Allison Walker Featured in Global Gauge: A Global Stage for Pro Humanitate

Allison Walker, Director of Community Partnerships and Experiential Learning within the Office of Civic & Community Engagement (OCCE), has been featured in the Fall 2025 edition of Global Gauge: Stories of Global Impact.

The semesterly publication, which highlights the international initiatives of Wake Forest University’s students, faculty, and staff, selected Walker for the feature story titled “A Global Stage for Pro Humanitate” (page 10).

The piece spotlights Walker’s recent travels to Durban, South Africa, where she represented Wake Forest as a panelist at the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) Conference. Known for setting the global research agenda for community engagement, the conference provided a platform for Walker to share insights from the OCCE’s newest initiative, The Catalyst Journal.

Walker used the opportunity to discuss the journal’s inaugural theme, “Sustaining Civic Joy in Challenging Times,” and the importance of creating open-access platforms for community engagement research.

Reflecting on the experience in Durban, Walker shared a perspective in the article on the universal need for connection:

Community engagement is a field that can help restore trust, especially in a global setting… The future of this work will involve the best practices of being reciprocal, sustainable, and mutually beneficial.

The article also delves into Walker’s observations on how cultural contexts—such as the African concept of “Ubuntu” and Australian Indigenous wisdom—shape how institutions collaborate with communities. The feature serves as a reminder that the university’s commitment to Pro Humanitate extends far beyond the campus, requiring integrity, humility, and deep respect for communities served worldwide.

To read the full story, view the Fall 2025 edition of Global Gauge.