COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AND INNOVATIVE THOUGHT
Knowledge is Power
Justice + Joy National Collaborative is home to a growing, collaborative, and intergenerational research practice dedicated to filling critical gaps in the availability of intersectional data and information generated by, with, and about cis and trans girls and gender-expansive young people.
We know that knowledge is power. Power that can be wielded to advance and demand transformative changes in society, communities, systems, and more. Through our research we aim to work in collaboration to seize and step into our power in order to raise awareness and truly transform society.
Gender Matters
The history of this country is marked by the deeply embedded oppression and exclusion of cis and trans girls, young women, and gender-expansive young people, specifically those of color – resulting in their invisibility and the erasure of their needs, potential, and contributions. Given this reality, addressing the significant gaps in the availability and use of intersectional data about girls, young women and gender-expansive young people of color is urgent and critical.
In order to address the long-standing oppression and marginalization of cis and trans girls, young women, and gender-expansive young people, most notably those of color, we must conduct, publish, and analyze data with and about girls, young women and gender-expansive young people of color to truly effect change.
Across all of Justice + Joy’s quantitative and qualitative research efforts, our core practices ground the work. This includes, following her/their* leadership; working in collaboration with a wide array of cross cutting partners; and ensuring the involvement of local and state advocates, decision makers, service providers, young people, and families in shaping national research efforts.
Our goal is to leverage and harness the power of information to shift the deficit, gendered, and biased narratives to inform and transform policy, systems, and society.
Participatory Action Research
All research is designed, conducted and analyzed by young people working in collaboration with staff. Findings and recommendations are used to shape, reimagine, and transform policies, systems, and society and are shared with advocates, service providers, and policy makers.
Our participatory action research is youth-led and intergenerational. It is designed to identify and fill the significant gaps in the availability and use of cross cutting data about cis and trans girls, young women, and gender-expansive young people.
Collaborative Research
Justice + Joy National Collaborative joins together with partners from across the country to leverage perspectives, expertise, resources, and reach to conduct research that fills existing data gaps about the complex context of the lives of cis and trans girls, young women, and gender-expansive young people.
Data is translated into findings and recommendations to create a more comprehensive picture of the challenges young people face, their strengths, and to detail the need for system and program re-imagination. Additionally, Justice + Joy staff serve as content experts and advisors on external research projects.
Resource Center - Coming in Fall of 2022
We also acknowledge that there is important, informative work being done by others — and we work diligently to promote this and Justice + Joy National Collaborative's research — making sure that it finds an audience.
Justice + Joy aggregates and vets the best and latest information making it available to all advocates, agencies, partner organizations, stakeholders, and the public through this virtual resource center. If you have research, articles, toolkits, etc, you would like to submit, please email info@JusticeandJoyNatl.org.
Stay tuned for information about our growing intergenerational, collaborative research practice working with cis and trans girls, young women, gender-expansive young people, and strategic partners to produce original research and the growing In Solidarity Research Fellowship.
Highlights
PROJECT
IN SOLIDARITY CONVERSATIONS
During the Spring and Fall of 2020, in collaboration with the National Young Women’s Initiative, virtual youth-led conversations were hosted with cis and trans girls and gender-expansive young people of color.
14 CONVERSATIONS
400+ PARTICIPANTS
39+ STATES AND TRIBAL NATIONS
PROJECTS & PUBLICATIONS
YPAC (YOUNG PARENT ADVOCACY COUNCIL)/IMPACT
The YPAC team of custodial mothers and fathers developed and implemented a research process to identify the specific needs and issues facing young families across the country. The research process included one-to-one interviews; young parent led listening sessions and a survey.
65 YOUNG PARENT PARTICIPANTS
50% IDENTIFIED AS SYSTEM IMPACTED
RESEARCH REPORT
BEYOND ACE
In 2014, eighteen Justice + Joy agencies administered the Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey to their program participants. In addition to the 10 ACE items, questions were added to assess well being indicators of connection, stress, and coping.
16 STATES
1,072 PARTICIPANTS
745 FEMALE
PROJECT
ACCESS
ACCESS provides technical assistance and learning opportunities to support advocates and decision-makers in supporting the needs of cis and trans girls and gender-expansive young people who come into contact with the youth legal system.
RAMSEY COUNTY, MN
STATE OF KANSAS
MILWAUKEE COUNTY, WI