Examining the work of boundary spanning leaders in community contexts

This qualitative study examined boundary spanning leadership in community‐based contexts. The study focused on exceptional leaders of university–school–community partnerships in two urban regions of the USA. The findings indicate that boundary spanners are aided by contextual knowledge, interpersonal skills, trust and connectedness, but they also suggest that they are motivated by an underlying community loyalty and a fundamental, socially conscious impetus—one which invites active advocacy for the oppressed via strategic collaboration. Accordingly, boundary spanners were compared with community organizers and described as ‘institutional infiltrators organizing for community advancement’. Although leaders with the skill and pedigree of those examined here are hard to come by, it was encouragingly suggested that, once found, effective boundary spanners can help develop sustainable boundary spanning infrastructures within their communities.