This collaborative proposal between Hampton University (HU) and Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) aims to enhance the ability of both institutions to form external partnerships that boost academic and innovative growth. By working together, the institutions plan to create a structure for developing regional innovation ecosystems. Successful completion of the grant will lead to the development of a toolkit to help formalize partnership processes, which can serve as a model for other resource-limited institutions, particularly Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). Over the grant period, three symposiums will immerse participants in partnership development, focusing on monetizing research and formalizing workforce partnerships.

The project goals include:

• stablishing a partnership ecosystem,

• strengthening partnership capacities, and

• enhancing program scalability and reproducibility, with a focus on supporting underrepresented populations, particularly women in STEM.

The intellectual merit of this project, Workforce and Innovation Collaborative for Regional Partnerships (WICRP), lies in its efforts to build partnerships that support emerging technology fields and regional innovation for underrepresented groups.

The project addresses challenges identified in previous research, such as inequities faced by HBCUs in forming research partnerships with non-HBCUs. By using data and feedback, the team aims to understand and overcome these challenges, sharing their findings to improve capacity-building efforts at HBCUs and MSIs. The broader impacts include aligning economic goals, faculty development, and student opportunities with strategic objectives, fostering beneficial industry relationships, and enhancing research and workforce development at both HU and GPTC.