Strategic Partnerships & Community Engagement

The Strategic Partnerships & Community Engagement (SPACE) Office at BU Wheelock promotes and facilitates community engagement and advocacy through strategic partnerships across our district, city, and state, as well as nationally and internationally. We are dedicated to building strong partnerships with Boston Public Schools, promoting systemic transformation in the City of Boston, strengthening education and human development in the state of Massachusetts, and participating in projects with national and international impact.

Our partners bring unique value to our relationships: We help each other meet our strategic goals and work to deepen both our and our partners’ impact. Together, we strive for systemic and social justice-oriented change.

How do we define strategic partnerships?

Strategic partnerships describe authentic collaboration with local, regional/state, national, and global organizations, government agencies, educational institutions, and other entities in the public and private sectors. BU Wheelock’s strategic partnerships are one of the ways we enact community engagement and advocacy work. Learn more about our community engagement and read about some of the impacts of this work.

What do we hope to achieve through our strategic partnerships?

Our goal is to work with our partners to bring about systemic transformation across the education and human development field. We aim to do this through authentic collaboration and sustainable and reciprocal partnerships.

What constitutes a strategic partnership?

Partnerships exist in many different forms. From a research-practice partnership with a school, district, or educational agency to a faculty leadership position on a non-profit board to the contribution of research to advocate for change at the local, state, or national level. Strategic partnerships usually involve multiple faculty members active in initiatives involving both research and practice aimed at addressing critical societal issues and striving for systemic change. 

Explore a Potential Partnership

Are you a community partner that would like to become involved in BU Wheelock’s community engagement and advocacy work? Reach out to the SPACE Office at buspace@bu.edu to share your partnership priorities so we can connect you with the right faculty member(s). 

Faculty members seeking to expand their community partnership work can get in touch with the SPACE office to share their aspirations and learn more about potential partners for their work.

Stay Up to Date

Get news about BU Wheelock’s community engagement and strategic partnerships. Sign up for the SPACE Office E-Newsletter.

Our Team

Internal Advisory Group

  • Olivia Chi, Assistant Professor
  • Meagan Comb, Assistant Dean, Executive Affairs and Executive Director, Wheelock Educational Policy Center
  • Hank Fien, Director, Wheelock Institute for the Science of Education and the National Center on Improving Literacy, and Nancy H. Roberts Professor of Educational Innovation
  • Edson Filho, Associate Professor
  • Katherine Frankel, Associate Professor and Chair, Language & Literacy Education
  • Lisa Ijiri, Clinical Professor and Senior Advisor to the Dean
  • Amy M. Lieberman, Associate Professor and Director, Doctoral Studies
  • Pipier Smith-Mumford, Senior Lecturer and Field Director, EdD Program
  • V. Scott Solberg, Professor
  • Eleonora Villegas-Reimers, Clinical Professor and Chair, Teaching & Learning Department