Ben Levy

he/him or they/them
Class of 2023
American Studies, Political Science Minor
Research in Action

This summer, I had the pleasure of working with Research in Action (RIA) as a research specialist. RIA is a community-based research firm that contracts with organizations in a wide range of fields. I was drawn to work with RIA by their ethos and their contract with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, in which they are working to assess and reimagine Habitat’s homeownership program to better serve foundational Black households. Founded and led by Dr. Brittany Lewis (Macalester ‘09), RIA employs her “Equity in Action” model. This form of participatory action research empowers community members to shape their own narrative and to effectuate institutional change.

As I transitioned into this role, my goal was to be as intentional as the organization I joined by working to ensure my engagement with RIA, and community through RIA, was substantive and non-exploitative. In order to do this, I focused on listening to what was needed of me, and executing it to the best of my ability. With this approach, I was not only able to not only contribute meaningfully to the amazing work that is being done by RIA, but I was also able to learn how community relationships that are traditionally defined by a hierarchical power structure can be reimagined to minimize the impact of power imbalances.

The bulk of my work this summer was concentrated on the Twin Cities Habitat project. After the first two “main” data collection points– a survey and focus groups– were completed, I led the data analysis, writing numerous analytical memos and triangulating themes. With the themes in mind, we turned to community members to offer us feedback in a data walk event. A data walk is one of the numerous accountability measures in Dr. Lewis’ model, and it aims to break the cycle of research creating extractive and harmful impacts in marginalized communities. This iterative process, characteristic of this type of research, continued throughout the summer, even as we have now begun to write our final report and offer recommendations to Twin Cities Habitat staff and leadership.

Although this work was, and continues to be, emotionally taxing, I am incredibly grateful for the mentorship and support offered by both Dr. Lewis and my direct supervisor, Liv Reyes, as well as from the other RIA staff. I am thrilled to be continuing with Research in Action in the fall to begin work on a new contract with Ramsey County.