Regional Engagement / Colleges & Universities
Build the relationship.
Expand what’s possible.
I AM is developing regional partnerships that connect institutional strengths, scholar opportunities, and consequential research. We invite colleges and universities to help shape the work through clearly defined agreements.
Proposed national footprint · Institutional conversations welcome · Agreements developed individually
National ambition / Local relationships
A shared research home.A partnership grounded in purpose.
The value of connection
Your institution brings
strength. We build
around it.
A strong partnership starts with a specific opportunity: scholars who need methods support, a question that needs collaborators, or a community priority that deserves a rigorous study. We develop the scope together.
For scholars
More ways to develop.
Explore mentorship, paid research pathways, writing support, and intellectual exchange across institutions.
For institutions
More capacity to build.
Connect research teams with study-development support, grant collaboration, and tailored methods training.
For communities
More useful evidence.
Develop questions with local partners and plan how findings will return to the people and organizations involved.
Our organizing framework
Six regions.
One shared standard.
The map organizes outreach across the United States. Relationships will grow around participating institutions, funded projects, and locally informed priorities.
Proposed engagement footprint. The map does not indicate established offices, signed institutional agreements, or active research sites. Region boundaries are outreach groupings.
Northeast
ME · NH · VT · MA · RI · CT · NY · NJ · PA · DE · MD · DC
Discuss engagement in this region ↗Southeast
VA · WV · KY · TN · NC · SC · GA · FL · AL · MS · AR · LA
Discuss engagement in this region ↗Midwest
OH · MI · IN · IL · WI · MN · IA · MO
Discuss engagement in this region ↗Southwest
AZ · NM · TX · OK
Discuss engagement in this region ↗West
WA · OR · CA · AK · HI
Discuss engagement in this region ↗Mountain / Plains
MT · ID · WY · NV · UT · CO · ND · SD · NE · KS
Discuss engagement in this region ↗A partnership is a working relationship
Bring your strengths.
Build the next
possibility together.
Partnership models
Choose a starting point.
Build a useful scope.
These proposed models can be combined in an institutional agreement. Each initiative needs a defined lead, resources, responsibilities, and a realistic timeline.
01 / Scholar pathways
Scholar Development Partnership
Connect students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty to future fellowship opportunities, mentor exchanges, and writing support.
Define together
Shared recruitment and referral pathways; funded placements agreed separately.
02 / Methods capacity
Methods & Training Partnership
Co-design research-team training, faculty development, or a People’s Lab immersion around the institution’s needs.
Define together
Learning objectives, delivery format, participant support, and evaluation.
03 / Research collaboration
Collaborative Research Partnership
Develop studies, funding proposals, or evaluations with complementary expertise and locally informed questions.
Define together
Scientific leadership, budgets, ethics responsibilities, data arrangements, and outputs.
04 / Public exchange
Regional Convening Partnership
Host research exchanges, future summits, methods demonstrations, or public dialogues connecting scholars and communities.
Define together
Defined audience, host responsibilities, access arrangements, and production scope.
05 / Community engagement
Community Research Partnership
Bring community organizations into question development, participant engagement, and interpretation of findings.
Define together
Participation roles, compensation where budgeted, feedback, and return of findings.
An institutional partnership does not automatically confer funding, academic credit, accreditation, or access to protected data. Those arrangements require specific commitments and approvals.
From conversation to agreement
An MOU should
make the next step
clear.
A memorandum of understanding can establish the shared purpose and coordination framework. Funded projects, fellow placements, credit arrangements, or data exchange may require separate agreements appropriate to the activity.
Our proposed process starts with a focused conversation, a short concept note, and review by the people authorized to make institutional commitments.
A practical development process
Build deliberately.
Activate with clarity.
We want relationships that translate into useful work, with an identifiable next step at every stage.
Connect
Identify priorities, institutional strengths, and the people who should join the conversation.
Shape
Develop a concept note with activities, resources, intended outcomes, and a proposed timeline.
Agree
Review the MOU and identify any additional project, appointment, funding, or data agreements.
Activate & learn
Launch approved activities, review milestones, and assess what scholars and partners gain.
Institutional strengths / Shared opportunity
The next discovery
begins with connection.
Build a pathway for your scholars, a collaboration for your team, and a stronger return from the work.
Regional Partnership Representatives
Be the connection
in your region.
Our developing representative network will recruit prospective scholars, strengthen institutional relationships, and connect regional opportunities to the institute’s research team.
Recruit talent
Connect prospective fellows and People’s Lab participants with appropriate pathways.
Develop relationships
Engage colleges, universities, health systems, and community organizations.
Identify opportunities
Surface studies, grant collaborations, training needs, and funding introductions.
Keep work connected
Coordinate next steps with institute leads and participating institutions.
Representatives develop relationships and referrals. Award selection, scientific review, and institutional agreements remain with designated institute and partner authorities. Engagement terms will be discussed individually.
Do you already have partner institutions in each region?
The map is a proposed engagement framework. Confirmed partnerships will be described publicly only after an agreement is completed and public acknowledgement is authorized.
Can a partnership include university credit?
It may, if an accredited institution approves the curriculum, assessment, faculty responsibilities, and credit arrangement. An MOU alone does not create academic credit.
Can we commission research without a broader MOU?
Yes. An institution can discuss a defined research, grant-development, evaluation, or training engagement through Research & Partnerships. The agreement will reflect the scope of that work.
What should we include in an initial inquiry?
Send your institution, role, location, research or training priorities, prospective participants, timing, and any identified resources. Tell us who should be involved in the next conversation.
Colleges. Universities. Communities.
Let’s build
a partnership
worth sustaining.
Bring a question, a scholar-development priority, or an institutional strength. We will work together to identify a concrete starting point.
