Transcend Research Collective’s Blueprint for  Community Leadership

When researchers claim their work is “community-engaged,” what does that actually mean? Too often, it’s academic speak for “we consulted with some people” or “we had community members on our advisory board.” But the Transcend Research Collective (TRC), a Circle within Transcend the Binary, has developed something radically different—a methodology that shifts power from universities to communities themselves.

The Power Problem in Traditional Research

Most academic research follows a predictable pattern: university researchers identify a “problem” in a community, design a study, collect data from community members, interpret findings through academic theories, and publish results in journals that community members can’t access. Communities provide the labor and lived experience while academics harvest the prestige and career advancement.

The TRC recognized this extractive dynamic and chose a different path. Through initiatives like Finding Our Strength (2016) and Trans Wellness/Trans Brilliance, they’ve demonstrated what happens when transgender and gender diverse communities don’t just participate in research—they lead it.

Understanding Power and Privilege

The relationship between academics and community members isn’t neutral. It’s shaped by institutional power, educational privilege, and often significant disparities in resources and social capital. Traditional research reinforces these hierarchies, with academics positioned as experts who study communities rather than partners who work alongside them.

The TRC’s methodology intentionally disrupts these dynamics. In our work, community organizers and members define research priorities, develop study designs, interpret findings, and direct how findings are interpreted and shared. Academic partners support rather than direct—a fundamental reversal of traditional roles.

This isn’t about excluding academics but about “reducing their psychological size.” Not only must academics revise their  assumptions about who holds expertise and be willing to follow community leadership – they must work to dismantle their perceived power by building trust in the TGD folks they work with. This challenges institutional norms. 

Who is “The Community”? A Multi-Level Approach

One of the most important yet often overlooked aspects of community-engaged research is defining who actually constitutes “the community.” Too often, researchers engage with whoever is most accessible—usually those already connected to institutions—and call it community engagement.

The TRC takes a deliberately multi-level approach, recognizing that genuine community engagement must include:

Grassroots organizers and activists who understand community needs from the ground up and often work outside formal institutions. These are the people doing mutual aid, running support groups, and organizing for policy change.

Community members who would benefit from the research—not just those who are easiest to reach, but individuals across the full diversity of gender, race, age, disability status, geography, and life circumstances.

Service providers and community leaders who are themselves transgender and gender diverse, bringing dual perspectives as both community members and those who support others. This includes peer support facilitators, health educators, and others in helping roles.

Each group brings unique knowledge. Grassroots organizers understand systemic barriers and community resilience strategies. Direct beneficiaries know what support actually helps versus what sounds good on paper. TGD service providers bridge lived experience with professional knowledge about what works in practice.

From Theory to Practice: How it Actually Works

The TRC’s methodology isn’t just philosophical—it’s a concrete set of practices that redistribute power throughout the research process:

Community-Controlled Inception: Research questions emerge from community-identified needs, not academic curiosity. In Finding Our Strength, the focus on discrimination worry and coping strategies came directly from community experiences, not existing academic literature.

Shared Design Authority: Community members don’t just advise—they make decisions. When Brayden Misiolek developed Trans Wellness/Trans Brilliance, they created the entire work plan and study design as a non-academic community researcher, with academics providing technical support rather than direction.

Collective Analysis: Data interpretation happens through community lenses. Rather than academics imposing theoretical frameworks, community members analyze findings through their own lived experiences and organizing knowledge.

Community-Centered Dissemination: Instead of publishing only in academic journals, findings flow back to communities through accessible formats—interactive exhibits, community presentations, and materials designed by and for trans and nonbinary people.

The Evolution from Documentation to Intervention

Perhaps most powerfully, the TRC’s approach enables research to evolve based on community needs. Finding Our Strength documented discrimination experiences and coping strategies. But for community researchers, understanding the problem was only the beginning.

The findings sparked deeper questions: How could communities move beyond documenting harm to actively building resilience? This led to Trans Wellness/Trans Brilliance—an experiential peer intervention designed to strengthen coping strategies identified in the original research.

This progression from documentation disparities as well as strengths, to an actual TGD-led intervention represents what becomes possible when communities control research agendas. Rather than stopping at publication, community-led research naturally evolves toward community solutions.

Why This Matters Now, More than Ever

In a time when transgender and gender diverse communities face escalating political attacks and systemic discrimination, research methodology isn’t just an academic concern—it’s a matter of survival and self-determination.

When communities control research about their own lives, the work serves liberation rather than simply documenting oppression. It builds community capacity rather than extracting knowledge. It creates solutions rather than just identifying problems.

The Transcend Research Collective offers more than an alternative methodology—we provide a blueprint for how knowledge creation can serve justice. Our work proves that communities already possess the expertise needed to understand and address their own challenges. What they need isn’t more study by outsiders, but resources and recognition to lead their own solutions.

For those committed to genuine community partnership in research, the TRC’s methodology poses a challenge: Are you willing to step back, reduce your psychological size, and follow community leadership? Are you prepared to share not just the work but the power?

The path forward doesn’t require perfection—it requires partnership. The Transcend Research Collective stands ready to consult with researchers, organizations, and institutions seeking to move along the spectrum toward truly community-engaged research. We understand that every project operates within constraints, and we recognize that transformation is a process, not a destination.

Whether you’re designing a new study, reimagining existing research practices, or seeking to center community voices in your work, TRC can help guide you toward methodologies that genuinely empower the communities you serve. We offer consultation that meets you where you are while challenging you to go further in service of justice.

Ready to transform how research serves communities? Partner with the Transcend Research Collective and discover what becomes possible when communities lead their own knowledge creation.

Transcend Research Collective

Learn more about our team, or get involved.