UROC's 2022 Research Agenda Grant Competition Awardees

A University-community selection committee has named the 2022 recipients of the UROC Research Agenda Grant Competition. Launched in September of 2020, the UROC Research Agenda  is a framework for addressing themes that community members and University of Minnesota researchers and practitioners identified as being critical to a thriving North Minneapolis and Twin Cities urban core.

The following research projects were chosen as the 2022 grant recipients by a University-community selection committee:

Cultural Adaptation of Trauma Systems Therapy for Elementary School Aged Latine Immigrant Youth
This College of Education and Human Development project builds on the Collaborative for Immigrant and Refugee Children’s Leadership and Excellence/CIRCLE Project that began in October 2021 to implement Trauma Systems Therapy for Refugees, an evidence-based multi-tiered, culturally responsive intervention aimed at promoting resilience of immigrant and refugee youth in Minneapolis Public Schools. Principal investigator: Saida Abdi, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, College of Education and Human Development. 

Investing in North Minneapolis
This College of Design project engages the community in developing grassroots urban designs that express North Minneapolis residents’ vision for their future. It leverages the work of University of Minnesota students and the college's Black Environmental Initiative interns to make design proposals that build on existing assets, identify missing assets and propose desired changes in the environment. Principal investigator: Julia Williams Robinson, Professor, School of Architecture, College of Design. 

RIDGS Ethnic Studies Initiative
The RIDGS Ethnic Studies Initiative is an ongoing series of programs run by the University’s Center for Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. A current priority of the initiative is to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of one of the most advanced Ethnic Studies Programs in the state, St. Paul Public Schools (SPPS). SPPS intends to partner with RIDGS on an evaluation on its ethnic studies courses in order to gauge the progress towards the program’s myriad goals. Principal investigator: Keith Mayes, Associate Professor, Department of African American and African Studies, College of Liberal Arts. 

Each of these community engaged research projects will receive funding in the amount of $15,000 to support one University graduate research assistant to help plan, establish, implement, and evaluate strategic initiatives that advance the Research Agenda's priorities. The UROC staff will provide support and community-engaged guidance to the projects through a community-based cohort model.