Keystone Community Partnerships align the University’s resources with community-driven priorities to solve complex challenges, foster economic development, and enhance student success while contributing to Penn State’s land-grant mission.
Through Keystone Community Partnerships, Penn State Outreach works with its community partners to:
- identify and prioritize community-defined needs
- align University resources with those needs
- build transparent, mutually beneficial partnerships
- measure and refine efforts through shared outcomes and accountability
This process strengthens the impact of partnership initiatives, breaks down internal silos, and supports long-term, sustainable change at the systems level.
Keystone Community Partnerships leverage the collective resources, knowledge, and expertise of the University in collaboration with community stakeholders to address community-identified priorities throughout Pennsylvania and beyond, in an environment built on trust, support, and empowerment.
Approach and Outcomes
Keystone Community Partnerships are framed by a structured, strategic framework inspired by Stanford’s collective impact model and supported by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU). The collective impact model is designed to maximize how Outreach and its partners work together, with the goal of generating positive, transformational outcomes:
| Area for Improvement | Transformational Outcome |
|---|---|
| Siloed programs | Collaborative programs |
| Limited impact | Systems-level change |
| Funding competition | Shared funding and resources |
| Individualized metrics | Shared measurement |
| Specialized language | Common definitions |
| Inconsistent communication | Continuous communication |
| Resistance to change | Inclusive navigation |
Conditions for Success
Successful implementation of the collective impact model requires five conditions:
Common Agenda
Shared vision for change and aligned goals
Shared Measurement
Consistent data collection and evaluation metrics
Mutually Reinforcing Activities
Coordinated efforts across sectors
Continuous Communication
Open, frequent, and transparent dialogue
Strong Backbone
Dedicated support team to coordinate and sustain the work