Partners

RAD works with small to large groups, in and outside of the U.S., including grassroots organizations, nonprofits, networks, foundations, and universities, to support community-led change and movement building. For example:

• We partner with grassroots organizations, non-profits, and universities to co-design tools to support local community organizing and advocacy. For example, with MIT Co-Lab, Greenroots, and Everett Community Health Partnership, we co-led a co-design process with community members to develop a multi-media toolkit to help organize against displacement. Access the toolkit at GreaterBostonToolkit.org.
• We work with issue-focused human rights groups and community members on essential research for their campaigns, policy initiatives, and service work. For example we co-led a nationwide participatory research project with Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Forward Together, and grassroots organizations across the country documenting the vast impacts of mass incarceration, see: Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration.
• We conduct strategic and oppositional research and analysis to inform networks of advocates, funders, and other intermediaries for short-term and long-term campaigns and initiatives. For example, a participatory action research team of tech practitioners co-led by RAD interviewed more than 180 of their peers from across the United States to write More than Code, a report which reimagines the landscape of technology for justice and equity.
• We develop technology tools for grassroots nonprofits and networks to better coordinate their work, serve constituents and win campaigns. For example, we’re building a statewide data sharing application and mapping tool for the North Carolina Farmworker Advocacy Network, so that member organizations can collaboratively track their outreach, advocacy and disaster relief efforts with farmworkers across the state.
• We work with community archives, public history nonprofits, and artists to build beautiful and accessible offline and online spaces which honor community history and spark conversation. For example, we designed physical and online exhibits for Bull City 150, which engaged thousands of residents of Durham, NC in critical conversations about the history and future of racial equity in housing and education.
• We facilitate community-engaged workshops for universities and community groups. For example, RAD and Wildcat Tia Hall led faculty in the Duke University Service Learning program through a mapping workshop to better understand their relationship to place and community.
• We work with foundations to guide and support strategic research and program planning for implementing funder-driven initiatives. For example, we facilitated learnings and conducted field scans on the Oral Health Care policy and workforce landscape in CA to inform The California Wellness Foundation’s investment strategy.
• We help small-to-medium-sized nonprofits and foundations build their internal capacity for community research, mapping, data processing and digital strategy through coaching, mentoring and training. For example, for DataWorks NC, a neighborhood data intermediary, RAD builds and maintains PostGIS database systems, helps train interns and staff on data workflows, and supports strategic planning and community outreach.