Research for community-based organizing, public policy change, & movement building
Effectively organizing for political, social, and policy change requires a lot of information, from assessing your community’s challenges and needs, to understanding the relevant policy and budget landscape, to knowing who your allies and opponents are, and much more. Especially in a political climate saturated with disinformation, reliable strategic research is vitally important to building and winning an effective campaign.
I specialize in people-centered research to support progressive community-based organizing focusing on positive, effective change, equity, and justice. I work across and between many issues, with experience researching the criminal legal system, healthcare, education, climate, housing, the economy, racial equity, disability justice, and gender and sexuality justice (with an expertise on trans people and issues).
Drawing on about a decade of movement strategic research experience, I work with organizations to design research projects that support their work at all stages of organizing and policy campaigns.
My Values
People-centered
All of my research aims to improve people’s lives and honor and amplify the knowledge, needs, and experiences of community members.
Equity, justice, and anti-oppression
I bring an intersectional, anti-oppression lens to my research. Drawing from women of color feminism, I believe strongly that all issue and people are interconnected and that centering the knowledge, needs, and experiences of the most marginalized communities is the only way to improve both their lives and all lives. I also believe that understanding the context and history of a community is vitally important for making positive changes for the future.
Accessibility
I also bring a disability justice lens to my work. This means keeping the goal of universal accessibility in mind for all projects, not just for disabled people but also for all impacted people. Accessibility also means ensuring that the most impacted communities participate in, benefit from, and can understand the research and often complex policy issues.