Connecting Campus and Community through Community-based Service, Learning, and Research
In 2024, Sara McKinnon, a volunteer with the Community Immigration Law Center (CILC) in Madison, was assisting people with their asylum application forms. During her shift, McKinnon chatted with a staff member who said the center was having trouble maintaining consistent Spanish-speaking volunteers—a challenge for a nonprofit that relies heavily on them.
The Early Career Fellows program is a new, yearlong learning community for staff and graduate students at UW–Madison with an interest in conducting high-quality, collaborative community-engaged scholarship.
In this episode of the GridgeFridge, we sit down with Mary Beth Collins to discuss the power of community engagement, civic responsibility and preparing the next generation of changemakers through nonprofit work and advocacy.
In this episode of GridgeFridge, we sit down with Esther Kang, an assistant professor of design studies in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. With a background in art, and social and civic design, Esther has built a career rooted in exploring how design shapes communities, public participation and the systems people interact with every day.
Seventeen faculty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have been named Morgridge Fellows. The fellows were selected through a juried process to participate in the year-long learning community designed to further institutionalize and support community-engaged scholarship.
After nearly five years of visionary leadership, Dr. Travis Wright is stepping down from his role as faculty director of the Morgridge Center for Public Service.
The Morgridge Center for Public Service released its annual report highlighting the center’s activities and programs over the past year. The report details how the center lives out its mission of building a thriving democratic society by connecting campus with community through service, community-based learning and research.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison community gathered on Thursday, June 18, 2026 to celebrate an institutional milestone: receiving the Carnegie Elective Community Engagement Classification.
In this episode of GridgeFridge, we dive into how one local agricultural nonprofit organization, Rooted, runs its multifaceted mission to build community-led food systems, making fresh, quality food accessible to everyone.
The Wisconsin Idea Conference is an opportunity for community-engaged scholars across campus and the state to come together to network, share best practices and support each other’s partnerships.