UBC Centre for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL)

What UBC Centre for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) does

The UBC Centre for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) is an academic unit embedded within the University of British Columbia that connects UBC faculty and students with BC-based community organizations to address social and environmental challenges through experiential education. It operates from UBC's Vancouver campus (CIRS Building, Room 2131, 2260 West Mall) with a team of approximately 21 staff led by Director Susan Grossman and Associate Director Yusuf Alam, including Community Engaged Learning Officers, Engagement Advisors, and program coordinators. CCEL's portfolio spans the Social Impact Lab (SIL) program and its companion SIL Toolkit (a modular online curriculum covering values exploration, working across difference, systems thinking, vision identification, and collaboration/conflict navigation), a workshop series (grant writing, asset-based community development, ethics of changemaking, storytelling, etc.), student grants that fund projects partnered with BC community organizations, the UBtheChange engagement campaign, Community Action Days across Metro Vancouver, the Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference (MURC), Let's Talk Science, Student-Directed Seminars, and the I'm Going to UBC youth outreach event. The faculty pathway is supported through Community Engaged Teaching Fellows and the Advancing Community Engaged Learning Fund.

CCEL's core technology is the Social Impact Lab Toolkit, a domain-specialized educational content platform co-developed with UBC's Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT). It is structured around five themes with explicit learning outcomes and lessons, and is hosted on a dedicated UBC subdomain (sil-toolkit.ccel.ubc.ca) to enable educator adoption both inside and outside UBC.

The business model is institutional rather than commercial: CCEL is funded through UBC as a university center, and all programs and services are provided to UBC students and faculty at no direct cost. Student grants flow outward to fund community projects rather than represent revenue. Customer segments are UBC students, UBC faculty, and BC-registered community organizations (charities, non-profits, cooperatives, First Nations, schools, public sector bodies). Go-to-market is community-led, relying on organic social media (Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook), monthly segmented newsletters (CP & Faculty, Student), direct workshop delivery on campus and virtually, and the SIL Toolkit website. CCEL has no public revenue figures, no external funding rounds, no M&A activity, and no commercial pricing model.

Name

UBC Centre for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL)

Legal name

Centre for Community Engaged Learning

Website

https://ccel.ubc.ca

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UBC Centre for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) is a UBC academic unit that connects UBC students and faculty with BC community organizations through experiential education programs, including the Social Impact Lab Toolkit, student grants, workshops, and Community Action Days.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Community Engagement Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Service Learning Program Design, Accreditation & Evaluation (EDAIAGAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Portfolio, Capstone & Project-Based Program Support (EDAMAKAD)

Keywords

• Experiential education
• Community engaged learning
• Service learning
• Social impact education
• University community partnerships

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. University Funding: CCEL operates as a university center funded through The University of British Columbia, providing programs and services to students and faculty
2. Student Grants: CCEL funds student-led community projects through grants that partner with BC-based community organizations, supporting experiential learning initiatives

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

CCEL is an academic unit within UBC that catalyzes, designs, and implements experiential education opportunities for students to apply their knowledge and skills to social and environmental challenges. It delivers programs including the Social Impact Lab Toolkit (modular online educational resource), faculty workshops, student grants, the UBtheChange engagement campaign, Community Action Days, and outreach programs such as MURC and Let's Talk Science.

Product overview

The UBC Centre for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) operates as an educational engagement center rather than a technology product company. CCEL offers a portfolio of experiential education programs and resources centered around the Social Impact Lab (SIL) Toolkit, a modular online curriculum for educators. The core offerings include the Social Impact Lab program, various workshops, student grants, and outreach programs like UBtheChange, MURC, Let's Talk Science, and Student-Directed Seminars. The SIL Toolkit serves as the primary educational technology product, providing themes, learning outcomes, and lessons for project-based experiential education focused on social and environmental impact.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Social Impact Lab (SIL): A transformative learning approach integrating community-engaged learning principles with instructional activities to help students explore and address complex societal issues.
• Social Impact Lab Toolkit
• UBtheChange
• Community Action Days

Products and services

• Social Impact Lab (SIL) Toolkit A modular, online educational tool for educators to integrate social-impact projects into coursework. The toolkit consists of themes, learning outcomes, and lessons guiding students through values exploration, working in diverse groups, systems analysis, and project planning.
• Social Impact Lab A transformative learning platform for students to expand knowledge beyond the classroom and build community. Students work with local community partners and faculty to develop ideas and solutions through actionable projects tackling social and environmental issues using systems thinking and collective impact approaches.
• CCEL Workshops A variety of workshops focused on effecting change in and with communities, including: Applying for a Grant, Asset Based Community Development, Community Action: Self Exploration, Ethics of Changemaking, Orientation to Community Engaged Learning, Roots of Change, and Storytelling for Change. Available in-person and virtually.
• Student Grants Funding for student-led projects that partner with BC-based community organizations. Grants support students in designing and executing projects to address community priorities.
• UBtheChange and Community Action Days A student-led engagement campaign welcoming students into conversations on social and environmental issues through fun and low-barrier campus events and off-campus short-term projects with schools and nonprofit organizations across Metro Vancouver.
• Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference (MURC) An opportunity for UBC undergraduate students to present their research, featuring workshops, keynote speeches, and volunteer/adjudicator opportunities.
• Let's Talk Science A program connecting student volunteers with educators and youth to provide STEM learning experiences in school and community settings.
• Student-Directed Seminars A program providing upper-year undergraduate students the opportunity to deliver their own 3-credit seminar class with a small group of peers on topics not currently offered at UBC Vancouver.
• I'm Going to UBC A one-day event bringing Vancouver elementary school students to UBC Campus to encourage youth to consider pursuing a university education, featuring campus tours, skills clinics, and varsity games.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• UBC Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTLT has provided generous support for the Social Impact Lab Toolkit project, contributing to the development of educational resources for community-engaged learning at UBC.
• BC-based Community OrganizationscoreOthersCCEL partners with registered charities, societies, cooperatives, non-profits, public sector organizations, First Nations, schools, and government offices across BC for student-led community projects.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Riipen: A work-integrated learning platform that connects post-secondary students with employer-partnered projects. Comparable to CCEL as a marketplace/intermediary between students and external partners for project-based learning, though commercially oriented.
• Forage: A virtual work-experience platform partnering with universities to give students project-based modules with real organizations. Overlaps with CCEL's student-experience and project-based learning model via a commercial, scalable platform.

Broad incumbents

• Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (network, U.S. campuses): A multi-campus network supporting student civic engagement and community-partnered learning across U.S. colleges. Comparable on the curricular/partner model side, though operates as a multi-institution program rather than a single university center.
• Ashoka U: A network supporting social entrepreneurship and changemaker education across universities. Comparable on the social-impact-education mission and faculty/student development focus, though framed as a network rather than a single center.
• Campus Compact (U.S. higher-ed coalition): A national coalition advancing community-engaged teaching and partnerships across member colleges and universities. Operates in the same conceptual space as CCEL (supporting faculty, students, and community partners) but at a coalition rather than single-campus level.

Direct peers

• Center for Civic Engagement, University of Maryland: A university center coordinating community-engaged courses, student leadership, and partner-based projects. Directly comparable in terms of functions: grants, faculty support, community partnerships, and student-facing programs.
• Haas Center for Public Service, Stanford University: Stanford's hub for community-engaged learning, public service, and student-led projects with community partners. Comparable in mission (academic + community engagement) and audience (university students and faculty).
• Swearer Center for Public Service, Brown University: Brown's center coordinating community-engaged learning, student fellowships, and partnerships with non-profits. Mirrors CCEL's model of combining programmatic, grant-based, and partner-network offerings within a university.
• Centre for Community Partnerships, University of Toronto: A university-based center that connects U of T students and faculty with community organizations through service learning and experiential education. It is the closest counterpart to UBC CCEL in the Canadian university system.
• Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University: Tufts' university-wide center for civic engagement, service learning, and community partnerships. Operates similar programs (fellowships, courses, partner projects) aimed at moving students from awareness to action on social issues.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ubcccel
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ubcccel
• Instagraminstagram.com/ubcccel
• TikToktiktok.com/@ubcccel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UBC Centre for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL)