Partner With Us
The best work happens across boundaries.
No single organization can solve the problems we care about. CMRU partners with institutions, companies, nonprofits, and community groups to do work that none of us could do alone. If your mission overlaps with ours, let's talk.
Partnership Models
Five ways to work together.
Research Collaborations
Joint research projects, shared datasets, co-authored publications, and collaborative analysis. We bring independent methodology and open-access publishing. You bring domain expertise and institutional reach.
Program Partnerships
Co-designed programs that combine CMRU's innovation capacity with your organization's community relationships. Workshops, training programs, fellowship cohorts, and community engagement initiatives built together from the start.
Policy Coalitions
Aligned advocacy on issues that matter to Cleveland and the Midwest. Evidence-based policy briefs, joint testimony, and coordinated campaigns. We provide the research. You help us move it from paper to practice.
Technology Partnerships
Open-source tool development, shared infrastructure, API integrations, and civic technology projects. We build tools that solve real problems. If your organization can use them, extend them, or help test them, we want to hear from you.
Community Partnerships
Neighborhood organizations, block clubs, faith groups, and mutual aid networks that want to work with CMRU on local challenges. We show up where we are invited and listen before we act.
What CMRU Brings
The capabilities we contribute to every partnership.
Research capacity
Rigorous, independent methodology applied to questions that matter.
Community reach
A growing network of engaged residents, professionals, and civic leaders.
Publication platforms
The CMRU Journal, policy briefs, and digital channels for reaching wide audiences.
Convening power
The ability to bring diverse stakeholders into the same room for honest conversations.
Independence
No corporate parent, no political agenda. We call it like we see it.
What We Look For in Partners
Alignment matters more than size.
We partner with organizations that share our commitment to transparency, public benefit, and evidence-based approaches. We do not require partners to agree with us on everything. We do require them to operate in good faith.
Mission alignment
Commitment to open outcomes
Willingness to share credit
Respect for community voice
Clear deliverables and timelines
Good faith operations
Let's explore what we can build together.
Start a conversation about partnership. No pitch deck required. Just tell us what you are working on.