VCU’s annual Connect 2024: Community Engagement Conference to help build connections

By Brian McNeill

Community members and nonprofit organizations will connect with Virginia Commonwealth University faculty, staff, students and alumni on Nov. 1 for Connect 2024: Community Engagement Conference, an annual gathering for learning, networking and skill development.

The conference enables attendees to learn skills and principles of community engagement; see partnerships in action, with a focus on community engagement approaches to health equity; and engage in design activities to support future collaborations to meet community need.

"The goals of the conference are ground, learn, connect and address," said Shari Garmise, Ph.D., executive director for collective urban and regional impact in VCU's Division of Community Engagement, which is part of the Office of the Provost. "This means that we 1) ground our work in common principles; 2) learn about partnerships through the lens of a common topic, which this year is community engagement approaches to health equity, specifically social drivers of health; 3) connect with each other to meet common goals and share resources; and 4) address ways to work together to meet the needs we've discussed."

The conference will be held Friday, Nov. 1, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room 303 of James Branch Cabell Library, 901 Park Ave.

"We hope attendees leave with connections they can use to advance their work and goals - connections to knowledge, to people, to organizations and to resources," Garmise said.

The conference is free to attend, and lunch will be provided. To register, visit here.

The conference is hosted by VCU's Division of Community Engagement and organized by the Connect 2024 Planning Committee, which includes a long list of VCU faculty, students and staff, as well as community members, nonprofit leaders and others.

For the conference's full agenda, visit https://community.vcu.edu/dce-news-events/connect-conference/.