Are We Carrying the Community Along?

By ChiChi Enwere, MPH, Director of Research and Evaluation — October 15, 2025

You’re sitting in the doctor’s office after a long day, scrolling through your phone, half-listening to the television in the waiting room. Suddenly, the news ticker announces a new policy that directly affects your daily life. It could be a change in healthcare coverage, shifts in childcare funding, or adjustments to workplace benefits. 

You pause, realizing this is the first time you’re hearing about it. No email, no text, no community conversation prepared for you for this change. And yet, at that moment, you’re expected to adapt. 

This everyday scenario reflects a broader reality: across healthcare, policy, and organizational change; shifts are happening rapidly, but are we carrying the community along? 

Beyond Who We Serve 

Too often, efforts are designed with a focus on who we serve, but without considering how we are engaging those same communities in the process. Ignoring the real-world impact of change on communities is a way to marginalize who it is meant to serve. Communities are more than recipients of change; they are partners in shaping it. 

Knowledge is Fluid 

One of the most overlooked truths is that knowledge does not flow in one direction from leaders to communities. When we share information openly and consistently, we discover how much insight, context, and awareness the community already holds. 

You might be surprised by the depth of wisdom that emerges when different communities are invited into the conversation. A parent can illuminate gaps in a school system where no report is captured. A local business owner may identify solutions to economic barriers faster than any policy memo. These are forms of knowledge that only surface when dialogue and communication are prioritized. 

The Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framework helps us remember that community engagement leads to capital in social, navigational, linguistic, resistant, familial, and aspiration areas. These forms of knowledge and resilience are not challenges but strengths that can and should inform the way we design, communicate, and implement change. By honoring these forms of capital, we move beyond service delivery into genuine, almost invaluable partnerships. 

Intentionally creating knowledge-sharing communities fosters a culture of trust and support that strengthens outcomes, not just outputs. Beyond public health, this principle holds that knowledge grows when it is shared, circulated, and co-owned. 

The Power of Knowledge Sharing 

Carrying the community along means: 

• Be Transparent: being clear about how and why changes are happening. When decisions are communicated openly, people feel respected and prepared, rather than blindsided. 

• Communicate Clearly: Communications must be accessible, culturally relevant, and grounded in the ways communities naturally share knowledge, through language, storytelling, or collective dialogue. 

• Respect: It is essential to respect and recognize that communities are not passive to audiences. They bring lived experience, resilience, and solutions that can strengthen any strategy when these contributions are acknowledged as legitimate. 

When people are kept informed, they are better positioned to adapt, respond, and even co-create new possibilities. Sharing knowledge not only builds trust but also ensures that the changes we implement are meaningful and lasting. 

Recent thought leadership even suggests that cultural change requires embedding innovative knowledge sharing, evaluation, and community engagement into the very fabric of organizational strategy. This is the path forward. 

Knowledge Grows When Carried Together

Policies and programs may set the pace of change, but information sharing lays the foundation for impact. Carrying the community along isn’t simply about service delivery—it’s about building relationships through transparency and dialogue. 

In a world where change is constant, the greatest surprise often comes not from what we tell communities, but from what they reveal when given the chance to share. 

References: 

Hood, S., Campbell, B., & Baker, K. (2023). Culturally informed community engagement: implications for inclusive science and health equity. 

Rho, J., Sheu, J. K., Forbes, A., Tsai, D. P., Alú, A., Li, W., & Matricardi, C. (2025). Fostering cultural change in research through innovative knowledge sharing, evaluation, and community engagement strategies. arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.12045.

Author note: Chiagbanwe “Chichi” Enwere (she/her) serves as the Associate Director of Research and Evaluation at Advancing Health Equity. She is a passionate and innovative public health data scientist dedicated to driving positive change in the healthcare landscape.