The purpose of this symposium is to discuss participatory research and action strategies to improve the experiences of resettled refugees. Specifically, this symposium will include three, 10 minute presentations on different aspects of a participatory project developed collaboratively with diverse groups of refugees and stakeholders residing in Cincinnati, Ohio, and 30 minutes of collaborative group discussion. Cincinnati, Ohio is a mid-sized city in the Midwestern United States. Despite being considered a nontraditional immigrant destination city, Cincinnati is home to more than 25,000 refugees including both families and individuals initially resettled in the region, as well as secondary migrants who moved to the area after being resettled elsewhere. In the Fall of 2018, we began working with a team of 12 refugee co-researchers from seven different countries to develop a research and action project geared towards better supporting refugees in the local area. Our participatory project centers on refugees developing and enacting their own agenda for empowered civic engagement in the Cincinnati region, and developing and implementing cooperative action to achieve shared goals. We have collaboratively developed and implemented a survey to over 300 refugees in the city, organized focus groups to discuss the findings with diverse groups of refugees and are currently planning collaborative actions to address significant concerns identified in the survey findings. With the number of refugees increasing globally, as well as hostility towards immigrants and refugees, the overarching goal of this symposium is to provide examples and open up discussion about how to create environments that aim to actualize justice for refugees in local communities.

In the first presentation Farrah Jacquez, Professor of Clinical/Community Psychology will discuss strategies used to conduct a scientifically rigorous mixed method research project while sharing decision-making between university and refugee partners. Specifically, we will describe how we optimized the rigor, relevance, and reach of the research by leveraging the lived experience expertise of refugee co-researchers with the scientific expertise of faculty.

In the second presentation, Bryan Wright, Director of Cincinnati Compass, an organization supporting immigrants and refugees in Cincinnati will discuss how community organizations can leverage relationships with local stakeholders to take seriously the concerns and agency of refugee community members. Further, he will discuss the role of local community organizations in supporting community-based research with refugees.

In the third presentation Anjali Dutt, Assistant Professor of Social/Community Psychology will share insights from the findings of a participatory community survey exploring the concerns and goals of refugees in the Cincinnati region. She will make connections between the development, findings, and implications of the methods and findings to values of liberation psychology which aims to produce research that addresses oppressive sociopolitical structures.

Following these presentations we will invite broader discussion among all attendees exploring the questions how do we create and sustain ethical and generative research collaborations with members of the refugee community? And, how do we enact meaningful change in our communities to better serve growing refugee populations?