Three members of the Boise State community are the newest recipients of the President’s Community Service Award. The award provides an opportunity to celebrate and honor individuals, or groups of faculty, staff or students, who are serving their community in extraordinary ways.
Brittany Brand
Brittany Brand, a professor in the Department of Geosciences, cultivates “Blue Turf Thinking,” engaging in many projects aimed at community engagement. Brand founded the Hazard and Climate Resilience Center to work with external communities across the intermountain west. Examples of Brand’s work include The Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers Program (a program providing support to local governments and communities), the Lewis County Tax Revenue and Economic Resilience Assessment Tool (a tool for helping local stakeholders better understand how to build economic resilience), and various wildfire and earthquake preparedness workshops for English and Spanish speaking communities in Idaho and Oregon.
Laura King
Laura King, an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, works to provide support and justice to crime victim survivors in the state of Idaho. She works as an advocate for crime victim services, serving as an expert witness in domestic violence cases, and partnering with the organizations such as the Idaho Council on Domestic Violence and Victim Assistance, Idaho Victim Assistance Academy, Idaho Council on Developmental Disabilities, and Idaho Legal Aid Services. Her work has led not only to academic contributions but also to the creation of many actionable programs and policy solutions that benefit countless community members.
Megan Smith
Megan Smith is an associate professor in the School of Public and Population Health. Her work surrounding mental health is an example of how to successfully engage with external stakeholders and partners to achieve strong results. Smith works with the Communities for Youth (C4Y), a team that is addressing the ongoing youth mental health crisis in Idaho. The C4Y team has forged strong partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders and community service organizations, including St. Luke’s Health System, Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation, Department of Health and Welfare, the Idaho State Department of Education, YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, over 17 Idaho school districts and so many more. This works involves offering protective service such as family support, physical activity, kindness, and teacher support; the communities they work in have experienced significant decreases in youth depression rates.