Gloria Bonilla-Santiago’s community development work in education impacts families and children’s health at the local and global levels. Health disparities and inequalities in education affect the quality of life for communities living in risk environments. The Community Leadership Center’s theory of action is centered on the belief that improving outcomes for young people and families with limited resources and opportunities necessitates the transformation of schools into entire communities.

The center works with communities both regionally and globally, including Rutgers’ home city of Camden and communities in Cuba, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, and Brazil. The center’s approach to transformational change is built upon six pillars: infant to college educational continuum; school as nexus for community development; community wellness and leadership development; capacity-building training and experiential learning programs for the college student population; research opportunities for faculty and graduate students; and scaling-up best practices locally and globally.