We place a great importance on working collaboratively with community stakeholders, including organizations, agencies, businesses, schools and the faith community. We know that we are just one thread in the community fabric, and that many are needed in order to achieve gains. The Community Advisory Board (CAB) is a key part of the community-based participatory research strategy of the Avance Center. The Center is intended as a university-community partnership, and for this to be realized, it is important to build an ongoing community structure to ensure that community priorities are incorporated in activities and research undertaken by the Center.

• The CAB is an ongoing group of community members and stakeholders (individuals and organizations) who can guide the Center in focusing its activities on health disparity issues important to the community and in a way that makes sense for the community. It also plays an important role in organizing community resources to support the reduction of health disparities, and in seeking additional funding for that purpose.

• For the Adelante intervention, the CAB formed a critical link between skill-building activities for youth/families and connecting them to supportive opportunities that foster these new capabilities for the enhancement of health, well-being and resilience against health risks. Making this link between the Adelante intervention and community resources was a key strategy for reducing health disparities and strengthening the community as a place that promotes health. The CAB was involved in some intervention activities, as well as in creating specific opportunities for growth directly tied to intervention activities.

• For the REACH project, CAB members participate in the Nutrition Working Group, which helps to improve the food environment. Its main area of focus is on increasing visibility of affordable, healthy food options so that Langley Park and nearby community residents can see that such options are really available to them. CAB members help identify strategies to address this problem, such as facilitating outreach to local food stores/outlets and talking to them about highlighting and advertising healthy food.