The Ford College Community Challenge (Ford C3) is an initiative that works with our long-time partners in higher education to catalyze student-led, community-building projects that address local needs. Ford C3 is supported by Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services.

The 2008 Ford C3 Competition

At Ford, we understand that to be a truly sustainable organization, we must play an active role in the larger community. With this challenge, Ford Fund invited the 32 members of our Ford Advanced Education Partnership (FAEP) to work with their local communities to develop proposals that utilized each school’s resources and capacity to address a social need or problem in the local community. Proposals had to address the theme of the Challenge – Building Sustainable Communities – in some unique and innovative way, and had to have significant student leadership. Five winning proposals were selected to receive a $100,000 award from Ford Fund to implement their proposed project.

The 2008 Ford C3 winning colleges and universities are:

Howard University: The School of Business HBCU Inner-City Redevelopment Model is a significant long-term initiative aimed at bringing much needed economic and business development to underserved urban communities. Its goal is to create a model program that will be disseminated to other Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs).

The University of Michigan – Dearborn: The College of Engineering and Computer Science will leverage computing technology to develop and build sustainable communities that bridge the virtual and real world to address pressing social problems. The university will build an online “Campus of Hope” that will provide a presence via Second Life 3-D ™, a global community working together to build a space for creativity, collaboration, commerce and entertainment.

Ohio State University: Through the Sustainable Mobility Project, engineering and business faculty and students will work together to provide transportation to children who attend an after-school program in Columbus’ Weinland Park area, identified as one of the poorest communities in the U.S.

Purdue University: The Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) Green Habitat Build is an innovative service-learning approach to teaching design that invites multidisciplinary teams of students to partner with local community organizations to identify, design, build and deliver solutions to meet the community’s needs. The Ford Fund award will help EPICS build a model Habitat for Humanity home in Biotown, USA. Biotown, USA is the name given to the town of Reynolds, NJ, which hopes to become a model community that is energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

Wayne State University: The SEED Wayne program aims to develop sustainable food systems on campus and in the City of Detroit. In partnership with a number of community organizations, students will plant urban gardens, design composting stations and provide assistance to agencies addressing hunger relief and sustainable food system issues. The effort includes campus and community educations and awareness efforts.

The 2009 Ford C3 Competition

In 2009, Ford Motor Company Fund once again offered the Ford College Community Challenge. Partner colleges and universities were once again challenged to submit innovative proposals for student-led, community-building projects. In 2009, five winning proposals received $50,000 apiece to implement their projects.

The 2009 Ford C3 winners are: Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University, University of Illinois, University of Michigan-Dearborn, and Georgia Tech. Project summaries will be posted on this website this fall.