By Vickie Berkley, DU Grand Challenges Program Manager

Over the last year, DU Grand Challenges programming focused on building shared aspirations to improve daily living in our communities. For example, DU Grand Challenges Forums engaged nearly 200 faculty, staff, students, and community members on topics that ranged from migration and environmental sustainability to healthy development, meeting basic needs and addressing violence. The inaugural A Community Table brought together small groups of university and community change-makers on a single day to share perspectives on improving daily living in our communities.

A Community Table participants were invited to submit innovative ideas that could be tested to improve daily living. Several $1,000 A Community Table grants were awarded to test an array of project ideas, from providing technology access for low-income residents to teaching young people empathy as well as financial skills and creating inter-generational social connections.

In the year ahead, we will begin to take action to improve daily living in our communities. For example, we will launch a new grant program for undergraduate students to do community-engaged research and creative work that relates to DU Grand Challenges. Stay tuned for the release of DU Grand Challenges Advancing Community Engaged (ACE) Student Grant RFP in August.

The year ahead also marks the start of developing aspirations for increasing economic opportunity in our communities. We invite you to be part of the conversation. For example, save the date to host a conversation as part of the 2019 A Community Table on April 10, 2019.

To stay involved, we invite you to follow DU Grand Challenges Facebook group page as well as the check out the DU Grand Challenges website.