Abstract: The CEC is an integral component of the Rochester Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC), with the overarching goal of preventing disease and improving health through multidirectional engagement that promotes systems change. The CEC leverages our Center’s environmental health research to address critical environmental health problems by informing systems change locally, regionally and nationally. We engage with diverse partners at 3 key levels: (i) policies (ii) institutions, and (iii) practices or behaviors. Over the past 20 years, we have developed expertise in informing local policy and community decisions, and working with national networks to maximize the impact of these changes. We target and work with 4 key audiences: Community groups, Policy-makers, Public Health Professionals, and Educators, and focus our work around Rochester’s community needs. Our Community Advisory Board (CAB) is at the core of these partnerships, and includes community leaders, government agencies, regional academic institutions and private entities who meet regularly. We also maintain a broad network of stakeholders by participating in local, state, and national advisory boards, organizations, and events. New Capacity Building Projects will intentionally foster researcher-community partnerships that lead to new research. The CEC is well-integrated with the EHSC, including the Internal Advisory Committee, Integrated Health Sciences Facility Core, Pilot Project Program, and monthly faculty meetings. These activities and interactions inform EHSC members about community trends, needs, initiatives, and opportunities to promote multidirectional engagement. We evaluate the CEC’s impacts using approaches appropriate to each of our diverse activities. The CEC promotes environmental health beyond Rochester by leveraging national networks to share our products, projects, and publications. These national networks also let us learn from other communities across the country. Our approach and success rely on long-term, deep engagement around select issues of community concern that align with EHSC research expertise. We prioritize projects that contribute to solving problems of environmental justice in our local community, and also respond to national needs where translation of our Center research has significant impact on environmental public health. The depth and breadth of our experiences, networks and engagement have us ideally poised for executing ongoing activities and invoke new initiatives to complement and foster the growth of our Center. These include building on partnerships related to lead poisoning prevention, healthy homes, equitable built environments, perinatal environmental health, and indoor air quality. We will also develop new partnerships related to emerging community concerns including corona viruses, vaping, and microplastics in drinking water. These partnerships facilitate multidirectional engagement between EHSC researchers and community part...