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Councils and Advisory Groups

Councils and Advisory Groups

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Inviting Community Expertise

Duke Community Affairs recognizes the immense expertise held by community members and leaders. As one of our primary methods of ensuring our work is guided by listening and learning, we seek opportunities to convene with groups regularly. 

Strategic Councils

In 2021, the university's Board of Trustees formed the Duke and Durham Today and Tomorrow Task Force to provide strategic insight into Duke’s efforts to broaden collaboration and partnerships with the Durham community. Task Force members reviewed Duke's history of engagement with the city, assessed current initiatives, and provided guidance on strategic priorities. Included among its five recommendations was the creation of strategic councils, comprised of university and community experts, in each focus area outlined in the Strategic Community Impact Plan:

The strategic councils provide a forum for co-designing solutions to community challenges through shared decision-making processes. Guided by Duke Community Affairs, the strategic councils include practitioners, representatives from the private sector, local government, and community-based nonprofits.

Strategic Councils and Advisory Groups

The Affordable Housing Council was the first to form, representing collaborations across organizations and various stakeholders to create equitable and innovative solutions for addressing the current housing challenges in Durham. With 17 members, the Affordable Housing Council developed guiding principles through a facilitated and collaborative process to identify their shared vision. 

Members include:

  • Angelique Stallings, Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce
  • Ted Heilbron, Kelley Development Company
  • Michael Rodgers, Poplar Development Company
  • Philip Azar, Neighbor, Southwest Central Durham Quality of Life Project
  • Alisa Johnson, Neighbor, Durham Neighborhoods United
  • Jane Williams, Coalition for Affordable Housing and Transit
  • Aspen Romeyn, Real Estate Team, Self Help
  • Sherry Taylor, Durham Community Land Trustees (DCLT)
  • Kimberly A Cameron, Chair City/County Planning Commission
  • Michael Pullum, City of Durham Community Development Department
  • Elinor Landess, Duke Student Affairs/Off Campus & Community Housing
  • Venus Myles, PNC Bank
  • Rich Gittings, NC Legal Services
  • Rick Larson, Durham CAN

 

Learn More about the Affordable Housing Strategic Council.

 

The Duke Center for Community Engagement is a joint effort of Duke Community Affairs and Interdisciplinary Programs in the Office of the Provost. We are grateful to the following people who have contributed support and expertise to the Center.

  • Ed Balleisen, Professor of History, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences; Senior Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Programs and Initiatives, Office of the Provost
     
  • Suzanne Barbour, Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost of Graduate Education, Graduate School
     
  • Gerald S Bloomfield, Associate Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine; Associate Director for Research, Duke Global Health Institute
     
  • John Brown, Professor of the Practice in Music, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences; Vice Provost of the Arts, Office of the Provost 
     
  • Joan Clifford, Associate Professor of the Practice of Romance Studies and Director of Duke Service-Learning, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences
     
  • Linda Coley, Senior Director of the Ormond Center, Divinity School
     
  • Andrew Foster, Kathrine Robinson Everett Clinical Professor, Director of Community Enterprise Clinic, School of Law
     
  • Alec Greenwald, Associate in Research, Program in Education, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences
     
  • Kerry L Haynie, Professor of Political Science, Dean of the Social Sciences, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences
     
  • Laura Howes, Assistant Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies and Bass Connections, Office of Interdisciplinary Studies 
     
  • Prasad Kasibhatla, Professor in the Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment
     
  • Michelle Lyn, Assistant Professor in Family Medicine and Community Health, and Chief of the Division of Family Medicine and Community Health, Duke University Health System
     
  • Steve McClelland, Executive in Residence, Pratt School of Engineering
     
  • Andrew Nurkin, Associate Professor of the Practice, Director of Hart Leadership, Sanford School of Public Policy
     
  • Deborah Reisinger, Professor of the Practice of Romance Studies, Director of Duke’s Language Outreach Initiatives, and Interim Dean of Academic Affairs, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences
     
  • Elizabeth Shapiro-Garzo, Associate Professor of the Practice of Environmental Policy and Management, Nicholas School of the Environment; Faculty Director for Engaged Scholarship, Duke University; Director for Community Engagement, Duke University Superfund Research Center; Director of the graduate Certificate in Community-Based Environmental Management
     
  • Allison Stafford, Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing, School of Nursing  
     
  • Adrienne Stiff-Roberts, Jeffrey N. Vinik Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Associate Dean for Community-Based Innovation, Pratt School of Engineering 
     
  • Geeta Swamy, Haywood Brown, MD Distinguished Professor of Women’s Health, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Associate Vice President for Research, and Vice Dean for Scientific Integrity, School of Medicine
     
  • Stelfanie Williams, Vice President for Community Affairs, Duke Community Affairs
     
  • Erin Worsham, Executive Director of Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship, Fuqua School of Business


 Learn more about the Duke Center for Community-Engaged Scholarship.

Launching in Fall 2025, the Durham Food and Nutrition Strategic Council will comprise non-Duke community members, local health agencies, community-based organizations like the Partnership for a Healthy Durham, and Duke community collaborators. This council will provide community input, policy guidance, and ensure that local priorities are maintained at the forefront of our food and nutrition security work.

The Economic Mobility Strategic Council represents partners across sectors in Durham. They are focused on improving pathways for upward mobility for Durham residents.

Members include:

  • Andy Miracle, Durham County
  • Bill DeFluvio, StepUp Durham
  • Candace Rashasa, Durham Technical Community College
  • Casey Steinbacher, Made in Durham
  • Cashmere Bentley, StepUp Durham
  • Domonique Beaudry, Duke University Graduate Student
  • Geoff Durham, Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce
  • Herb Trippett, TROSA
  • Joshua Gunn, City of Durham
  • Nicholas King, Durham Public Schools
  • Roshanna Humphrey, Justice Services Department
  • Will Eden, United Way of the Greater Triangle
  • Will Guzman, International Affairs and Community Engagement, North Carolina Central University
Education Strategic Council

The Education Strategic Council is a convening group of diverse organizations, created to harness collective expertise and resources in addressing top challenges in Durham's education system. Drawing from Duke University’s Strategic Community Impact Plan framework, the Council will focus on:

  • Creating actionable strategies to address prioritized challenges
  • Fostering collaboration and shared accountability among partners
  • Ensuring solutions are community-centered and scalable

Members include:

Brianna Kennedy
Interim Executive Director
Durham Public Schools Foundation

Kimberly Wallace
District Beginning Teacher Mentor
Durham Public Schools Office of Beginning Teacher Support and Development

Jan Riggsbee, ED.D.
Co-Founder and Director, Duke TeachHouse
Duke Program in Education

Tabitha Blackwell
Executive Director
Book Harvest

Megan McCurley
Executive Director
LEAP

Ethel Vandergriff
Education Department Manager
El Centro Hispano

Nephitearya Bailey 
Chief Program Officer
Emily K Center

Meytal Barak

Ileana K. Vink
Early Childhood Coordinator
Durham County

Anjanette Miller/Diana Ramirez
Executive Director/Chief of Staff
Echo NC

Crystal Avent
Exec. Director
Durham Literacy Center

Elena Maina
Executive Director
Student U

Vicki Leathers
Interim CEO
DCI

Kendra O'Neal
Director of Diversity & Community Engagement
Hill Center

Vincent and Sheba Lowe Brown
Owners
APlus Test Prep

Jovonia Lewis
Executive Director
EPIC

Kristen Southworth
representative
Durham Advocates for Exceptional Children

Kirsten Alfaro 
Early Childhood Integration Consultant
NC InCK

Erika Wilkins
Parent Representative

We are grateful for the service of Dewarren Langley, Executive Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Foundation.

 

The Duke Food Security Steering Committee is an in-house committee that brings together representatives from a number of Duke departments, including Community Affairs, Duke Health System, Student Affairs, Campus Sustainability, Campus Dining, Employee Health & Wellness, Facilities, and research institutes. The committee will launch in Fall 2025 and will meet quarterly to discuss the status of the Steering Committee, provide input, approve major interventions, and keep our work community-rooted and asset-based, as well as coordinate Duke's internal operations, programs, and resource distribution.

The Faith & Health Initiative, established in the fall of 2011, brings together a diverse group of faith-based leaders to improve community health by integrating health, wellness, and spirituality.

The initiative's goals are to:

  • Strengthen partnerships between faith organizations and the healthcare system.
  • Support health and wellness programs for faith leaders and their congregations.
  • Create co-create solutions to address issues identified by the communities they serve.

In June 2025, the initiative's task force was relaunched as the Duke Faith and Health Advisory Board. The board will serve as a focus group advising Duke leadership on key community health issues. The board meets quarterly.

For more information, contact Kimberly Monroe.

In 2023, Duke formed an internal transportation steering committee in response to requirements from The Joint Commission, which asks all accredited healthcare systems to address social drivers of health, including access to food and transportation. By 2024, this effort was expanded into the Transportation Strategic Council with 15 members -- including nurses, case managers, social workers, and community engagement leaders -- working to identify and address gaps in access to care caused by transportation barriers.