Robert E. Brown is an associate director of the Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED), Michigan State University Outreach and Engagement. He brokers, facilitates, and participates in university/community partnerships that are scholarly, community-based, collaborative, responsive, and capacity-building for the public good. Staffing the CCED Flint Office, Brown works with community partners across multiple sectors to:
- Co-create systemic engagement platforms that link science and community wisdom for transformational change
- Co-create collaborative platforms with action protocols - iterative, strategic action across community and academic networks
- Frame and operationalize engagement within developmental and ecological contexts
- Co-create collective impact by combining human development, community development, and economic development
Brown is a husband and father (his son Desmond is in the 5th grade), is a resident of the great city of Flint and, a Board Member of WOW Outreach. He is also a core team member of the national Strategic Doing Institute, and helped to found Neighborhoods Without Borders, a network of Flint folks working to dismantle systemic and institutional racism.
Brown has a master’s degree in public administration from Western Michigan University.
Recent Publications
McNall, M. A., Brown, R. E., Barnes-Najor, J. V., Doberneck, D. M., & Fitzgerald, H. E. (2015). Systemic engagement: Universities as partners in systemic approaches to community change. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 19(1), 7-32.
Recent Reports
Brown R. (2012, May). Neighborhoods Without Borders: Strategic Doing case study. West Lafayette, IN: Strategic Doing National Design Team.
Brown, R. (2012, January). Infancy to Innovation whitepaper. Lansing, MI: Capital Area Infancy to Innovation.
Recent Presentations
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(May 2016)
Despair and hope: The story of Strategic Doing in Flint
Brown, Robert E.
Presented at the National Strategic Doing Conference
University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama
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(September 2015)
Systemic engagement: Universities as partners in systemic approaches to community change
McNall, M., Barnes-Najor, J., Brown, R. E., Doberneck, D. M., & Fitzgerald, H. E.
Paper presented at the Engagement Scholarship Consortium Annual Conference
University Park, Pennsylvania
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(December 2014)
Supporting your tribe in creating effective teams to enhance native language and culture
Barnes-Najor, J. V., Burnett, R., Kerver, J., Verdugo, M., Brown, R. E., Filimore, R., & Abramson, L.
Workshop presented at the Honoring Our Commitments to Native Families and Communities: Today and Tomorrow (2014 ACF Grantee Conference)
Washington, D.C.
