Community Impact Pitch Challenge: Call for Community Partners
Partner with Purdue University to turn your community insights into funded, action-ready solutions!
Purdue’s Office of Engagement invites community partners to help guide and join the inaugural Community Impact Pitch Challenge. This initiative awards up to $10,000 in seed funding to new faculty-community partnerships addressing pressing local needs over a one-year project period.
Overview
Community-Identified Focus Areas
Community partners informed the challenge’s 3 focus areas:
1. Affordable Housing & Homelessness
- Including, but not limited to, addressing the growing crisis among unhoused seniors, housing supply shortages, housing for individuals with disabilities, affordable housing, filling gaps in transitional and recovery housing, and systemic prevention models.
2. Youth Development
- Including, but not limited to, solutions for high childcare costs impacting workforce participation, out-of-school youth programming, child hunger, and aligning high school graduation and apprenticeship pathways.
3. Mental Health, Trauma & Addiction Recovery
- Including, but not limited to, early emotional support interventions, loneliness reduction, trauma-informed systems, recovery housing and recovery support.
Your Invitation to Join
We are inviting community partners to help review project ideas, select the finalists, and identify any projects you’re open to being a part of.
Timeline & Key Activities
| Timeline | Key Activities |
|---|---|
| Review January 2027 | Review faculty project ideas in your chosen focus area, help select finalists, and flag proposals you are interested in joining. |
| Matchmaking February 2027 | Attend a matchmaking lunch to meet finalists. Faculty teams will then select their partner collaborators. |
| Summit Pitch Event & Award March 2, 2027 | Faculty finalists deliver short, “Shark Tank”-style pitches at the 2027 Community Impact Summit. Winning teams receive $10,000 in project funding. |
| Implementation & Support April 2027 – February 2028 | Winning teams launch their initiatives. Non-funded teams interested in moving forward access partnership consulting and facilitation from the Office of Engagement. Senior engaged faculty provide mentorship on best practices for collaborative work. |
Q&A
I don’t know any faculty members. Can I participate?
YES. This process is designed to help faculty who don’t have community partnerships connect with possible project partners like you.
I already have a partnership with a faculty member. Can they apply for this funding?
Probably not — this initiative is designed to catalyze new projects and new partnerships (or, for faculty with existing partner relationships, a proposal must demonstrate a significant deeper dive and greater measurable impact). While some of our other programs reward established partnerships, this one is about bringing new faculty collaborators to the table.
Next Steps
To join as a community reviewer and potential partner:
- Confirm approval from your organization’s executive leadership.
Email any questions to engagement@purdue.edu.