Shifting the Power in Research

This session, led by Impact on Urban Health and the Wellcome Trust, highlighted key insights from their four-year partnership, Shifting the Power in Research.

As funders, we have explored community-centred research and funding models to address health inequity and reimagine the role of funders within community-led research. Throughout this journey, we’ve fostered and sustained relationships with diverse actors in the health research space. These collaborations have led us to co-create solutions that place the needs and experiences of communities at the heart of our efforts.

Our partnership recognises that lived experience and community expertise should be central to health research and evidence creation. We believe communities should have the tools and skills to participate in generating evidence and data actively. However, we acknowledge that significant systemic barriers must be addressed to make this a reality.

Initially, this work was at the periphery of our foundations’ activities, yet it has since permeated our organisations. It has deeply influenced organisational culture, increasing interest in participatory grant-making and encouraging exploration of alternative community research models, new frameworks for engagement, and empowering partnerships.

Gabrielle Allen(Gabrielle.Allen@urbanhealth.org.uk), Rianna Raymond-Williams and Zaichen Mallace-Lu will share insights from their organisations’ experiences during the partnership. They will also be joined by Kenny Imafidon (ClearView Research), who collaborated on the final investment, which focuses on community-led governance and decision-making in Lambeth and Southwark.

Lessons from the Session

Effective philanthropy requires time and patience to build genuine relationships with communities. Listening deeply and engaging in sense-making together helps in forming meaningful partnerships.

If philanthropy is real about resourcing “innovation”, they need to expect failure as an essential and meaningful part of the process. Funders should create spaces where grantees feel free to experiment and fail, understanding that true breakthroughs often arise from setbacks.

There’s a difference between sharing power (inviting communities to participate) and shifting power (ensuring communities have a meaningful voice in decisions). Shifting power involves addressing inequities and actively transferring decision-making control to communities.

Open, transparent communication builds trust. Funders should allow space for feedback, even if it challenges existing practices, to create a collaborative environment that respects the expertise of community member

Working in partnership, especially across different foundations with overlapping interests, enriches perspectives and broadens the impact. A diversity of approaches enhances problem-solving and fosters innovation.