the university since 1949. This year, the Karen and Tom Mulvaney Center for Community, Awareness, and Social Action marks 40 years of partnership in the neighborhood; a history that includes launching USD's Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) in 1996. Established with a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, COPC allowed the university to lease space directly inside the Bayside Community Center in Linda Vista.
That 1996 funding launched several initiatives that still exist and have expanded over the years, a reminder that meaningful engagement is built through consistency and trust.
● Landlord-Tenant Mediation: USD law students and faculty provided legal clinics and dispute resolution for neighborhood residents.
● Cradle-to-Career Education: Faculty and students from the School of Education and Leadership Sciences focused on early childhood education and youth mentoring.
● Economic Development: Faculty and students from the Knauss School of Business provided training and technical assistance to help residents build small businesses and stabilize neighborhood housing.
● Public Health: Nursing faculty from the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science provided care to residents.
● Academic Service Learning: Faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences integrated service learning into courses across the curriculum.
The Mulvaney Center's Youth Engagement Initiative has continued this work, placing USD students in Linda Vista schools and community organizations, where sustained mentoring and tutoring let students learn from educators and families while contributing to local educational opportunities. In partnership with the Governor of California, the CaliforniansForAll College Corps program has amplified this effort: since 2022, hundreds of USD Fellows have served throughout San Diego County, contributing more than 190,000 hours, including support for initiatives like Montgomery Middle School's garden therapy program.
Binational Anchor Institution
San Diego's identity is inseparable from its relationship with Tijuana and the border region. For decades, USD students, faculty, and staff have worked alongside cross-border organizations, residents, educators, faith communities, and civic leaders. For a Catholic university, this proximity creates particular responsibility: immigration, economic inequality, environmental stewardship, and the dignity of those who cross both figurative and literal borders.
Through University Ministry, students participate in immersion experiences in Tijuana built on relationships cultivated over decades, connecting what they learn to principles of Catholic social thought like solidarity and the common good. Faculty and staff are invited into similar learning through programs such as the Harpst Center for Catholic Thought and Culture's immigration-focused immersions.
These relationships have also led USD to invest in physical infrastructure across the border. The university's Tijuana Hub provides a shared space where USD students, faculty, staff, and community partners gather, teach, learn, and collaborate. The Hub acts as a third space, where the border becomes a site of shared learning rather than a boundary.
What It Means to Be Rooted
Universities are often called anchor institutions because they are enduring organizations unlikely to leave their communities. But permanence alone does not create belonging. Belonging requires relationship, memory, humility, presence, and investment. For USD, our anchor mission is grounded in the recognition that our future is connected to the future of the places we call home.
Other Resources
Publications
Our Leadership Guide series has been making informative and stimulating contributions to our understanding of the role of anchor institutions in strengthening communities through democratic partnerships. We produced the third volume in the series last year. We are now seeking essays from AITF members on leadership matters relevant to anchor institution-community partnerships. We require these essays to take into account AITF’s Values in Action theme. Please let us know if you wish to submit an essay. We hope to release volume 4 at the end of the year. Also let us know if you wish to have your and your partners’ work featured in a future Member Profile in this newsletter. The profile will return in the next newsletter. This is a significant way in which we will highlight the Values in Action theme in practice at the community level throughout the year.
Download the AITF Leadership Guide, Third Edition
AITF Subgroups
Overall, we look forward to engaging with you over the course of 2026. Remember that there are many ways to be involved in AITF. Our Subgroups have been among the most vital forms of activity in AITF. As we have continued to experience some difficult barriers to progress in the field, Subgroups have been spaces for mutual encouragement, learning, and sharing. These discussions have generated stories of resilience and helped shape many aspects of AITF’s work. Finally, stay tuned for some noticeable advances in AITF’s approach to storytelling, as we are beginning a new series of discussions to enhance how we tell the story of the contributions of anchor institutions to the communities in which they reside.
Learn More About AITF Subgroups
Resources from the Field
AAC&U Releases New Report on Advancing Public Trust in Higher Education
The Trust Agenda presents a framework for leaders of colleges and universities to advance public trust in higher education and strengthen the social contract between campuses and the communities they serve.
New Free Toolkit for Community-Engaged Learning
Co-published by AAC&U and Campus Compact, Engaging Community: A Toolkit for Reciprocal Teaching and Learning Beyond the Campus is a free, open-access resource that helps educators design meaningful community-engaged learning experiences.
Save the Date and Register: KAOSPILOT – The Art & Craft of Designing and Facilitating Learning Spaces: The Restorative Justice Cohort – Jan 12-13
This 2-day learning experience brings together university faculty and staff, non-profit professionals, and other practitioners whose work focuses on Restorative Justice, improving the carceral system, or education with or related to system-impact individuals or families.
21st Annual Greater Philadelphia Leadership Exchange (GPLEX) Conference – Apply by Jul 3 | PHENND
Applications for the 21st annual Greater Philadelphia Leadership Exchange (GPLEX) conference – to be held in Philadelphia from October 14th to 17th – are now open. GPLEX has been building civic muscle since 2005, convening diverse cross-sector leaders for highly curated learning-and-networking experiences to advance equitable growth, civic leadership, and workforce development across the region. Learn More
AnchorNets 2026
AnchorNets is the SHLB Coalition’s annual conference, bringing together broadband leaders from across the country—including policymakers, industry experts, and representatives from schools, libraries, health centers, and other anchor institutions. The event features dynamic keynotes, breakout sessions, and networking opportunities focused on expanding affordable, high-quality broadband for community anchors and the people they serve.
Community Colleges: Beyond the Numbers
Community colleges play a unique role in the nation's workforce development system. Accurately quantifying this role at an institutional and individual level ensures that everyone from potential students to policymakers to funders understands the costs and long-term benefits of postsecondary programming.
News and Articles
New community-led murals unveiled at University of Cumbria
As part of their commitment to be an anchor institution within the communities they serve, two new murals celebrating Barrow’s identity have been unveiled at the University of Cumbria’s town campus.
Imperial's role as an anchor institution beyond our hospitals
Imperial College Healthcare discusses the importance of their role as an anchor institution in the areas beyond health including employment, procurement, housing, and sustainability.
Florida Memorial University Receives Knight Foundation Support to Protect the Long-Term Value of it's Campus
Funding will help FMU pair an urgent need with rigorous, independent advice, protecting the university’s long-term interests while reinforcing its importance as a community anchor in Miami Gardens.
BBC and Birmingham City University announce 10-year partnership to develop next generation of media professionals
The BBC and Birmingham City University (BCU) have today announced a strategic partnership to equip the next generation of media professionals with the practical skills and industry experience needed to succeed in the UK's rapidly evolving creative industries. It directly advances BCU’s Strategy for 2030 and Beyond, which commits the University to developing talent for tomorrow, powering regional prosperity and acting as an exemplar anchor institution and creative partner of choice for industry.
Paisley Museum now set to open in early 2027
Paisley Museum will reopen to the public early in 2027, with the fit-out and install programme due to complete by the end of this year. It will also act as an anchor institution for Paisley – attracting visitors to the wider area, supporting local businesses and the economy, and strengthening the town’s national and international profile
Barr Foundation Grant Supports Music Center’s Roxbury Expansion
The Barr Foundation stated that it is proud to support CMCB’s efforts to become an anchor institution in Nubian Square. The school currently serves approximately 2,500 students weekly, and its 50 staff members anticipate playing a key role in the community’s cultural landscape.
Research & Publications
A Brief History of Community Schools
This brief traces the origins and development of the community schools movement and various models. The authors, Ira Harkavy, PhD, Cory Bowman, and Rita A. Hodges, EdD, of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania, and Richard M. Gordon IV, assistant superintendent of Learning Network 14 with the School District of Philadelphia, draw on their experience in community schools, higher education, and K–12 education to provide context for the movement’s development and current approaches. Gordon previously led Paul Robeson High School, a university assisted community school, and was named the 2021 National Principal of the Year.
More than an anchor: a case study of one higher-education institution's commitment to community sustainability and upward mobility through institutional engagement, community partnerships, and student services
In the modern era of higher education in the United States, core universities-particularly those located in urban centers-have increasingly assumed the role of anchor institutions. Using a case analysis approach, the study demonstrates that intentional resource coordination and sustained commitment can generate meaningful long-term effects on social and upward mobility within underserved urban communities.
London Calling: Devolution and the London Living Wage Campaign
This article examines the role of devolution in shaping employment relations through a case study of the Living Wage inLondon. Drawing on a mixed methods approach it explores the rationale and methods by which the Greater London Authorityhas promoted fair pay despite possessing limited direct legislative power. The article identifies five key mechanisms; its role asan employer, soft regulation, procurement, institution‐building, and ideological leadership, and evaluates their effectiveness inpromoting Living Wage adoption in the capital.
If you have updates about your work, resources, or articles that you would like to share with the AITF network, please email Mala Coomar at mala.c@margainc.com.
Marga Inc. P.O. Box 4565 New York, NY 10163 Phone: (212) 979-9770 | Fax: (917) 591-1547