May 14, 2025
MSU’s Center for Community and Economic Development Welcomes Community Engagement Specialist
Contact: Emily Springer, Communication Manager, Communication and Information Technology, University Outreach and Engagement, sprin116@msu.edu
Kevin L. Brooks named community engagement specialist with the Center for Community and Economic Development
EAST LANSING, MI— MSU’s Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED) recently named Kevin L. Brooks, Ph.D. its new community engagement specialist.
As a department within the Office of University Outreach and Engagement (UOE), CCED’s mission centers on collaborative university-community partnerships that identify local concerns and develop innovative community and economic development strategies to address them.
In this role, Brooks will liaise between communities in the greater Lansing area—Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton counties—and MSU faculty, staff, and students to enable respectful, mutually beneficial research, projects, and initiatives that further community goals.
“It’s a pleasure to welcome Dr. Brooks to this new role with CCED,” said Kwesi Brookins, vice provost for UOE. “As a division of UOE, we engage with communities across our tri-county region to identify issues of concern and implement innovative community and economic strategies to address them. Dr. Brooks will develop and sustain relationships with regional organizations and communities, contributing to best practices fir community-university partnerships.”
Brooks served as an academic specialist for diversity and civic engagement with MSU’s Residential College in the Arts and Humanities from 2015 to 2022. In this role, he designed, led, and integrated civic and community engagement activities into classrooms by establishing new partnerships to assist K-12 students in Lansing, Detroit, and Flint. Brooks most recently served as the director for the Mary V. Jordan Multicultural Center at East Tennessee State University, providing support for programs that help underrepresented, first-generation, and low-income students succeed.
Rex LaMore, director for CCED, said the center is looking forward to drawing on Brooks’ experience in community engagement. “With Dr. Brooks’ help in strengthening relationships between university and the Lansing area community, we can further our mission to improve the quality of life for our community by working with both public and private organizations in mobilizing community and university resources to support the co-creation of innovative community and economic development strategies,” he said.
Brooks earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s in physical education from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University. He also holds a master’s degree in health and kinesiology and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Purdue University.
Learn more about the Center for Community and Economic Development.
About CCED:
The Center for Community and Economic Development is committed to creating, applying, and disseminating valued knowledge through responsive engagement, strategic partnerships, and collaborative learning. They remain dedicated to co-creating sustainable prosperity and equitable economies with communities.
