Partnerships

Partnering with Communities

I practice community-engaged, participatory research, design, and action alongside communities, nonprofit staff, service users, and students.

Who I partner with:

• Nonprofits and human service organizations rethinking their data systems, performance management, and technology
• Community organizations wanting to center client and youth voice in program design, evaluation, and decision-making
• County and public agencies (recently: Hennepin County, on SNAP benefits data)
• Movements and networks, including the Settlement House movement, the PAIRED Lab, and the Alan Turing Institute

What partnership looks like:

• Participatory evaluation & program development — co-designed studies where clients and frontline workers define priorities, not just answer surveys
• Anti-oppressive design sprints — re-designing practice artifacts (intake forms, assessments) with the people who use them
• Data cooperatives & participatory data governance — exploring how communities can collectively own and govern their data
• Speculative futures work — imagining and prototyping alternative sociotechnical futures before the default ones arrive

Current projects:

• NSF-funded community data science with Augsburg's Data Science program and Hennepin County;