The Community-Based Organization as Cultural Broker: Building Bridges Between Recent Immigrant Families and Schools in Low-Income Communities

Abstract

This qualitative case study delves into the work that community-based organizations do with recent immigrant families and schools in low-income communities by examining the cultural brokering process of one particular CBO. Understanding how an organization approaches working with families and their schools; how organization staff attempt to build understanding, trust, communication, and ultimately relationships between families and schools they work with; and how they attempt to develop the community's capacity for mutually beneficial engagement--in particular, its sociocultural capital--as well as the schools' cultural competence, sheds light on the brokering process and demonstrates the critical role that community-based organizations can play in bridging existing gaps between schools and recent immigrant families in low-income communities.