Community Engagement and Public Service Activities

The CWRU Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) serves as the community representative to University leadership and advises on relevant issues, programs and projects that significantly impact people in East Cleveland and Cleveland neighborhoods around campus. The NAC is a 20-member body composed of community members, students, and representatives from Case Western Reserve and local community organizations.

Working together to root and grow a local food system that works for all.

The Nourishing Power Network is part of the Nourishing Neighborhoods, Empowering Communities study conducted by Case Western Reserve University in partnership with Neighborhood Connections and The FARE Project. This study is testing ways to transform food systems by bridging community power with organizational power to spark and expand food justice initiatives led by the community.

The Nourishing Power Network consists of four components:

• Advisory Council
• Networking
• Fellowship
• Nutrition Equity Fund

What do we hope to learn together through the Network? 

• If we cultivate welcoming spaces for community building, will it spark and expand food justice in Greater Cleveland?
• If we support community-led action with financial and technical resources, will it tip the food system to fairness?
• If we root and grow community ownership of local food systems, will it promote equity, vibrancy, and holistic health?

The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center represents the cancer research interests of our community. The Case CCC consortium includes Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, and Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute. The Case CCC CAB comprises over 25 members representing the diversity of communities in the 15-county catchment area of the Case CCC. The CAB is charged with guiding cancer center research and outreach actitivities based on CAB-informed priorities. 

Michele Tracy Berger is the Eric and Jane Nord Family Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and director of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University. She has a secondary appointment in the Department of English. Her short fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction has appeared in 100 Word Story, Apex Magazine, Glint Literary Journal, The Wild Word, Blood and Bourbon, FIYAH: Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Midnight and Indigo, Oracle: Fine Arts Review, Carolina Woman, Ms., and various anthologies.

Isis Asare is the CEO/Founder of Sistah Scifi. Sistah Scifi is the first Black-owned bookstore focused on science fiction and fantasy in the United States as validated by the American Booksellers Association. Located in cyberspace, Sistah Scifi is a national brand with over 40K points of contact. In February 2023, the first three Sistah Scifi Book Vending Machines were launched in California and Washington. 

This event will feature Berger and Asare in conversation about Afrofuturism, Black women writing speculative fiction, themes in Doll Seed including freedom and sacrifice, trust and betrayal, otherness, and intersections of identity. Berger will read from the collection and they will participate in audience Q&A.