ASU Changing Futures: Empower community resilience
Resilience Empower community
Arizona State University is leading the charge to connect transformative academic programs, transdisciplinary research and on-the-ground experience to empower community resilience.
We understand that resilience must be fostered and maintained for communities to survive, adapt and flourish. ASU is committed to being a part of the solution. Partnering with the brightest minds and boldest advocates, we are collaborating on the ground with communities to help them withstand the environmental, social and economic impacts of today and tomorrow and operate more equitably for the benefit of all.
(Front cover) ASU’s SolarSPELL Initiative empowers offline communities globally by providing localized libraries and building the 21st century skills people need to make informed decisions, increase their selfreliance and improve their quality of life.
An in-field partner shows SolarSPELL, the world’s first solar-powered digital library, to young learners in Rwanda. SolarSPELL empowers learners in as many as 15 countries today.
This is our moment to change the future
Together, we can cultivate stronger, more abundant communities
“It behooves us all to think about what the needs are in communities and families. It’s not just helping a community, it’s helping the world.”
—Mike and Cindy Watts major supporters and namesakes for ASU’s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions
Public service program coordinator Emma Biscocho shares information about ASU’s Next Generation Service Corps and public service programs during the annual ASU Day at the Capitol in Phoenix.
“I transferred to ASU as soon as I learned about the Next Generation Service Corps, a leadership development program that helps students drive positive social impact.”
—Ivan Quintana
’22 BA in criminal justice and criminology, and public service and public policy for ASU’s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions
At ASU, the research and knowledge we cultivate is rooted in action with local and worldwide implications.
True to our charter, we are advancing research and discovery of public value and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities we serve — and we are committed to doing more. From visualizing data with Decision Theater to help communities explore solutions to complex problems, to cultivating a vibrant center of lifelong learners through the Mirabella at ASU retirement community, we are pioneering ways to help people across demographics sustain robust connections and build resilience. Across schools and disciplines, in classrooms and out in the field, we provide opportunities for ASU learners to have real impact and gain practical experience they will take with them to serve others in their future lives and careers.
Serving while learning at Watts College
Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions is a living embodiment of ASU’s charter. The largest comprehensive public service college in the nation, Watts College specialties are repeatedly ranked nationally and internationally, including the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice with the No. 2 graduate program in criminology and the School of Public Affairs with eight Top 10 graduate programs, according to U.S. News & World Report. Watts College provides students with ample opportunities to work with older adults, people with disabilities, those facing homelessness and more. Students dive into career paths that support vibrant, equitable communities, and our own neighbors benefit as they learn.
The ASU Community Collaborative is a student-run clinic located at the Westward Ho. The Collaborative provides social connection, wellness programs and enrichment opportunities for older adults and individuals with disabilities.
“Our students don’t want to wait until they graduate … they make a difference from day one, and then they take that skill and experience back to their local communities.”
—Cynthia Lietz Dean of Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions
Francisco Lara-Valencia, a professor at the School of Transborder Studies, speaks to students in one of his classes. Lara-Valencia specializes in cross-border cooperation, urban development and examining the relationships between race, ethnicity, migration, class and the environment.
Supporting communities across borders
The School of Transborder Studies — the first and only school in the country focused on U.S-Mexico transborder communities — speaks to Arizona’s unique position as a border state and ASU’s power as an educational innovator. Designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, ASU offers degrees that span political, economic and cultural emphases and supports opportunities like the Migratory Student Summer Academy, a college preparatory enrichment program for high school-aged children of migrant workers.
“Before, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I had no idea,” says Renee Cardoza Leon, Migratory Student Summer Academy alum and computer science major. “It opened my eyes about going to ASU and getting a career. It made me think bigger.”
The School of Transborder Studies prepares the next generation to make a difference where the U.S. meets Mexico and where real-world impact meets global potential.
Encouraging truthful, meaningful communication
The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication has piloted its Connecting Communities initiative to build media literacy, trust and partnership in and between communities. Helping combat isolation and misinformation, the initiative uses community-engaged reporting and audience-driven content projects as tools to make news more user-friendly and accessible. By reengaging citizens to harness the power of the media and address pressing problems, students help to build community resilience through information, clarity and connection.
“Part of the role that Cronkite plays is creating not just people who know how to produce content, but people who have the leadership capability and the knowledge of the world around them in order to play a transformative role,” explains Rebecca Blatt, senior associate dean at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Students at the Cronkite School gain real-world experience through 13 full-immersion professional programs and ASU’s partnership with more than 100 major media organizations, such as Arizona PBS.
At ASU’s Decision Theater, members of the public and affected groups are invited to take part in discussions about public policy and future planning.
Changing Futures will combine resources, ideas,
partnerships and people
to help build community strength and resilience.
The Knowledge Exchange for Resilience at ASU works at the intersection of research and action, guided by the belief that research should work to drive real change. Starting with challenges in Maricopa County, KER takes on complex questions with results that can help communities everywhere develop solutions for social, economic and environmental resilience.
Working directly with mobile home residents, KER researchers collected data on extreme heat and mobile homes in the Valley over five years, hoping to address a crisis that leaves residents disproportionately vulnerable to indoor heat deaths. Their work led to a new law Governor Katie Hobbs signed into emergency action in 2024, preventing landlords from denying tenants the right to install air conditioners or other cooling measures. KER expands ASU’s learning laboratory to the communities we work in with projects that make a real difference now and provides data and insights with potential to change the world.
“[This project is] an inspiring example of what can happen when you work on the issues that come from the community … This is what the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience was established for. This is what the ASU Charter was established for,” says Patricia Solis, executive director of KER.
Together, we are Changing Futures
Volunteers, including ASU staff members, load a truck with DIY air filters to deliver to those impacted by wildfires in Los Angeles. The filters help reduce the negative impacts of smoke indoors.
Join us
ASU is committed to working in partnership with communities to their maximum benefit. Recently awarded the Leadership for Public Purpose designation by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, we will continue to enhance our societal impact for the good of our students, communities and the world.
Through your support for this campaign, you can say “yes” to healthy communities and the resilience that fortifies and empowers them. You can put the power of research, compassion and knowledge into action for the good of all.
ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities it serves.
