ABSTRACT The UIC Maternal Health Research Center of Excellence Community Partnership Core (CPC) will address the critical need for a structured, systemic approach to engage communities in research to address disparities in maternal health outcomes. The Center expands on existing partnerships with EverThrive Illinois and AllianceChicago to create a multi-sector coalition working together toward a common goal of improving maternal outcomes for families in Chicago. EverThrive will convene a statewide Community Advisory Board (CAB) that is representative of the diverse communities across Illinois, and they will support recruitment for specific projects through their extensive and diverse community network. Through the CPC, the Center will engage community partners in three ways: as Center members who are actively engaged in planning and implementing research and dissemination, as a bridge to the community to recruit research participants and disseminate information, and as community-based providers engaged in larger systems of care. Equitable community engagement in research increases community trust, knowledge, and understanding of research, drives community participation in research and implementation of best practices, and builds a sense of collaboration between researchers and the community. However, the dissemination of research to a general audience can be challenging. The CPC will address this challenge through an equitable human-centered design (HCD) framework that recognizes the unique expertise of all partners, including community members and community organizations, healthcare providers, policymakers, local government agencies, and researchers, to create an environment where all partners contribute to the research from conceptualization to dissemination of findings. This framework shifts the community from research “subjects” to collaborative partners. HCD is particularly effective in engaging people who play key roles in the healthcare system, but who are often excluded in the design of healthcare interventions and system reform. To accomplish this goal, we propose the following aims: Aim 1: Facilitate, coordinate, and evaluate community engagement and dissemination at all phases of the research and across the Center; Aim 2: Create an integrated community partnership framework to promote meaningful engagement and responsive research, and facilitate appropriate and relevant dissemination that is actionable in the community and responsive to the local context; and Aim 3: Build capacity for bilateral exchange between community partners and researchers through partnerships that establish shared understanding and goals for research processes and community experiences.