Urban Engagement

Northeastern University is a premier research university and the recognized leader in experiential education. Among the qualities that set Northeastern apart is our core commitment to integrating research and education with engagement in our community in ways that address global and societal needs.

Partnerships

We demonstrate our commitment to engagement, time and again, through numerous partnerships and programs in our community. Northeastern partners with more than 200 organizations, participating in more than 500 programs and events in and around Boston, focused largely on public health, public education, public safety, and youth and recreation.

Our Volunteer Network

The University provides not merely volunteer hours — more than 110,000 annually — but academic expertise, time, space, the power to convene disparate organizations for joint efforts, and the ability to leverage funding and resources beyond the scope of a single neighborhood.

The Stony Brook Initiative

The embodiment of the University’s effort is the Stony Brook Initiative, inspired by President Joseph Aoun’s call in his 2007 inaugural address for “a new Northeastern-neighborhood alliance.” The Stony Brook Initiative is named for the waterway that once flowed through and nourished the neighborhoods of which Northeastern is a part, contributing to their growth and success. Like its namesake, the Initiative seeks to weave new connections in the Stony Brook neighborhoods of Roxbury, Mission Hill, the Fenway, and the South End.