
Working together to transform environments and conditions to assure health and well-being for all.
Our Mission
Supporting community health and development through collaborative research and evaluation, teaching and training, and technical support and capacity building.
Recent Highlights

KU offers open access tools to grow health and well-being in communities worldwide
The Community Tool Box at KU's Life Span Institute offers open resources to help people take action, build a coalition, and enact change to help create a better world

Program to reduce youth violence sees its first class of college graduates
ThrYve has supported hundreds of students through the program out of the KU Center for Community Health & Development and is based on decades of research on reducing youth violence. “Our best indicators of success are our young people,” Jomella Watson-Thompson, ThrYve director, said.

KU Center for Community Health & Development chosen to partner with Kauffman Foundation to improve economic mobility
The Life Span Institute's center will serve as third-party evaluator to support the Kauffman Foundation's Collective Impact Initiative and will provide a wide variety of educational and action support for staff and coalition partners.

ThrYve Youth and Staff Participate in KCK PD's Community Peace Walk
Saturday, April 12th, 2025, ThrYve participated in the KCKPD's Annual Peace Walk. The community is celebrating how working together continues to reduce crime in our neighborhoods
Services
The Center for Community Health and Development offers a variety of services to support the work of promoting community health and development.
Community Check Box Evaluation System
A web-based recording, measurement, and reporting tool for community work that helps practitioners document their community change efforts and share success stories with funders and other stakeholders.

Evaluation
Our Center provides support and evaluation services for local, state, national, and international initiatives.

Building Healthy Communities: Online Courses
Our comprehensive courses feature 16 self-contained instructional modules for developing practical skills in core areas of community health and development.

Community Tool Box Training Curriculum
Our center has developed a training curriculum based on the Community Tool Box that outlines 16 competencies for promoting community health and development.

Capacity Building Trainings
People taking action need skills in core areas including assessment, planning, advocacy, evaluation, and sustainability.

Community Health Assessment and Planning
Our center employs a multi-method, collaborative approach to assessing community needs and resources.

Facilitation of Community Processes
Our experience includes small and large group facilitation, including coalition meetings, board retreats, town hall meetings/ listening sessions, focus groups, PhotoVoice initiatives, and collaborative community planning.

World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Community Health and Development

World Health Organization Collaborating Centre
KU's WHO Collaborating Centre for Community Health and Development received official designation by the World Health Organization in 2004. During these nearly 20 years, the Centre has worked to promote health and development with local and global partners.
About the WHO Centre