Gloria Ladson-Billings discusses community-university partnerships and COVID-19 disparities in latest Community Chats

In this episode of Community Chats, University of Wisconsin–Madison Community Relations Director Brenda González talks with professor emerita Gloria Ladson-Billings about her work with community-university engagement and the impact of COVID-19 on Black and Latinx communities in Madison and around the country. Ladson-Billings is the former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and faculty affiliate in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at UW–Madison.

“The thing you want to do as university is make sure that you don’t start your five-year plan, your strategic plan or your capital campaigns without considering the impact of this on the people in the community,” Ladson-Billings notes of community-university partnerships in the Community Chats episode.

Community Chats, a monthly discussion series that explores the many ways members of the Madison community and UW–Madison are coming together to address pressing public issues.

Developed in the spirit of the LaMarr Billups Community–University Engagement Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to campus community partnerships, Community Chats will feature leaders at the forefront of social change. Each month, they will discuss how their work is directly connecting and uplifting people in Madison and the surrounding region.

Learn more about Community Chats and watch the full interview with Ladson-Billings here.