View video of Gwendolyn Brantley and Dr. Tanya Hills as they discuss the processes and practices of a community foundation research partnership that sought to reframe racial equity as an economic opportunity in one of the wealthiest yet most racially inequitable counties in the country. This session offers an honest discussion about the realities of community engaged research where philanthropic intentions include activating equitable change. Join us to learn more about the research process and contribute ideas for how the research can continue to energize change locally and beyond.
Description:
Fairfield County’s Community Foundation (FCCF) sees racial inequity as the most pressing issue facing our community and our biggest barrier to realizing a Fairfield County where all residents have equitable access to opportunity. Among FCCF’s key strategies for advancing equity, is initiating equity focused research. Our research approach is grounded in mixed methods and emphasizes community-based participatory designs. We emphasize a “power with” approach and incorporate input from a diverse range of community stakeholders, including community members who have lived experience with racial inequity.
This community engaged, “power with” approach led to a shared understanding about the needs of the community, shared goals for what we wanted to achieve with our research in the short, medium and long-term, and a shared definition of ‘success’. It also created a space for traditionally underrepresented individuals to be heard and to be part of solution building. Ultimately this approach resulted in more innovative, comprehensive, and rigorous research design and process that led to practical, evidence-based and culturally appropriate systems level solutions to the root causes of inequity in Fairfield County CT. Learnings (both what worked well and what did not) from this “shared meaning-making” approach can be applied to other research contexts to enhance knowledge building practices and establish new best practices.
Presenters: Gwendolyn Brantley, MS & Dr. Tanya A. Hills
Gwendolyn Brantley, MS
Founder and Executive Director, ACCESS Educational Services, Inc.
Workforce Development Leader who builds education-to-career pathways that develop students and meet employers’ needs. Founder of a STEM education nonprofit who combines employer-side hiring experience with student coaching to build programs that truly align education to employment. Recognized by Connecticut workforce partners including an honorary degree from Housatonic Community College and a 2023 Woman of Innovation nomination from the CT Technology Council.
Dr. Tanya A. Hills
Director, Learning, Evaluation & Research, Fairfield County’s Community Foundation
A strategic systems change leader with expertise in facilitating processes that optimize organizational learning, strategic planning and strategic decision-making. Committed to achieving maximum mission impact and measurable systems change by leveraging learning, evaluation and research methods. Dr. Hills emphasizes elements of Emergent Learning®; the Equitable Evaluation Framework™; Culturally Responsive Evaluation; and Evaluation Capacity Building in her processes, as well as collaborative action and problem-solving and centering individuals with lived experience in solution-building and decision-making.
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