Action Research Collaborative

Action Research Collaborative

Action Research Collaborative (ARC) brings together researchers, practitioners, community members, and policymakers
to address pressing issues in society and improve lives.

Program Directors

Neil Lewis, Jr. & Tashara M. Leak

In January 2022, action researchers will have a new institutional home at Cornell. The Colleges of Human Ecology (CHE) and Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) are collaborating to launch a new initiative called the Action Research Collaborative (ARC). Supporting the tradition pioneered by social scientist Kurt Lewin, ARC brings together researchers, practitioners, community members, and policymakers to address pressing issues in society. 

 ARC’s goal is to develop and support equitable and sustainable action research partnerships that can generate solutions to improve lives. This collaborative is an institutional hub for cross-campus collaborations between Ithaca and New York City, and wherever else those partnerships may develop. ARC’s dedicated team of researchers (students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty) will support action research projects and evaluate their effects on relevant outcomes.

The tragedies—and inequities in those tragedies—over the past 20 months have underscored the need to have an institutional home to support action research. ARC is designed to support continuous and dynamic exchanges between researchers, practitioners, community members, and policymakers. These exchanges are necessary to facilitate just-in-time decision making to address pressing social issues and to reimagine and rebuild better, more equitable, societies.

 ARC is housed in the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research and New York City (570 Lexington Avenue).

Photo of Neil Lewis and Tashara Leak, co-directors of the Action Research Collaborative

Project Contact

ARC is co-directed by two faculty members who have spent their careers conducting action research in partnership with a variety of communities and organizations: Dr. Neil Lewis, Jr., assistant professor in the Department of Communication (CALS) and Dr. Tashara M. Leak, assistant professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences (CHE); both also have faculty appointments in the Division of General Internal Medicine (Weill Cornell Medicine). faculty members from across Cornell.

ARC Faculty

Jamein P. Cunningham, Ph.D.

Dr. Jamein P. Cunningham is an assistant professor in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell. Dr. Cunningham is an applied micro-econometrician with a research interest in demography, crime, and poverty. His research agenda currently consists of four broad overarching themes focusing on legal aid and access to social justice, as well as how laws, regulations, and federal interventions influence individuals’ economic outcomes from marginalized communities. Currently, Dr. Cunningham serves as a faculty affiliate at the Cornell Population Center and the Cornell Center for Social Sciences. He is also a Global Public Voices Faculty Fellow at Cornell and an Emerging Poverty Scholar at the Institute of Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin. 

Roger Figueroa, MPH, MSc, Ph.D.

Dr. Roger Figueroa is an assistant professor of Social and Behavioral Science in Nutrition in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. Dr. Figueroa’s research focuses on childhood obesity prevention within the context of family systems, social policy and social services. To date, Dr. Figueroa has developed a comprehensive skill foundation in research methods, including training in a broad range of quantitative (i.e., advanced linear modeling, structural equation modeling, psychometrics), qualitative methods (i.e., grounded theory, ethnography, qualitative GIS), evidence synthesis, implementation science, and mixed methods. 

Adam J. Hoffman, Ph.D.

Dr. Adam J. Hoffman studies the development of ethnic-racial and gender identities among racially marginalized youth. In particular, he investigates how individual characteristics and socializing agents impact identity development. He also seeks to flesh out our understanding of the relationships between ethnic-racial and gender identities and academic and mental health outcomes through exploring mediating and moderating mechanisms. Finally, Dr. Hoffman investigates the potential of ethnic-racial and gender identities by developing interventions to leverage social identity assets to protect against the harmful effects of discrimination and enhance well-being.

Misha N. Inniss-Thompson, Ph.D.

Dr. Inniss-Thompson’s work is focused on shifting educational and social policies in ways that better support Black girls. Dr. Inniss-Thompson is passionate about centering youth voices in the research process through methodological approaches such as photovoice and youth participatory action research. Her primary area of research examines the impact of families, communities, and schools in shaping Black girls’ mental health and wellness using a cultural-assets perspective. Her secondary area of research examines trends in nationwide school discipline disparities (i.e., suspensions, arrests, referrals to law enforcement, and physical restraint) that impact Black girls.

Renata M. Leitao, Ph.D.

Dr. Renata M. Leitao is a graphic designer and social justice-focused design researcher with eleven years of experience in collaborative projects with Indigenous and marginalized communities. Notably, she conducted a five-year (2012-2017) Participatory Action Research project in collaboration with members of the Atikamekw Nation (Quebec, Canada). Her primary research interest has been the empowerment and self-determination of Indigenous communities, which might be enhanced and supported by the practice of graphic design. Currently, her research activities focus on epistemic decolonization, developing new ways to represent, record, code, and share knowledge produced by marginalized communities. 

Sadé Lindsay, Ph.D.

Dr. Sadé L. Lindsay is a Provost’s New Faculty Fellow and assistant professor of Public Policy and Sociology in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell. Her research expertise lies at the intersection of criminal justice, punishment, racial inequality, and public policy. Specifically, she examines racism and the criminalization of deviance, gendered incarceration experiences, prison reentry, and drug policy and use. 

Nathan Matias, Ph.D.

Dr. J. Nathan Matias organizes citizen behavioral science for a safer, fairer, more understanding internet. A Guatemalan American, Nathan is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and field member in Information Science. Nathan is the founder of the Citizens and Technology Lab, a public-interest research group at Cornell that organizes citizen behavioral science and consumer protection research for digital life. CAT Lab has worked with communities of tens of millions of people on reddit, Wikipedia, and Twitter to test ideas for preventing harassment, broadening diversity on social media, responding to human/algorithmic misinformation, managing political conflict, and auditing social technologies. Nathan is also pioneering industry-independent evaluations on the impact of tech platform policies in society. 

Jamila Michener, Ph.D.

Dr. Jamila Michener studies poverty, racism, and public policy, with a particular focus on health and housing. Her research investigates the ways public policy and political institutions shape the material and political lives of economically and racially marginalized denizens, as well as the ways members of such groups gain power to affect policy. She is author of the award-winning book, “Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics.” She is associate dean for public engagement at the Brooks School of Public Policy, co-director of the Cornell Center for Health Equity, co-director of the Politics of Race, Immigration, Class and Ethnicity (PRICE) research initiative, and board chair of the Cornell Prison Education Program.

Angela Odoms-Young, Ph.D.

Dr. Odoms-Young’s research explores the social and structural determinants of dietary behaviors and related health outcomes in low-income populations and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). Her work also centers on developing culturally responsive programs and policies that promote health equity, food justice, and community resilience. She has served on numerous advisory committees and boards, including the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Food and Nutrition Board and committees to develop the nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program/School Breakfast Program and to revise the food packages provided in the Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Applied Health Sciences, the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Jaleesa Reed, Ph.D.

Dr. Jaleesa Reed is an assistant research professor in the Department of Human Centered Design at Cornell. Her primary research interest is in millennial Black women’s beauty culture and beauty retail spaces. In her teaching, she uses social justice pedagogy and feminist pedagogy to teach critical fashion issues related to race, gender, and politics. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on connecting human geography, feminist studies, and merchandising in the fashion, apparel, and textile industries.

Eve De Rosa, Ph.D.

Dr. Eve De Rosa’s research uses a cross-species approach, in rats and humans, to examine how brains and cognitive faculties change across the lifespan. She works with community partners to include seniors from underrepresented populations in research studies on developing early biomarkers for dementia. This is important because of the increased risk for AD, the lack of representation in studies about the progression and treatment for AD, and the urgent need to correct this problem. For community outreach, Eve’s lab developed a program as part of the Community Neuroscience Initiative, to have undergraduates introduce STEAM, through neuroscience, to an under-resourced elementary school district in the city of Syracuse. The “Get to Know Your Brain” program is designed to promote personal agency and give children an opportunity to succeed in ownership over their brains.

Courtney McCLuney, MS, Ph.D.

Dr. Courtney L. McCluney is an assistant professor of Organizational Behavior in the ILR School at Cornell. Courtney uses multiple methods to examine diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her research deepens the study of race, gender, and intersectionality in organizations by examining practices that create and reinforce marginalized groups’ experiences at work. Dr. McCluney researches how marginalization practices perpetuate and maintain inequality in organizations that, in turn, require members of marginalized groups to develop skills and knowledge to successfully navigate and resist these practices.

Marlen Gonzalez, MA, Ph.D.

Dr. Marlen Gonzalez is an assistant professor in psychology and founder/director of the Community Neuroscience Initiative. Dr. Gonzalez’s work aims to understand how developmental context shapes the adult brain and what it means for dimensions of normative behavior as well as non-communicative diseases such as mental health and cardiovascular health.

Monica Cornejo, Ph.D.

Dr. Monica Cornejo is an assistant professor in Interpersonal Communication in the Department of Communication at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and cofounder of  he Communication and Empowerment Collaborative (CEC). Dr. Cornejo’s research uses qualitative and quantitative methodologies to examine the structural barriers that lead to inequities among undocumented immigrants, how undocumented immigrants draw on communication identity management and advocacy strategies to challenge those barriers, and how those strategies relate to undocumented immigrants’ health and wellbeing.  

Jennifer Sarah Tiffany, RN, MRP, Ph.D.

a womanDr. Jennifer Tiffany is committed to the development of equitable community partnerships and to building linkages that promote and strengthen community health and economic justice using her background in community-based HIV/AIDS work, city and regional planning, and participatory action research. For this work, she draws on her roles within the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, on Cornell Cooperative Extension’s statewide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership team, and as executive director for Cornell University Cooperative Extension’s New York City programs as well as the Community Engagement in Research Core Component Director with Weill Cornell Medicine’s Clinical and Translational Science Center. Her publications and presentations address youth participatory research, urban extension, the use of mapping to illuminate DEI efforts, and parenting education addressing complex issues like HIV/AIDS.

Zeynab Jouzi, Ph.D. 

Dr. Zeynab Jouzi is a postdoctoral researcher with the Action Research Collaborative (ARC). Her research interests lie primarily in food security and environmental justice. She takes a multidisciplinary approach by bringing together different disciplines and methods to address these issues. Zeynab has been the recipient of several awards and fundings including the 2021 awardee of Future Leader by the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development (AIARD) and receiving support for an interdisciplinary team research on “Climate Gentrification Across the East coast of the United States” from National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC). She aspires to use her career as a researcher to create win-win solutions to protect people and the planet and to promote environmental justice with emphasis on “Leave No One Behind”.