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The new unit will feature interdisciplinary experts working to advance equity
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, today announced the launch of the Transformative Research Unit for Equity (TRUE), a new unit of interdisciplinary experts focused on the design and implementation of equity -centered and culturally responsive research practices, and trusted partnerships with marginalized communities.
“Equity exists when the intersections of your social identities, residence in marginalized communities, and experience with oppressive systems do not determine your opportunities, access to resources, and outcomes in life,” said RTI clinician and researcher Dr. Stephanie Hawkins, founding director of the new unit. “My colleagues and I are passionate about the role of research in making systems more just. Through TRUE, we will develop impactful solutions to some of the most important challenges of our time.”
TRUE will have three focus areas:
- Equity Capacity Building Hub: A hub that trains and consults with researchers, provides holistic mentorship to emerging scholars, and builds partnerships with the community to transform inequitable systems by using equity-centered and culturally responsive research practices.
- Social and Economic Justice Collaborative: An interdisciplinary team of scientists who build an evidence base of impactful interventions to transform oppressive and inequitable systems, policies, programs, and practices through strategic consultation, research, evaluation, and training/technical assistance.
- Narrative Research and Community Engagement Lab: A lab that studies the dominant narratives impacting marginalized communities and engages these communities in the research, co-creation, and multi-platform dissemination of new narratives that offer solutions and inform race, social, and economic justice policy and practice.
“TRUE represents RTI’s deep commitment to center equity in all of our research work while forging new paths that turn practice into impact,” said E. Wayne Holden, Ph.D., president and CEO of RTI. “As a research organization with the mission to improve the human condition, we are accountable to the communities that bear the burden of injustice. I am excited to see how TRUE, under Dr. Hawkins’ leadership, contributes to the transformation of systems to bring about equitable societies.”
