Interventions involving community-academic partnerships must be driven by a participatory approach that is informed by a comprehensive understanding of the perspectives of communities or focus populations. Often research agendas of academics are different from perceived priority needs of community members. Successful and sustainable interventions are made possible with initial open dialogue among all collaborators so that roles are clearly defined and concerns are addressed. This article describes approaches used in the development of a participatory assessment of health and social issues as defined by community and academic partners, current findings, and lessons learned. The assessment is one initial activity of the Tampa Bay Community Cancer Network (TBCCN) to guide network directions through 2010. The TBCCN is one of 25 programs nationwide addressing cancer disparities through sustainable community-based participatory research, outreach, and screening activities.