Research
Find PDFs of reports from previous research projects, like our research on Juvenile Justice Transformation, on our IZI reports page:
Our Communities
At Marnita’s Table, we know that our communities possess invaluable knowledge and expertise on the key issues we face today. Rather than pursuing a top-down research methodology, we partner directly with community members to answer important policy questions, uncover gaps in services and resource delivery, and develop policy feedback, proposals and recommendations – all grounded in a community-based participatory framework.
Our Team
Our research team has experience in conducting impact, education and community health needs assessments, community-specific policy review and feedback processes, constituent engagement, conference design, community surveys, and more, tailoring each project to the needs of our clients, partners, and communities for a bespoke experience that gathers data, produces timely and comprehensive analysis and reportage, while building relationships and generating grassroots action on the ground in real time.
Like everything we do, our research and reportage is grounded in the model of Intentional Social Interaction – including our unique approach to focus groups and guided community conversations (the Mindstorm), recruitment and momentum-building practices, our commitment to repatriation of research through the publication of public-facing reports for all projects, and the principle of sharing power and investing directly in the communities we serve through partnership in the design, implementation, and delivery of our engagement and research projects.
Rooted in the deep and broad qualitative feedback we gather during in-person and virtual IZI conversations along with supporting mixed-methods qualitative and quantitative data collection for each event, series, and project, our approach to research centers valuing and protecting the powerful voices and stories shared with us by community partners and participants.
The Table has over 20 years’ experience bringing people together across difference to solve local, regional, state- and nationwide policy problems over a range of critical issue areas including public health, social justice, community belonging, education, civic engagement, resilience-building, strategic planning, visioning for the future, and organizational dynamics among others.
Over the past 10 years, our research team has designed and successfully deployed a 360-degree research and reportage approach across all our projects that includes broad and deep cross-cultural and intergenerational input to ensure that we can help create better communities together in Minnesota and beyond.
To learn more about our research offerings and how we might partner together to address your community’s needs, reach out to elexis@marnitastable.org.