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Our Mission

The Vic '63 and Bobbi Samuels '63 Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation (COMPACT) at Brandeis University brings together scholars, activists, students, practitioners, and community partners to work collaboratively to create a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.

“Legally Black” was a January 20th event that aimed to uplift the voices of BIPOC legal professionals in the Greater Boston area and connect them with Brandeis students. It was organized by Efosa Ologbosere '27, who is a Segal Fellow and Brandeis ENACT student and was a 2024-25 COMPACT Samuels Scholar. The event was co-hosted by ENACT and the Legal Studies Program.

The event featured panelists Desiree Murphy, a Senior Legal Counsel for Labor and Employment Law at CVS Health; Schuyler Hogan, Legal Counsel of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security; Mass NOW board president Naitasia Hensey; and Barbara Dortch-Okara, retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge and Brandeis Class of 1971. The well-attended panel was moderated by Jonathan Allen, the Cofounder and Director of Development at Leadership Brainery.

“Legally Black was a powerful reminder of what happens when we create space for honest storytelling and expansive possibility,” says Allen. “The students showed up with curiosity, courage, and imagination — and left with a clearer sense of their own capacity to define success on their own terms. The conversations elevated diverse legal pathways while affirming students’ agency, brilliance, and right to dream boldly — credit to Efosa and the collaborative leadership who made this moment possible.”

COMPACT is so proud of this Samuels Scholar alum!

Rachel Weiss, Kim Avila, Monica Claros, Zahira Ramirez Caceres, Elise Kney, Emma Weston, Tony Thein.

Photo credit: Kaitie Chakoian

Students in CESP 189a Community Engagement Capstone: Connecting Theory and Practice, taught by Professor Kaitie Chakoian, visited Prospect Hill Community Foundation to launch their CESP Capstone projects. Students will be conducting a volunteer program evaluation and a strategic community research project this spring. They were hosted by Tony Thein, Brandeis employee and Treasurer of Prospect Hill's Board of Directors.

Community Engaged Scholars Program

Open to students in any major, the Community Engaged Scholars Program (CESP) is an academic program that connects our students' commitment to community engagement directly to their studies. It will provide students with the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to serve as ethical, respectful, and responsible agents of service and of social change in their local, national and global communities.

Open to students in any major, the CESP program builds connections between the curriculum and co-curriculum, creates a cohort of undergraduates committed to community service and civic engagement, and enables them to benefit from community-connected teaching, learning and research. Students who complete the program will receive a notation on their transcript as recognition of their accomplishments.



For more information contact Sally Warner, COMPACT's director.

Global Community Engagement Events

Family Album

Ukranian Documentary Screening

March 1, 2026, 7:00-9:00 pm

Wasserman Cinematheque

Fly Me to The Moon

Documentary Screening

March 5, 2026, 4:00 pm

Mandel G03

Ayala

Concert

March 14, 2026, 7:00-9:00 pm

Levin Ballroom

"A SEAT at the Table: Storytelling, Policy, and Law in a Precarious Higher Education Landscape": a presentation by Cameron Samuels, Banned Books Week's 2022 inaugural Youth Honorary Chair

Cameron Samuels is a Samuels Scholars alum!

Thursday, March 19

Rapaporte Treasure Hall (in the Library)

2:30 - 3:40 pm

Taste of the Land

Documentary Screening and Discussion

March 29, 2026, 11:00 am -1:00 pm

Wasserman Cinematheque

Ojakh, on the Other Side of the Silence

Documentary Screening

April 26, 2026, 12 pm

Wasserman Cinematheque

ENACT Events

ENACT Student Summit

Tuesday, April 21

7:00-8:00pm

Open to ENACT-affiliated students, alumni, faculty and staff. Register to attend.

ENACT Networking and Career Exploration Night

Tuesday, April 21

8:00-9:00 pm

Open to ENACT-affiliated students, alumni, faculty and staff. Register to attend.

COMPACT is delighted to share a variety of community engagement resources with our students, faculty, staff, and community partners.

Maurice and Fay Karpf Peace Prize Award

The Maurice and Fay Karpf Peace Prize Award supports undergraduate research and travel for projects "...involving contributions to the subject of promotion of universal peace, goodwill, tolerance, and understanding among peoples of the earth."

Deadline for Summer 2026 Undergraduate Research Fellowship funding: March 11, 2026

Summer fellowship projects require a student's intensive commitment of 7-10 weeks over the summer. Student awardees will receive a $5,000 fellowship. Students must have a Brandeis faculty mentor who will support their research experience.

The Brandeis ENACT Research and Advocacy Fellowship

The ENACT Research and Advocacy Fellowship affords Brandeis students the opportunity to collaborate with a group of their peers to learn fundamental research and advocacy skills necessary for multi-level policy change. Together, the 2025-2026 Fellows will 1) complete CITI training, 2) conduct on campus research during the fall semester and 3) implement a change project based on their research in the spring semester.

The 2026-2027 Research and Advocacy Fellowship is welcoming Master’s in Public Policy (MPP) students to apply in addition to undergraduate students. MPP students from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management will work alongside Brandeis undergraduate students as well as serve in a mentorship capacity. Together, the undergraduate and graduate Fellows will be under the mentorship of ENACT staff/faculty member, Charlotte Powley. This fellowship is compensated through a stipend of $1000 per semester. The application deadline is Sunday, March 15, 2026.

Newman Civic Fellowship

The Newman Civic Fellowship is a year-long program that recognizes and supports student public problem solvers at Campus Compact member institutions. Fellows are nominated by their president or chancellor based on their potential for public leadership and their work with communities.

Throughout the fellowship year, Campus Compact provides students with opportunities to nurture their assets and help them develop strategies for social change—creating a network of connected and engaged student leaders who can support one another in making positive change. To learn more about the program components, check out the Campus Compact website! Applications are due March 22, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.

Please email Sally Warner (COMPACT's director) with any questions!

Undergraduate Student Community Engaged Mini Grant

The COMPACT Undergraduate Student Mini Grant provides up to $500 in funding to support an undergraduate-led community-engaged project that advances the priorities of a community organization and creates positive social impact. This is a great opportunity for students to build their civic leadership skills, benefit from faculty mentorship, and prepare for larger-scale civic funds and programs such as the Newman Civic Fellowship, Davis Projects for Peace, and other pathways for community engagement. 

Mandel Community Fellowships

The Mandel Center for the Humanities seeks to foster collaboration between humanists at Brandeis and the greater Waltham community, by offering a series of Mandel Community Fellowships to facilitate engagement with institutions across Waltham.

These project-based fellowships offer graduate students in the humanities with an opportunity to hone professional development skills with community organizations. Each fellowship comes with a small stipend. These fellowships are meant to add-value to ongoing projects at cultural institutions in the Waltham and Greater Waltham area, while serving as professional development opportunities for graduate students in the humanities at Brandeis. We have fellowships with the Waltham Library, We are Waltham, Waltham Museum, Charles River Museum for Industry and Innovation and other organizations, focused on media, event planning and public programming.

Please contact Esha Senchaudhuri (esenchaudhuri@brandeis.edu) if you would like to discuss. 

Community Engaged Pedagogy (CEP) Fund

Brandeis faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars in any discipline who center community engaged pedagogies in their undergraduate or graduate courses at Brandeis are invited to apply to the COMPACT Community Engaged Pedagogy Fund. The two grants available through this fund support recipients in bringing ethical, reciprocal and sustainable community engagement into Brandeis classrooms.

Community Engaged Pedagogy (CEP) Project Grants

This grant offers up to $3,000 in funds for community engaged research or creative projects that will be conducted in a Brandeis course. Applications for CEP Project Grants for fall 2026 courses will be due in August.

Community Engaged Pedagogy (CEP) Mini Grants

The Community Engaged Pedagogy Mini Grant offers up to $500 in funding to bring community partners to campus as guest speakers in a class (e.g., honoraria), to bring students off campus for a specific community engaged project or event or to conduct small-scale community engaged research or creative projects in a Brandeis course. Grant applications for AY 25-26 are being accepted on a rolling basis, for as long as funds remain available.

Community Engaged Research (CER) Fund

Brandeis faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars and students in any discipline whose research or creative activity addresses the questions, issues, and/or needs of a community partner — whether at the local, state, regional, national or global level — are invited to apply to the COMPACT Community Engaged Research Fund. The two grants available through this fund support recipients in building ethical, reciprocal, and sustainable research and creative projects with community partners.

Community Engaged Research (CER) Project Grants

The Community Engaged Research Project Grant offers up to $3,000 in seed funding for community engaged research projects. The upcoming deadline for proposal review is March 13, 2026.



This grant is available to faculty, staff and postdoctoral fellows. Preference will be given to proposals that:

1. include at least one undergraduate or graduate student research assistant;
2. articulate how this opportunity will be used as seed funding to develop a sustainable, long-term partnership; and
3. include a clear plan for assessing project outcomes.

Community Engaged Research (CER) Mini Grants

The Community Engaged Research Mini Grant offers up to $500 to support development and/or implementation of a small-scale community engaged research project. Grant applications for AY 25-26 are being accepted on a rolling basis, for as long as funds remain available.

This grant is available to faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, and both undergraduate and graduate students. Students' applications must include a letter of support from a faculty advisor who will provide mentorship for their project.

COMPACT Event Co-sponsorship

COMPACT invites applications for funds to co-sponsor on-campus or virtual events. Our funds are to support events that include a community partner, are open to community members (i.e., from beyond campus), and/or advance community engagement in a meaningful way. The funds will be distributed on a first-come first-served basis.

Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize

The Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize was created by the late Professor Joseph B. Gittler to recognize outstanding and lasting scholarly contributions to racial, ethnic and/or religious relations. The Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Endowed Fund at Brandeis University supports this annual award.

The award includes a cash prize of $25,000 and a medal. The prize and medal are presented at a ceremony that includes a reception and a public lecture by the recipient on the Brandeis University campus.

The Gittler Prize is hosted by The Vic ’63 and Bobbi Samuels ’63 Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation (COMPACT) on behalf of the Office of the President and Office of the Provost.

Nominations for the 2026 Gittler Prize are due by March 4, 2026. 

Nominate by April 1st, 2026:

The Justice Brandeis Practitioner-In-Residence Limited Series

Hosted by COMPACT and ENACT in celebration of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, the Justice Brandeis Practitioner-In-Residence series will highlight the knowledge and experience developed by the Ethics Center and will expose the Brandeis campus community to spheres of activity that have only become more critical to our interconnected world over recent years. During the one-day residency, the visiting practitioner will interact with students, faculty and staff through class visits, workshops, lectures, and other opportunities. Practitioners will receive a $10,000 honorarium.

Community Partnerships Interest Form

Are you interested in working with the Brandeis community, such as hiring a student intern, supporting student volunteers, or receiving support for a research project? Fill out the Community Partnerships Interest Form to start! This will give us an idea of the type of partnership you are looking for, including additional resources and opportunities. Once we receive your form, staff from COMPACT will reach out to you.

General COMPACT Resources for Community Partners:

• Community Partnership Resources
• Community Partnerships Interest Form
• “Community Partner News and Events” CampusGroups Page

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