The Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy at Connecticut College is a multidisciplinary academic center that advances teaching, learning, research, and community collaborations. Established in March 1996 as the Center for Community Challenges, the Center sought to develop a program which integrated research, teaching, and service learning with the aim of "preparing students for lives of civic engagement and leadership while collaborating with community partners to advance the public good."

Funded initially by grants from the Surdna and Lucent Foundations, the Center was endowed by Jerry and Carolyn Holleran ’60 and renamed the Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy in 1999. The Center currently administers three programmatic areas: Community Partnerships; Community Learning Pedagogical and Research Development; and the certificate Program in Community Action (PICA). Past community initiatives and research projects include neighborhood enhancements, youth development, math and science curricular design, literacy initiatives, urban health programs, and micro-economic lending.

Developed as a three-year program integrating classroom studies in the liberal arts with experiential learning in local and global communities, the Program in Community Action requires students to complete five courses outside the major, including the PICA Gateway Course; a junior seminar course designed to develop knowledge and skills in community action; a senior seminar with PICA scholars; a capstone project integrating research and course work to address a particular community challenge; and a 300 hour community internship typically done between the junior and senior years. PICA graduated its first cohort of thirteen students in May 2000; as of May 2016, 344 students have completed the program.