Community of Engagement

Our Community Engagement team is at the forefront of partnering with community in new ways, centering people’s lived experience, and building capacity for inclusive, equitable partnerships and solutions.

Climate Justice Co-Creation Initiative

Since 2022, the Collaboration Council has worked with community-based organizations, grassroots residents, and the Montgomery County Departments of Environmental Protection and Health and Human Services to develop the Climate Justice Co-Creation Initiative (CJCI). Learn more >

ENOUGH Initiative

Maryland’s ENOUGH Initiative, administered by the Governor’s Office for Children (GOC), focuses on communities that have been disproportionately impacted by
decades of disinvestment and harmful public policies that often systematized and reinforced race-based discrimination, limited wealth creation, and blocked pathways to economic mobility. ENOUGH stands for Engaging Neighborhoods, Organizations, Unions, Governments, and Households.

With funding under the ENOUGH Initiative, in 2025, the Collaboration Council facilitated a capacity building training series for Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and released a free practice guide for anyone working in partnerships that shares tools and strategies from the training series. Learn more >

Racial and Ethnic Disparities (R.E.D.) Committee

The Collaboration Council’s Racial and Ethnic Disparities (R.E.D.) Committee, led by the Collaboration Council in partnership with County and community partners, examines policies, practices, and programs to advance equity for youth of color. Learn more >

Wellness in Black Life Initiative

In partnership with The Brookings Institution, in 2025 we held a series of conversations with Black men from across Montgomery County as part of the Wellness in Black Life initiative (WIBL) led by scholars from Brookings in partnership with communities in Montgomery County, MD, Baltimore, MD, and Little Rock, AR. The project seeks to develop community-driven definitions of well-being for Black men and boys.

Community partner 480 Club helped to organize and gather these men with the goal of hearing from them how they define wellness, and what access to it looks like in their lives. The group was diverse in perspective and background, resulting in deeply powerful conversations and convenings.

In January 2026, we joined the Brookings Institution and 480 Club in bringing back together men who participated in the past year’s convenings to share findings from that conversation series. WIBL participants, along with other community advocates, provided reflections and feedback that will inform next steps as we continue the work of cultivating more resources and opportunities for Black men in Montgomery County to engage in wellness activities.