In a ceremony on March 18, Stanford honored three collaborations and a faculty member for their work connecting university research and teaching with local needs. 

The university’s Community Partnership Awards, which are coordinated by the Office of Community Engagement, recognize collaborations between Stanford and Bay Area organizations that help improve the region’s well-being. The 2025 honorees include:

• Ayudando Latinos a Soñar and the Stanford Immigrant Child Health Program, which focuses on community well-being and youth mental health.

• Partnership to Prevent and Reduce Adolescent Tobacco and Other Drug Use, a long-running prevention effort in San Mateo County schools with a particular focus on curriculum and educator training.

• Stanford-Sequoia K-12 Research Collaborative, which has co-created more than 20 research projects with local public school districts.

The Miriam Aaron Roland Volunteer Service Prize was awarded to Mark Duggan, the Wayne and Jodi Cooperman Professor of Economics at Stanford and former director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) from 2015 to 2024, for his work in mentoring and teaching students to apply economics principles to address real-world issues. The award is unique at Stanford for its focus on the significant role that public service by faculty can play in higher education – benefiting students, communities, and the faculty themselves. 

“Public service has always been core to Stanford,” said Provost Jenny Martinez. “I am inspired by the work of our faculty and students with partners in the local community.”

Roland Prize

Duggan credits his experience volunteering as a tutor in graduate school for helping him see the vital connection between research and opportunities to address societal challenges. Through his research, teaching, and mentorship, he encourages students to use economics as a tool for public good. His initiatives at SIEPR include establishing an undergraduate research assistant program that connects students with faculty, integrating service into research, and launching the California Policy Research Initiative to bridge academic research and policymaking in California. Under his leadership, SIEPR worked with the Haas Center for Public Service to provide government internships through the Cardinal Quarter program. Read more about his work.

Community Partnership Awards 

Patrick Dunkley, vice provost for institutional equity, access, and community, presented the Community Partnership Awards, which spotlight collaborations between Stanford scholars and Bay Area communities. Nominations are made by campus and community leaders, and the selection committee awards projects that demonstrate excellence in three areas: meeting a need; creatively connecting campus and community; and engaging students, staff, and/or faculty in service.

Ayudando Latinos a Soñar and the Stanford Immigrant Child Health Program received the Community Partnership Award for their collaborative efforts to support the mental health of immigrant children and bolster community well-being. | David Gonzalez

Ayudando Latinos a Soñar and the Stanford Immigrant Child Health Program

The Stanford-ALAS partnership began as a 2020 clinical collaboration in Half Moon Bay and now supports both care and advocacy in that community. The Colibrí Research Collective, created in 2024, includes a community advisory board whose research activities and other initiatives engage community voices to address health disparities, heal trauma from systemic inequities, and build leadership. 

The Partnership to Prevent and Reduce Adolescent Tobacco and Other Drug Use was recognized with the Community Partnership Award for their work to provide free training and intervention curricula to educators and parents in San Mateo County. | David Gonzalez

Partnership to Prevent and Reduce Adolescent Tobacco and Other Drug Use

Since 2017, Stanford’s REACH Lab has partnered with the San Mateo County Office of Education to provide free training and evidence-based drug prevention and intervention curricula to schools, educators, and counselors throughout the county, as well as community talks for educators and parents. The partnership links healthy decision-making to academic and life success, emphasizing drug-free living to achieve personal goals, with regular meetings and youth events. Data suggest the partnership, which has reached 40,000 students in seven years, has significantly cut adolescent drug use and empowered community members to address the crisis.

The Stanford-Sequoia K-12 Research Collaborative has co-created more than 20 research projects with local public school districts to support students in San Mateo County. | David Gonzalez

Stanford-Sequoia K-12 Research Collaborative

The partnership between Stanford’s Graduate School of Education and nine San Mateo County school districts, which began in 2016, promotes the integration of research and practice to affect the lives of students. In one project, after research revealed English learners had limited graduation rates and varying math trajectories, the Sequoia Union High School District changed ninth-grade math placement policies and course pathways, eliminating remedial pathways, and hiring instructional coaches. A randomized control trial found that ninth graders in grade-level math courses had higher completion rates in 10th-grade geometry and experienced reduced chronic absenteeism.

“These awards applaud commitment and, in some cases, life-changing initiatives the collaborations produced,” said Martin Shell, vice president and chief external relations officer. “True progress came about because our Stanford community and our neighbors came together to assess needs and guide solutions. Their work inspires all of us.”