The Academic Community and Culture Core builds and sustains an environment that promotes belonging, engagement, and fairness across One Mount Sinai. It serves as a centralized resource supporting faculty, students, and trainees through programs that strengthen community, minimize bias, and encourage open and civil dialogue.

It encompasses four existing units:

• The Patricia S. Levinson Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs advances faculty and learner engagement, inclusive education, and professional identity formation through programming that strengthens belonging and equity across the academic continuum.
• Center for Excellence in Youth Education provides robust educational pathway programs into science and medicine for K–12 students in the communities that Mount Sinai serves.
• Discovery and Innovation Hub formulates creative community-based solutions by faculty, students, and postgraduate trainees to reduce disparities in health care and support other pathway programs from college through residency.
• Faculty Engagement Council promotes institutional excellence by recruiting, retaining, and developing staff members with a range of experiences and intellectual interests.

Focus Areas
The main areas that we focus on are:

• Belonging and community building: Initiatives that create connections among faculty, students, and trainees
• Educational pathways: Programs that expand opportunities from K-12 through postgraduate education, cultivating diverse talent in science and medicine
• Support and guidance: Resources for those who experience bias or mistreatment, and tools to promote respectful, inclusive environments
• Professional identity formation: Activities that help individuals develop confidence and purpose in their professional roles
• Community partnerships: Collaborations that link Mount Sinai with local organizations to advance shared goals in education and health equity

Outcome Statement

Through these efforts, the core ensures that all members of the Mount Sinai community learn and work in a culture that values respect, fairness, and belonging.