Community Engagement, Collective Impact

Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health was proud to be named the country's top school for community-engaged public health work by the Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), the leading organization representing schools and programs of public health around the world, in 2018.

“We were the inaugural recipients of the Harrison Spencer Community Service Award, which was created by ASPPH in honor of a renowned public health leader who headed the organization for many years,” said Ana Diez Roux, MD, PhD, MPH, who was the dean at the time of the award. “Community engagement and the translation of evidence into action are core to our mission, so we were truly thrilled to be the first recognized for this by the ASPPH.” 

“Drexel’s level of community engagement is exceptional,” said Laura Magaña, PhD, MS, president and CEO of ASPPH. “The depth and breadth of their work with the Philadelphia community is astonishing and reflects the commitment the school and its faculty, staff and students have for the region they serve. Their work is a model for others in the academic public health community.”

Work from faculty, students and staff, along with affiliated research centers, were highlighted in the application for this award, which was put together chiefly by Jennifer Kolker, MPH, clinical professor of Health Management & Policy at Dornsife.

“Our school was founded as a ‘school without walls’ and has maintained a fundamental commitment to community service and, particularly, to our partnerships here in Philadelphia,” Kolker said. “Being recognized by our peer institutions and the ASPPH for this work is something that we are very proud of.”

In the spirit of community service, the award carries a $5,000 prize for the winner to grant to a community organization. The Dornsife School of Public Health chose Prevention Point Philadelphia, a non-profit that provides services to those living with addiction, particularly involving opioids.

Often, professors from the school will partner with Prevention Point Philadelphia for research. Dornsife students get involved with the organization for experiential learning and community service. 

“Our partnership with the Dornsife School of Public Health is long-standing and provides research and educational opportunities that benefit our community,” said Jose Benitez, who was executive director of Prevention Point at the time of the award. “This funding will go to assist in meeting our mission by providing overdose prevention training, Narcan distribution, shelter for the homeless, case management services, food for the hungry, medically assisted treatment and syringe services.”

In every aspect, the Dornsife School of Public Health emphasizes community.

In their first year, Master’s of Public Health (MPH) students are matched with one of the more than 100 organizations that partner with the school to get an in-depth practice experience in their field. Many master’s students also do a practice again in their second year. In addition, students engage in regular service and volunteer activities with our community partners, such as Prevention Point Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

On the Dornsife faculty side, well over half take part in community service or practice, with roughly 30 percent serving in a leadership role in Philadelphia-based organizations including Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Latino Health Collective, and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. 

Community service efforts are often run through a number of research centers and programs affiliated with the Dornsife School of Public Health. This includes: 

• The Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice, which strives to help young people — especially young men — in cities deal with the consequences of violence
• The Center for Hunger-Free Communities, which leads various initiatives aimed at understanding and reducing poverty and food insecurity
• The Center for Firefighter Injury Research and Safety Trends (known as FIRST), which conducts in-depth studies on the health and safety of firefighters and paramedics
• The Drexel Urban Heath Collaborative, which generates policy-relevant evidence on health in cities

The 2024 issue of the Dornsife School of Public Health annual magazine spotlighted ways that our school's faculty, students, staff, and alumni continue to bring our mission to life through community-engaged public health work. Our growth in research in the past few years is a "recognition of our school’s long track record of partnering with communities and organizations to improve the health of populations," said Dean Gina Lovasi.

The legacy of the Harrison Spencer Community Service Award is that it “re-energized our school to keep doing what we are doing — and to do even more,” said Diez Roux.