Center for Youth and Communities
The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University
From the Director
It is a great privilege and a great adventure to serve as Director of this university-based, community focused enterprise and I invite you to explore and discover the people, projects and mission that make it so.
The mission driven work of the Center – preparing youth for education, work and life – has stayed relevant over the past 30+ years as the broad field of youth and community development grew from an “emerging field” to a “maturing profession.” Along the way, we have shaped policy and practice during six White House Administrations. With deep roots and a legacy of evaluation research and capacity building projects in youth employment, education, service learning, college access, citizen leadership and community youth development, the Center is well positioned to address the next generation of challenges – and they are great.
So, if you are a potential client scanning our website, dive into our archives and explore our people and projects to evaluate our qualifications and track record. If you are a student or applicant to one of our degree programs, check out our teaching faculty and staff. If you are curious about how I came to this great place and why I do what I do, take a look at my article in the Brandeis Magazine titled "The View from Val-Kill: Walking in Eleanor Roosevelt’s scholarly footsteps."
"The Center for Youth and Communities: Making Knowledge Productive for 30+ Years"
Susan P. Curnan and the staff of the Center for Youth and Communities welcome new Senior Program Associate/Segal Program Director Susie Flug-Silva! (Read on for more)
The Center is partnering with Heller colleagues at the Relational Coordination Research Collaborative. For more on Center partners, see our Partners and Funders page.
THE BRANDEIS THINK TANKS
Brandeis hosts the first-ever Think Tank for Faculty Senate Leaders in New England
Faculty Senate, Brandeis University - Resolution Supporting Change, Equality and Justice in Response to #FordHall2015 Movement (Dec. 1, 2015)
Topic Briefs on High Impact Investments
Created in partnership with the Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy:
Briefs on Employing Youth with Disabilities and Trauma Histories
Research briefs from Center for Youth and Communities:
Employment for Youth with Disabilities: Past Challenges and Future Opportunities by Marji Erickson Warfield, Susan P. Curnan, Susan Lanspery, Della M. Hughes
and
Employment for Youth with Trauma Histories: Lessons from Research and Experience by Lisa A. LaCava, Susan Lanspery, Susan P. Curnan, Della M. Hughes
CYC FEATURED PROJECTS
Creating New Pathways to Postsecondary Education for Former Dropouts
With grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Social Innovation Fund, and New Profit, Inc., the Center is working with more than 30 national and local organizations to create a pathway to and through college for former dropouts by establishing partnerships between community-based education programs and community colleges. Please see our latest report on the study, “Creating New Pathways to Postsecondary: Evaluation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Postsecondary Success (PSS) Initiative” (and Executive Summary). (More about our work with the Gates Foundation.)