Explore by honoree:
- Bracuí Community Engagement Partnership: History, Memory, and Justice
- Data Justice for Pittsburgh's Black Neighborhoods
- Social Medicine Fellows Program
Bracuí Community Engagement Partnership: History, Memory, and Justice
University Center for International Studies Center for Latin American Studies, Associação dos Remanescentes Quilombolas de Santa Rita do Bracuí, AfrOrigins
The Bracuí Community Engagement Partnership is a long-term collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh and the Quilombo of Bracuí, a community of descendants of enslaved Africans located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Active for more than two decades, the partnership is anchored through Pitt's Center for Latin American Studies in the University Center for International Studies, the Associação dos Remanescentes Quilombolas de Santa Rita do Bracuí, and AfrOrigins.
Rooted in the Passados Presentes Project, the partnership began in 2004 with the collection of oral histories from descendants of the last generation of enslaved Africans in Brazil. Over time, it expanded to include digital archives, on-site exhibitions, cell phone-based educational tours, and a collaborative mapping project that documents historically significant sites within the quilombo. Today, the community welcomes hundreds of visitors annually and actively leads guided tours of its own heritage sites.
A defining feature of this partnership is its unwavering commitment to community voice and shared authority. Quilombo members are not research subjects; they are co-creators and partners. Community leaders help set research priorities, shape how history is documented and presented, and contribute directly to ongoing archaeological work surrounding the slave ship Camargo, which sank near Bracuí in 1852. Community members have even been trained as divers to participate in underwater research.
The partnership's impact extends well beyond scholarship. Collaborative research supported the community's successful pursuit of official quilombo recognition and continues to advance land rights and reparations efforts. Pitt students and faculty gain hands-on, ethical field experience, while the community builds lasting capacity through training, increased visibility, and expanded access to funding. With more than $445,000 in grant support and contributions to internationally traveling museum exhibitions, the Bracuí partnership stands as a model of reciprocal, community-centered engagement—one built on trust, shared responsibility, and a common commitment to justice.
Data Justice for Pittsburgh's Black Neighborhoods
University Center for Social and Urban Research, School of Medicine, School of Public Health, Black Equity Coalition, City of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon Create Lab, Larimer Consensus Group, UrbanKind Institute
Data Justice for Pittsburgh's Black Neighborhoods is a community-driven initiative led by the Black Equity Coalition (BEC) in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh, the City of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University's Create Lab, the Larimer Consensus Group, the UrbanKind Institute, and independent health professionals.
The initiative grew out of the BEC's Data Justice Working Group, formed in April 2020 to track COVID-19 data equity across the region, and was formally created in 2023 after the working group received a $1.25 million grant from the de Beaumont Foundation. The initiative works to build decision-making power for Black Pittsburghers who have historically been excluded from conversations about how data is collected, used, governed, and disseminated.
The initiative operates through two interconnected programs. The Community Data Justice Collaborative engages 18 residents citywide in shaping the City of Pittsburgh's emerging data governance policies—directly influencing how the city defines data worker competencies, prioritizes data releases, and approaches data privacy. The Neighborhood Power Building Program works with 18 Larimer residents through a workshop series connecting health equity, built environment improvements, and community advocacy.
This initiative has been able to incorporate qualities of respect, reciprocity, and mutual benefit in planning the initiative and design and delivery of activities for residents, City officials, and community partners. Community members are centered in the work, acting as peers and subject matter experts to help guide workshop topics and ensure that community needs are prioritized. Through transparency and community participation, the initiative has worked to create an infrastructure for residents to hold the City accountable in their data practices and delivery of services.
Social Medicine Fellows Program
School of Medicine, Healthy Village Learning Institute, Braddock Youth Project, Casa San Jose, JADA House International, Oasis Project, Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh, Youth Sports in the Hill
The Social Medicine Fellows Program (SMFP) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is a year-long experiential training program that prepares medical students to become leaders who bridge the gap between academic medical institutions and underserved communities. Launched in 2017 from student advocacy, the program has trained 102 fellows to date across six historically marginalized Pittsburgh neighborhoods: Braddock, Hazelwood, Hill District, Homewood, McKeesport, and South Hills.
Fellows are paired with community organizations including the Healthy Village Learning Institute, Braddock Youth Project, Casa San Jose, JADA House International, the Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh, and Youth Sports in the Hill. The program is intentionally phased: fellows begin by volunteering at community events and hosting health education workshops and screenings, allowing them to build trust before co-designing a longer-term project aligned with the organization's mission. Examples include monthly healthy cooking classes in Braddock, home health visits for Homewood residents, postpartum education workshops in South Hills, and a medical career exploration course for eighth graders in the Hill District.
Community partnership is central to SMFP's design. Rather than imposing academic priorities, fellows follow community-identified needs and work alongside the organizations they serve. Through a warm handoff, graduating fellows formally transition their relationships to incoming cohorts, ensuring continuity and minimizing disruption for partners who depend on the program's sustained presence.
The benefits flow both ways. Community organizations gain reliable, skilled volunteers and expanded programming capacity. Medical students gain firsthand exposure to the social determinants of health, building the empathy, adaptability, and advocacy skills that classroom learning alone cannot provide. In doing so, SMFP is shaping a generation of physicians who are as prepared to navigate systemic barriers as they are to practice medicine.