Twenty-third International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations

Abstract

We examine how community-first research at the local level can build stronger bonds within an organization. Students, staff, or leaders become engaged in the community through the Citizen Entrepreneur Explorers Program (CEEP). They examine how community organizations, businesses, and government entities interact with each other. These researchers build trusting relationships with people in and around their communities. The coronavirus pandemic caused a significant increase in the number of people who feel disconnected. The CEEP participants head out into their neighborhood looking to answer important questions focused on entrepreneurship. The CEEP model differs from existing research methods and ways of teaching innovative thinking. Researchers connect with the community giving the research that is discovered to a national database, and most importantly, back to the neighborhood. Research connect and present back to community-based where they made their discoveries. The time spent building trust with community members results in those individuals engaging in new ways on challenging questions. This leads to discovering new ways to change organizational culture and individual resilience by building strategic connections.