Authentic community engagement involves substantive give and take with those outside the college who have an interest in the decisions that are made, or who potentially have a role to play in strengthening the college's work. Such engagement efforts begin with a commitment to building new or improved forms of partnership across various silos and boundaries with those in the community and region who may not be deeply familiar with the work of the college and the needs of its students. While broad-based community engagement is not appropriate for every initiative, it is essential for the long-term success of ambitious change efforts like those sought by Achieving the Dream (ATD) colleges. ATD has identified broad engagement as one of its core principles and community engagement and communication as one of the essential capacities that colleges must purposefully develop in order to fulfill their missions. This guide is designed to enhance the ability of colleges to strengthen community engagement efforts. Such efforts are critical for forging meaningful partnerships with key external stakeholders such as K-12 schools, universities, employers, and community-based organizations. This guide is also designed to help strengthen efforts to engage internal stakeholders across the institution by connecting their work to that of potential community partners who can provide vital supports to students. For colleges to become true anchor institutions in their communities, and for community partnerships to meaningfully support student success efforts, colleges must become more skillful in their engagement efforts.