This study explores how community colleges increase their capacity for community engagement through collaborative action inquiry. Three primary research questions guiding this study were: (1) What are the characteristics of leadership for community engagement within the community college? (2) Who informs decision-making regarding community engagement with the community college? (2a) How does the community partner voice inform decision-making among service leaders? (2b) How does the informal service leader voice inform decision-making among senior leaders at the college? and (3) What impact does collaborative action inquiry have on individual and organizational change and the community colleges learning for engagement? Through action research methodology, the principle investigator collaborated with executives and service leaders of a community college to co-create a series of professional interventions to advance the colleges community engagement agenda. Data were collected through interviews with college leaders, service leaders, and community partners, written case reflections of service leaders, and researcher observations throughout the study. Four conclusions were drawn from analysis of the findings: (1) Distributed leadership to advance community engagement is derived from college employees and community partners boundary spanning behaviors; (2) The creation and extension of communication channels among multiple stakeholder groups for community engagement parallels the advancement of community engagement; (3) Authentic engagement exists in various degrees throughout distinct stages of institutionalization reflecting the unique contexts and stakeholder interests involved; and (4) Collaborative action inquiry as a method of professional and organizational development utilizes existing expertise among college employees, strengthens internal networks, and supports the institutionalization of engagement. Implications include: (1) Early and ongoing communication among stakeholders is fundamental to the institutionalization of engagement (2) Distributed leadership distributed can be leveraged through alignment (3) Professional development can benefit faculty and staff members as engagement-service leaders; and (4) Organizational learning related to community engagement supports the institutionalization of engagement. Recommendations for future research include: (1) Replications of the study to validate the findings and explore variances between single-campus and multi-campus colleges; (2) Inclusion of the community partner voice in all stages of project planning including developing the interventions; and (3) Explorations of alternative interventions for organizational learning related to institutionalizing community engagement.