59 - Mapping my approach to a community-engaged dissertation

Abstract Information: Participatory methods show promise for collaboration with community members, specifically those who have been historically underserved and excluded from engagement and benefiting from findings. Effective participatory practice requires time, support, and funds - three elements that are limited in the pursuit of graduate study. Consequently, students intent on community engagement can struggle to align their institution’s expectations, the demands of participatory practice, their (time, financial, and emotional) capacity for partnership, and the needs and perspectives of their organization partners. In this cultural moment, all researchers – experienced and emerging – are accountable to the call for equity in how we answer pressing questions and address persistent disparities. How can we use our resources, place, and power to be good university partners? How can we meet our professional and academic goals, stand in solidarity with our neighbors, and participate in mutually-transformative projects? With this poster, I merge the theoretical and practical foundations of participatory frameworks with my lived experience approaching a community-engaged dissertation project in real time. The project itself explores an impact evaluation of a youth leadership program within a county-level rape crisis center. I show the unique inputs that empower me to immerse my organization and youth collaborators equitably in the evaluation process. Altogether, I present a visual (and ever-evolving) model of how I adopt a transformative participatory practice, navigate institutional barriers and supports, and envision a dissertation (and scholarly future) that is innovative and inclusive.