Our Process
We envision communities most impacted by injustice using research to elevate and advance their solutions for more equitable futures.
At Research in Action, we support partners across sectors that are committed to building new relationships, redirecting power to impacted people and developing actionable strategies for change.
OUR MODEL
For generations, researchers have taken data from those most harmed by injustice and released findings utterly removed from the experiences and desires of the people most impacted.
Research in Action rejects these extractive, top-down approaches to traditional research and community engagement. Instead, we redirect power to impacted community through our Equity in Action model. From naming the problem to identifying solutions, we prioritize community expertise to repair relationships and elevate tangible solutions to complex problems.
Our Values
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We proactively and authentically partner with Black, brown and Indigenous people to acknowledge and eliminate white supremacy, the systematic impact of racism, the harms of anti-Blackness, and the oppressive policies and practices upheld by institutions that prevent marginalized people from exercising their full humanity. We take strategic and purposeful action to create material change in people’s lives, and heal the trauma of generations of exploitation and intentional harm.
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Change doesn't happen in a straight line. It curves and bends based on the changing conditions it encounters. We center shared meaning making to ensure everyone involved develops a mutual understanding of key language, shared values, research gaps and project goals. Throughout our community led processes, we constantly reflect and adapt to what we’re learning to ensure we deliver accountable and actionable outcomes for impacted communities.
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Accountability is an ongoing practice. We commit to collectively processing institutional and systemic harms, uncovering contentious histories and languages, and grappling with difficult questions. As we produce actionable research products that move practice and policy change, we will experience tension, discomfort and conflict. At Research in Action we support community and partners to navigate conflict in ways that lead to deeper understanding and better solutions.
Steps in our Equity in Action Model
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We investigate with partners and community members the history and context that has led to the proposed project, honestly identifying institutional harms, pain points, and impacted partnerships. We define shared values, as well as stakeholder goals and interests.
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We create a community action council made up of individuals who are personally impacted by a specific issue. Because they understand the issue better than anyone else, we elevate community members as project leaders in accurately identifying and solving the problems they experience.
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We support community members to use their expertise to describe the problem, design the process to understand it and develop tools to gather information.
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We train action council members in data collection to work with the research team to connect with community members through a shared purpose to solve a common problem.
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We make data understandable and clear so community members who haven’t been part of the action council can make sense of what it means, identify where we have misunderstood or made mistakes, and surface multiple solutions.
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Based on the data and community input, we identify policies, practices and systems changes that will lead to concrete improvements in community members’ lives — and shift relationships and power dynamics between the institutional partner and impacted community beyond the project.
