We are an action-oriented community research and advocacy lab. Through our research, we create, implement, and evaluate interventions to address social problems. We also seek to understand how civic engagement impacts people across the lifespan. Through our advocacy work, we aim to bring greater awareness to interventions that are supporting civic power for individuals, communities, and societies. Issues we address through our research and advocacy include but are not limited to collective wellness, community organizing, civic engagement, youth activism, leadership development, power and empowerment, community development, and civic education. 

As community-based participatory researchers, we partner with organizations who are leading the way for social change, providing them with research support and capacity building. Click the links below to learn more about our some of our current partners!

Intersectionality: In our research, we acknowledge the unique needs of people who embody multiple identities which are oppressed in society. Such identities may include but are not limited to: people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, youth, immigrants, and people with disabilities. We hope our research can find ways to better support populations who experience the intersection of multiple types of oppression.

Action: Our research seeks to produce knowledge that communities can use to address the problems they face. The results of our research are practical, relevant, and can drive social change. We are more concerned that our findings are relevant to our local collaborators than we are about our findings being universally generalizable.

“Nothing About Us, Without Us”: We believe that no research should be conducted without the full and direct participation of members of the group(s) under study and/or the group(s) most impacted by that research. Those who are affected by research have a right to influence what is researched and how it is done.