Past Projects

Research in Action is partnered with the West Side Community Organization (WSCO) to work with impacted community members to bring the historical displacement of the West Side Flats community into public memory and build collective strategy to prevent further displacement from the neighborhood.

Research in Action worked with Ramsey County and other stakeholders on a Public Safety Assessment intended to assist in transitioning away from the reliance on a pretrial cash bail system; reduce the jail population; and Increase opportunities for law enforcement assisted diversion and alternatives to traditional prosecution.

The Workgroup on Expediting Rental Assistance (WERA) partnered with Research in Action to conduct a literature review and engage community to ensure those with direct experience inform WERA’s final legislative recommendations.

Established by the Minnesota state legislature, the Missing and Murdered African American Women Task Force (MMAAW) was the first of its kind in the nation. It examined and reported on systemic causes of violence against African American women and girls; policies, practices, and institutions that assist in perpetuation violence against African American women and girls, and measures necessary to address and reduce violence against African American women and girls.

In Spring 2023, the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota partnered with Research in Action to do additional analysis of the Missing & Murdered African American Women’s Task Force interview and focus group data focused on the Safe Harbor Initiative and sexual exploitation. The goal was to generate additional insights that could be of practical use to community members, organizations, and allies.

Artists and culture bearers are catalysts for change and essential leaders in movements to advance social, racial, economic, and environmental justice in Minnesota. Research in Action worked with McKnight Foundation to identify “How can the Arts & Culture program better articulate and support the contribution of artists to advancing a just, creative and abundant future where people and planet thrive?”

Engaging Foundational Black Households was an 8-month evaluation and assessment project that began in the fall of 2020. The project was led by Research in Action (RIA) for Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity (Habitat). The objective was to analyse how well Habitat’s homeownership and financial coaching programs have served foundational Black households (defined as U.S. descendants of enslaved African people).

The Heading Home Minnesota Funders Collaborative (HHMFC or Collaborative) is a member organization of grantmakers working together to end homelessness in Minnesota. They partnered with Research in Action (RIA), an action research, community engagement, and racial equity consulting firm led by Dr. Brittany Lewis, to conduct the initial grounding work to listen, learn, and gauge potential next steps of the HHMFC’s efforts in 2022-2023.

In the fall of 2020, Research in Action (RIA) was contracted by the Pohlad Family Foundation to develop a strategic plan and implementation plan to guide this new funding initiative aimed at advancing racial justice for the Black community.

The Time of Reckoning, Healing, Listening, and Action was a series of community engagement and healing justice sessions that culminated in a Black-led town hall and policy action roundtables focusing on the criminal justice system and its collateral consequences on Black people in Minnesota.

Hope Community Inc., Girls Empowerment Movement (GEMS) Youth Action Research Team led by Dr. Brittany Lewis aimed to empower young high school age Black girls through purposeful community action informed by research questions that are relevant to their daily lives.

The MN Trust Black Women and Girls Town Hall was established in 2018, after Dr. Brittany Lewis, The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, the African American Leadership Forum, and Hope Community, Inc., partnered with the national African American Policy Forum (AAPF) to bring the Breaking the Silence Town Hall Series to Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Research in Action worked with the Heading Home Minnesota Funders Collaborative to identify strategic stakeholders; design statewide regional accountability tables to move toward long-term housing stability that provides fair, just, and equitable housing for all Minnesotans; and curate a legislative agenda that includes the housing system priorities and policies determined by communities with lived experience around housing instability and homelessness.