Community Partnerships

Our mission
The Center for Community Partnerships (CCP) helps campus and external partners develop, execute and assess a variety of projects and initiatives, creating a framework at RISD for responsible engagement.
The work of the CCP seeks to make RISD’s assets, opportunities, skills and knowledge accessible to diverse communities while deepening the understanding of responsible civic and academic engagement among students, faculty, staff and alumni.

CCP areas of impact
In connecting RISD students, faculty, curators and leaders with people and organizations locally and worldwide, we help advance RISD’s mission to serve the greater good through art and design education and practice, and extend and amplify the impact of our strategic vision.
Economic Impact Report
RISD enjoys a mutually beneficial relationship with the city of Providence, which is also known as the Creative Capital. This is based on shared goals: to enrich local culture and bolster quality of life in Rhode Island’s urban center. Each year RISD publishes an economic impact report to highlight the variety of ways we contribute to the city.
2019 Economic Impact Report
Learn how RISD directly supports the local economy, creates quality of place in Providence and engages with the community through various initiatives and programming.
Center leadership
Supported by the Community Engagement Advisory Committee and with input from across the institution, Executive Director Bethany Costello and Assistant Director Claudeline Chery lead the CCP. Together they develop near- and longterm strategies to increase awareness of RISD’s mission, goals and agendas. Additionally they work with internal and external stakeholders to steward new and existing community partnerships in support of RISD’s civic engagement efforts.
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Christina Alderman, Assistant Director of Family and Teen Programs
Jennifer Bissonette, Interim Director, Nature Lab
Soul Brown, Director, Research
Sarah Caggiano, Executive Director of Continuing and Expanded Education
Claudeline Chery, Assistant Director, Community Development
Shana Cinquemani, Department Head of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design
Deborah Clemons, Assistant Director of Academic and Public Programs
Bethany Costello (chair), Director of Community Relations
Kelsey Elder, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design
Karen Harris, Internship Manager, Career Center
Kate Irvin, Curator of Costume and Textiles, RISD Museum
Jade Johnson, Assistant Director, Diversity Programs
Tony Johnson, Assistant Dean of Student Social Equity and Inclusion
Alicia Luzon, Talent Acquisition Partner
Jennifer Recinos, Assistant Director, First-Generation Student Support
Suzanne Scanlan, Senior Lecturer in Theory and History of Art of Design
Jonenica Wood, Executive Director of Alumni and Family Relations
Wendy Zhuo, studentSTUDENT ADVISORS
Malika Abbajadel
Raghav Rmadya Aggarwal
Ben Roland
Mei Zheng
Viola TanK–12 Committee
Lauren Allen, Associate Director, Project Open Door
Kameko Branchaud, Grant Writer and Administrator, Research
Soul Brown, Director, Research
Shana Cinquemani, Department Head of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design
Andrew Jacques, Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives, Continuing Education
Mariana Lefas-Tetenes, Assistant Director, School and Teacher Programs
Engaging locally and worldwide
Witness Tree 2022 Examines Conservation
Students in this year’s Witness Tree Project studio-seminar create objects out of beetle-infested maple from Vermont’s Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park.
RISD Students Design Microgravity Socks and Other Apparel for NASA Astronauts
The astronauts will wear the designs for a mission to the International Space Station in 2025.
Rethinking the Opioid Crisis
RISD’s Center for Complexity uses the studio process of inquiry, iteration and innovation to envision novel solutions to the nationwide problem.
Drawing People In
Popup installations created by students in a fall Landscape Architecture studio capture the imaginations of Providence residents.
Envisioning a More Secure Future
A multidisciplinary fall studio allows students to imagine positive solutions to looming global problems and speculate about possible paths to getting there.
What Is the Future of Cities, and How Can We Develop New Solutions for Them?
The Boston Globe reports on RISD’s collaborative research project with Hyundai Motor Group.
Reclaiming the Blackstone
Students in a cross-disciplinary fall studio interpret cultural history and use geo-textiles to restore what was once described as “America’s hardest-working river.”
What to Wear on Orion
Students in a fall Apparel Design studio construct gender-neutral capsule collections for 18 astronauts flying to the moon.