About this session

Friday, 4:40 PM - 6:10 PM

The Dynamic Process of Community-Engaged Research: Reflecting on the Partnership from Research Questions to Dissemination

This roundtable addresses practices that sustain community-engaged research (CEnR) throughout the research process while continuously and reflexively choosing equity-centered approaches. Panelists will be asked to respond to questions broadly, providing responses that give detail into various components of the research process from inception to dissemination (Hart, 1992; Gonzalez & Facilitating Power, 2019) as well as how to consider partners throughout (e.g. funders, university-/center-based researchers, community partners, and community members at large). Additionally, panelists will reflect on how using CEnR shaped the scientific inquiry, gave meaning to findings for ultimately addressing inequities and informed dissemination strategies consistent with community goals.

Panelists will draw from a cohort of CEnR studies which started in 2021 focused on Black and Latino mothers with young children. These projects vary in engagement from using community advisory boards to taking a participatory research approach. Such variation highlights the multiple avenues for CEnR and will give specific attention to the dissemination phase, including processes and products.

Kevin Ferreira van Leer, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut. He is co-Principal Investigator collaborating with Dr. Caitlin Lombardi and Dr. Rachel Cohen on a CEnR investigating the role of structural factors, such as variation in social policy exclusions for immigrants, and the strengths and assets of immigrant communities, such as community characteristics, as they are associated with the well-being of immigrant families in the U.S. Through a transformative mixed methods design, the study analyzes the ECLS-B as well as focus groups with immigrant parents of young children and is guided by a community advisory board. The project has consulted both the community advisory board, two partnering organizations and immigrant mothers in determining dissemination strategies for the project. Strengths and lessons learned regarding utilizing a community advisory board in guiding the project will be shared.

Pamela L. Ross is the Executive Director of PamperMeBeautiful, Inc, an organization that cultivates opportunities for families, youth, and communities to realize their goals and dreams. As an early learning and family engagement consultant and champion, Ms. Ross has worked on behalf of children and families for more than 20 years. For the past two years, Ms. Ross has been collaborating with Dr. Jacqueline Sims, Dr. Ann DiGirolamo, and Dr. Stephanie M. Curenton on a PhotoVoice project that aims to understand how racism impacts young Black families, as well as the people, resources, and services that support families to overcome challenges related to racism and bias. Ms. Ross will share insights and expertise about engaging with community members in meaningful ways during the research process.

Ms. Yolanda Stokes, is the co-Principal Investigator and community lead on a CEnR designed to advance housing justice for Black women with young children living in the South Ward, a predominantly Black community in Newark, NJ. This mixed methods study uses Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing data to understand the experiences of Black mothers with young children who are experiencing housing hardships and housing instability. The team also collected qualitative data to explore how families located in the South Ward interface with housing supports and systems. Ms. Stokes will share her experiences serving co-researcher which is informed by her 30+ years of experience as a community worker and member including involvement in multiple organizations such as the Greater Newark Housing and Urban Development Tenant Coalition, the Anti-Poverty Network of NJ, and others.

Erin McCarthy is a Senior Officer for Learning and Evaluation at the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, a philanthropic foundation that aims to improve the lives of individuals living in poverty and experiencing disadvantage throughout the world. In her current role, she leads the research and learning strategy for the Foundation’s Global Early Childhood Development Initiative, in the United States and in East and Southern Africa. For the past three years, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation has been funding a series of equity-centered research grants that are focused on understanding how structural and systemic factors impact children’s wellbeing over time, particularly for families of color, and by identifying assets in children, families, peers, neighborhoods and other conditions that promote equity. All three projects have centered community as part of their research processes, in service of equity, and have engaged in a community of practice to share process and outcomes learnings through the grant funding period.

The roundtable will begin with an introduction of the topic and each panelist describing their work. Participants will then reflect and share the trajectory of the CEnR projects and ongoing dissemination activities, noting key decision points and moments of adaptation in collaboration with partners. The moderator will then pose the following questions to the panel for discussion:

1) How have you balanced the tensions between the values of equity, anti-racism, and collaboration with the practices of inquiry, science, and administrative procedures?
2) While using CEnR approaches, how have shifts throughout the research process (i.e., research questions through dissemination) strengthened the work and findings? Were there also times that the shifts and adaptations seemed like limitations?
3) In what ways did the CEnR approach give insight to the findings and the meaning making with community partners?
4) How are you exploring community-engagement during the dissemination phase?
5) As you reflect back on the current project, is there anything you would have done differently and/or are considering exploring in future CEnR projects?

The moderator will also engage the audience in conversation, soliciting questions. The moderator will conclude the roundtable by summarizing key points and discussing potential next steps. A handout with example dissemination materials, resources, and links to more information will be provided to participants.

We anticipate that participants will leave the session with a greater understanding for the opportunities when using CEnR and the effects on findings. Additionally, the roundtable may generate future collaborations, such as a manuscript regarding sharing findings and the use of evidence in addressing equity in developmental science. Recommendations to SRCD regarding how developmental scientists can incorporate community-engaged and equity-centered research will be provided.

“Nothing about us without us” is a resounding motto in advocacy and is represented in research through participatory-action or community-engaged research (CEnR) approaches, qualified by authentic and ethical partnerships (Chou & Frazier, 2019). Researchers broadly define CEnR as centering the perspectives of impacted communities within research and allowing research to be grounded in their lived experiences (Wallerstein, 2021). At the core, these approaches address issues of equity by ensuring those who are impacted by the work shape the work- from the research questions to teaming to methods to how findings are shared. The question then becomes how this collaborative research process changes anticipated work at each research phase and the outcome (Boursaw et al., 2021).

In this conversation roundtable, a panel of community members, researchers, and funders using CEnR, now at dissemination phase, will engage participants. Grounded in three on-going CEnR projects that span a spectrum of community-engagement, ranging from community involvement to deferring to communities (see Gonzalez & Facilitating Power, 2019), panelists will present reflections about the non-linear research process and how partnership influenced the findings and dissemination. The panel will be moderated by Erin McCarthy, Ph.D., Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, who will bring insights as a research grantmaker to explore how CEnR can address issues of anti-racism. This roundtable is open to scholars familiar with CEnR or those scholars exploring these methodologies. Participants will be invited to reflect on the dynamic process and opportunities to strengthen the science as well as engage in discussion with the panelists. “Nothing about us without us” is a resounding motto in advocacy and is represented in research through participatory-action or community-engaged research (CEnR) approaches, qualified by authentic and ethical partnerships (Chou & Frazier, 2019). Researchers broadly define CEnR as centering the perspectives of impacted communities within research and allowing research to be grounded in their lived experiences (Wallerstein, 2021). At the core, these approaches address issues of equity by ensuring those who are impacted by the work shape the work- from the research questions to teaming to methods to how findings are shared. The question then becomes how this collaborative research process changes anticipated work at each research phase and the outcome (Boursaw et al., 2021).

In this conversation roundtable, a panel of community members, researchers, and funders using CEnR, now at dissemination phase, will engage participants. Grounded in three on-going CEnR projects that span a spectrum of community-engagement, ranging from community involvement to deferring to communities (see Gonzalez & Facilitating Power, 2019), panelists will present reflections about the non-linear research process and how partnership influenced the findings and dissemination. The panel will be moderated by Erin McCarthy, Ph.D., Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, who will bring insights as a research grantmaker to explore how CEnR can address issues of anti-racism. This roundtable is open to scholars familiar with CEnR or those scholars exploring these methodologies. Participants will be invited to reflect on the dynamic process and opportunities to strengthen the science as well as engage in discussion with the panelists.

Session moderator
Erin McCarthy, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, United States

Panelists
Kevin Ferreira Van Leer, Ph.D., University of Connecticut , United States
Pamela L. Ross, PamperMeBeautiful, Inc. , United States
Yolanda Stokes, Child Trends -Maryland , United States

⇦ Back to schedule