The Conditions for Co-Design: Partnering for Racial Equity in an Era of Retrenchment

• In Event: Parents and Partnerships: Critical Aspects of Equitable Leadership

Abstract

This paper examines how a research-community-practice partnership (RCPP) navigated systemic challenges to racial equity work and created conditions for co-designing with Black families and communities. Drawing on data analysis from planning meetings with district leaders, families, community partners, and university researchers, two tensions are discussed: how to build structures and practices that support equitable communication and division of labor within the RCPP, and how to design for systemic sustainability amidst the constant shifts of leadership, resources, and organizational structures in a large school district in the U.S. West. Efforts to evolve the RCPP’s practices resulted in a set of design principles that represent an emergent, collective strategy to create conditions for solidarity-driven co-design amidst retrenchment from equity work.

Authors

• Dana Gabrielle Nickson, University of Washington

• Sefanit Habtom, University of Washington

• Ji Ho Yang, University of Washington

• Yikealo Beyene, University of Washington

• Nichelle Page, Seattle Public Schools

• Mia Williams, Seattle Public Schools

• Ann M. Ishimaru, University of Washington