Community-engaged methods are not just a set of actions and outcomes but a continuous process of relationship-building, grounded in shared decisionmaking power and racial equity and driven by those with lived experience. 

Created for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, this model provides a streamlined map of this process. It summarizes the key concepts and practices needed to form equitable partnerships with communities and change the systems that negatively impact their lives.

The theory of change begins by highlighting how community-engaged methods were created by and for marginalized communities who historically have been exploited or harmed by research practices. It outlines actions, such as building community capacity and creating equitable funding structures, that researchers and practitioners can take when working to authentically engage people with lived experience. These actions can lead to more robust, representative findings, and ultimately drive meaningful change in a community.

Several core values and stakeholders also shape this participatory process. Researchers and practitioners should ground their work in core values such as power sharing, mutual accountability, and racial equity to achieve sustainable, systemic impacts. Embracing these values ensures people with lived experience are valued as experts and decisionmakers at each stage of the process.

By sharing decisionmaking power with people with lived experience, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers can develop long-term relationships with communities, work with them to address structural inequities, and drive meaningful change.