In this essay we foreground the value of engaging meaningfully with practitioners in our work. We review research by scholars whose work cuts across topics and contexts to gain insight into the power and practice of human communication as it shapes the world in which we live-highlighting work that is at its best because of its co-creation with practitioners. We propose five key features that provide a simple yet robust framework for developing and assessing the quality and value of engaged scholarship. Our thesis is that the best engaged scholarship may or may not be widely disseminated, but it is widely owned by co-creators who believe in its purpose and product.