Community Research for Liberation National Convening
June 11-12, 2026 ~ Westminster Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis, MN
Across the nation, community members use research to tell their stories and ignite change. But community research efforts are often overshadowed or displaced by institutional research processes that are frequently inaccessible, extractive, or disconnected from the people most impacted by injustice.
On June 11-12, 2026, Research in Action (RIA) and the Equity in Action Way (EAW) Foundation will host the inaugural Community Research for Liberation National Convening in Minneapolis, Minnesota with a theme of “Building a New Table with Black Women, Girls and Femmes.”
While we will center the expertise and healing of Black women, girls and femmes, this event is an invitation to community members of all ages, educators and academics, non-profit staff and organizers, front-line public service workers and philanthropic leaders of ALL racial backgrounds to gain tools and training in liberatory research design, healing-centered engagement, and accountable partnerships across community and institutional settings.
On June 12, we’ll also celebrate with the first inaugural Equity in Action Way Gala to resource our work to advance community-led research.
Learn more below and mark your calendars. Registration will open in April 2026!
2026 Theme: Building a New Table With Black Women, Girls and Femmes
This year, the proceedings will include the public release of the Justice in Institutions for Black Women, Girls, and Femmes survey findings — the first statewide survey in the nation to examine how Black women, girls, and femmes across different geographies experience institutions like healthcare, housing, criminal justice, and education.
It will also explore how RIA and partners are working with response participants to help calculate a score for each institution, revealing levels of trust, stress, and support Black women, girls, and femmes experience within different institutions. These scores will become a part of a statewide tool that highlights where institutions are doing well — and where change is urgently needed — to better serve Black women, girls, and femmes. We are partnering with county leaders to pilot how they can use the tool to improve programs and services.
Who Should Attend?
For this year's theme, we are especially invested in ensuring a critical mass of Black women, girls, and femmes across generations and sectors have an opportunity for connection, validation, and support.
AND
To create lasting change, we need to build a new table with impacted communities at the center and diverse stakeholders committed to action. We invite community members of all ages, educators and academics, non-profit staff and organizers, front-line public service workers and philanthropic leaders of ALL racial backgrounds to join us.
2026 Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Monique Liston
What happens when Black identity—particularly the lives of Black women, girls, and femmes—is loved, protected, and defended as we collectively learn about process and change in organizations and programs? This is the question Dr. Monique Liston has built a community-engaged, intellectual, and regenerative life practice around. She is the Founder, Chief Strategist, and Joyful Militant of UBUNTU Research and Evaluation, an undisciplined learning organization and recipient of the Milwaukee Business Journal’s Diversity in Business Award. She also serves as Executive Director of The Leadership Undercommons, advancing dignity-centered learning and leadership rooted in the lived realities of Black women, girls, and femmes.
A sought-after facilitator, speaker, evaluator, collaborator, and good-time haver, Dr. Liston went to school for many years and is most proud to be an alum of Howard University. Her honors include 2025 Milwaukee Business Journal 40 Under 40, Public Allies’ first and only honorary alum, and HBCU Alumni United Milwaukee Alumni of the Year. Though not a self-identified poet, she published FRACTALS in 2025.
What you’ll gain
The convening will honor community wisdom, connect local and regional struggles, and model research as a practice of justice and healing. We will host a space that:
Elevates powerful examples of community-driven and participatory action research that have advanced policy change, resource redistribution, or narrative shift.
Provides tools and training in liberatory research design, healing-centered engagement, and accountable partnerships across community and institutional settings.
Creates space for learning, connection, and co-creation across sectors and geographies, with impacted community members at the center.
Inspires attendees to move from theory to action by highlighting community-based practices already working in the Twin Cities and similar cities across the nation.
Convening Agenda
Thursday, June 11, 2026
EVENING: Affinity spaces
“Collective Healing: A Sacred Space to Reflect and Connect” for Black women, girls, and femmes
“From Fragility to Collective Liberation: Unlearning and reimagining how to build new tables with Black women, girls, and femmes” for accomplices
Friday, June 12, 2026
DAY: National Convening for participants of all backgrounds to come together to discuss moving research to action
EVENING: Advancing Equity in Action: An Evening of Art and Activation to Resource Community-Led Research (separate ticket required)
Thank you to our sponsors!
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McKnight Foundation
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Blue Cross MN Foundation
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Women's Foundation of Minnesota
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Addieun Foundation
JOIN US!
BECOME A SPONSOR
Download our sponsorship invitation and play a key role in making the event possible!
KEY DATES:
February 2026: Call for presentation and workshop submissions
March 2026: Early bird registration
May 2026: Regular registration
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VOLUNTEER:
Fill out our interest form to volunteer at the event!
The 2026 convening is just the start of a longer journey.
Over time, we hope the convening will strengthen the field of community-based action research in our region. It will foster deeper trust and accountability among researchers, institutions, and communities. It will expand opportunities for participants to learn together, share lived experience, and hold one another accountable. It will also build cultural foundations for resilience, ensuring that research supports, rather than harms, communities.