How do community-academic partnerships grow: Navigating the decision of becoming a formal entity or remaining a volunteer-based group

CLIMB (City Life Is Moving Bodies) is a Northern Manhattan community-academic partnership founded by Columbia University affiliated faculty and local residents on the belief that safe parks and neighborhoods are essential to community health. The purpose of the partnership is to combat the problems of violence, drugs, obesity, and sedentary lifestyles by engaging local communities in creating a sense of neighborhood and park ownership. The partnership's strength is tied to the community-based, participatory approach of the CLIMB Consensus Group (CG), composed of a diverse group of community leaders, local residents, and academics, who jointly design, implement, and evaluate CLIMB's community events and research.

Since 2004, CLIMB spearheaded community engagement, empowerment, and capacity-building aiming to improve the urban built-environment. As CLIMB activities achieved milestones, the CG also realized the limitations of its capacity. The CG revisited the debate of whether or not to formalize the structure of the volunteer-driven model. Alongside the benefits of a formalized structure (i.e. nonprofit status or merger/subsidiary), concerns arose as to how this might impact CLIMB's identity and affect daily operations. After careful review and technical assistance from Columbia University, CG determined that increased infrastructure, including grant management, fundraising, and project coordination, would not only expand the program's reach but would also ensure CLIMB's sustainability of its mission to reduce neighborhood crime and obesity prevalence.

CLIMB's decision-making process may serve as a model in similar situations. Further research is needed to assess why such circumstances arise, and how community-academic partnerships can best navigate these challenging waters.