2026/07/01 by Jamila T. Davis, Angelo Pinto, Roseanne M. Mirabella · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Adult and Continuing Education Topics #Critical Race Theory in Education #Service-Learning and Community Engagement
paper · doi:10.24926/jsepa.v4i2.6942
openalex publication_date 2026/07/01 · openalex created_date 2026/07/02 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
This article explores the emergence of a transformative higher education model—The Community Practitioner Certification Program (CPCP)—which places credible messengers, system-impacted leaders, and grassroots organizers at the center of public policy education, unique in its merging of lived experience with academic scholarship to redefine who holds expertise and how learning is delivered. What began as an experimental course in one university evolved into a multicity national initiative housed under the Institute for Research for Social Justice in Action (IRSJA) with programming now operating in several urban locations. This article traces the origin story of CPCP, the collaborative design of its curriculum, and its impact in reshaping the relationship between communities and institutions of higher learning. With a focus on healing, power-building, and liberation through education, this work offers a new blueprint for what higher education can become when the people are positioned as professors.