The Philadelphia Area Research Community Coalition (PARCC) was formed in 2005 by the University of Pennsylvania – Cheyney University of Pennsylvania EXPORT Center. PARCC is a community-academic research partnership that is comprised of 22 organizations and programs of distinct sizes and varied experience in health research. This paper explores PARCC’s process of developing this coalition, the outcomes achieved, governing principles and lessons learned. The developmental processes reviewed include the partnership’s conceptual framework, methods of recruitment of members, working with varied community and academic perspectives on research, the contextual significance of trust as a core tenet of PARCC, and the establishment of the coalition’s structure and internal processes (governance and operating principles). The paper describes PARCC’s success and attributes it to factors such as trust between members of the community and academia, committed leaders and members, preexisting relationships, and effective research training programs. Challenges facing PARCC include a lack of academic scholars willing and able to join community research projects and securing long-term funding. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of training partners in the early stages of engagement while trust, governance structure and operations are still developing.

Johnson, J.C. et al. (2009). Building community participatory research coalitions from the ground up: The Philadelphia Area Research Community Coalition. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 3(1), 61-72.