College of Arts and Sciences

UofM Launches Community-Focused Institute MARCA

Friday, 20 February 2026

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The University of Memphis School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy (SUAPP) has launched the Memphis Applied Research and Community Action (MARCA) Institute, a new research and training network designed to strengthen community-driven problem solving across the Mid-South. MARCA made their launch official Thursday evening at Ugly Art Co. in the Edge District.

“It was great to have so many representatives from across the community development ecosystem – nonprofits, philanthropy, local government, university researchers and students together in one space,” said SUAPP Director Dr. Katherine Lambert-Pennington. “It takes working together to leverage community assets and address the challenges we face.”

Lambert-Pennington is one of MARCA’s faculty leaders. The Institute will provide research training opportunities for students, preparing the next generation of community-oriented professionals. The mission of MARCA is to conduct interdisciplinary, community-engaged research that advances understanding of urban conditions, development and resident well-being across the Mid-South.

MARCA will work directly with Memphis communities to collect, analyze and share data that supports local decision making in interconnected areas like housing, health, environment, neighborhoods and youth. The institute brings together faculty from SUAPP as well as UofM’s Departments of English, Earth Sciences, Sociology, Political Science, School of Social Work, School of Public Health and other academic units.

“What united us is a commitment to community-engaged research,” Lambert-Pennington said. “We all want to be doing research with communities that can be applied and is a source of action, not information that sits on a shelf.”

Thursday’s launch follows an extensive pilot phase conducted with local partners that included the Assisi Foundation of Memphis, Community Foundation of Greater Memphis and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis, among others. These organizations helped shape the Institute’s early work and will continue to collaborate on research, training and data sharing initiatives.

“The response from community organizations has been strong,” Lambert-Pennington said. “We piloted an Initiative called ASK MARCA, which offers a pathway for community organizations to reach out to our team for research support. This ensures that organizations, small and large, have the analytical support they need. We see ASK MARCA as a trust-building pipeline for larger funded projects and an opportunity for our student researchers to delve into data, do analysis and communicate research to partners that can be put into action.”

Lambert-Pennington emphasized that MARCA is more than a research institute but a mechanism for building durable problem-solving capacity. Using local knowledge, lived experiences and community priorities to produce research meant for action and contribute to the long-term health of civic infrastructure.