Engaging individuals and communities to 

deliberate and problem solve advances equity 

and fairness, and also serves as a basis for a 

participatory and thriving democracy.1

 AmeriCorps 

works toward this vision by supporting and 

increasing the civic engagement and volunteerism 

of people of all ages and backgrounds, thereby 

strengthening civil society and communities across 

the United States and its territories. 

Through research grants, AmeriCorps Research 

and Evaluation funds PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH

to engage communities to problem solve and 

produce more meaningful and impactful research. 

This cutting-edge methodology engages the 

community, leverages local expertise, builds 

knowledge, capacity, and connections, and 

makes research more relevant to the needs of the 

community. As a result, the participatory process 

produces more equitable and actionable solutions 

and can improve our democratic processes. 

WHAT IS THE 

PARTICIPATORY 

RESEARCH 

FRAMEWORK?

The participatory 

research framework is built 

on three pillars.

PARTICIPATORY 

RESEARCH

An Equitable Approach 

to Community Engagement

OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND EVALUATION

COMMUNITY

Community members 

are actively involved in 

the research

ACTION

Community stakeholders

take actionable steps 

based on research findings

RESEARCH

The research team 

systematically gathers 

information on 

community-identified issues

In addition to these pillars, the framework calls 

upon researchers, community members, and 

other stakeholders engaged in this work to employ 

several principles, including:

• Collaboration

• Co-learning

• Flexibility

• Power sharing

• Relationship building

• Teamwork

• Deliberation

1

Fung, A., & Wright, E. O. (2003). Deepening democracy: Institutional 

innovations in empowered participatory governance (Vol. 4). Verso.
SO HOW DOES AMERICORPS 

FIT IN? 

AmeriCorps amplifies participatory research 

through technical assistance and grant-making 

opportunities. These grants are investigating topics 

and developing solutions for societal issues such as:

• Equitable economic development in urban 

and rural communities

• Increasing civic engagement of youth, adults, 

and seniors representing different racial, 

ethnic, and cultural backgrounds

• Increasing the resilience of communities 

prone to natural disasters 

• Tackling youth homelessness, food insecurity, 

and the opioid crisis

AmeriCorps is also connecting communities 

conducting participatory research with its 

national service programs to assist in tackling 

the community-identified priorities. 

WHAT RESOURCES ARE 

AVAILABLE?

Check out the participatory research videos, 

webinars, and Community Conversations grantee 

profiles for:

• More information about the AmeriCorpsfunded institutions of higher education and 

their community partners that are using a 

participatory research approach 

• Additional project resources such as 

videos, technical assistance material about 

participatory research in several languages, 

briefs, published articles, etc.

Learn more about the work of AmeriCorps 

Research and Evaluation grantees at 

AMERICORPS.GOV/RESEARCH-EVALUATION

or by contacting EVALUATION@CNS.GOV.

Our goal is to tackle this 

particular project by equipping 

residents with ... strategies 

that they can use to engage 

stakeholders like politicians, 

developers, policy makers ... If 

they can get their ear, if they can 

get their heart, if they can get 

them to understand what’s going 

on in their community and the 

impact that these decisions are 

making, then we believe they 

can make a difference.”

– Shannah Tharp Gilliam, Ph.D.

Children’s Village in Pittsburgh

Doing this type of research, which 

is participatory action research, 

in my community specifically 

is very, very different and a lot 

more personal. Instead of us just 

being people on the outside that 

are collecting surveys or things 

like that, we’re actually in the 

community doing interviews and 

events ... And this is where I spent 

my entire life ... So the people 

in the community are seeing all 

these familiar faces and these 

people that can actually relate to 

them ... So when we’re doing this 

action, it’s a lot different than just 

being behind the scenes.”

– Yesenia Valentin

Smith College