Guiding Principles

Researchers and Practitioners Need Each Other 

Innovation happens at the intersection of research knowledge and practical wisdom. But academic-practitioner collaborations fail when unexamined hierarchies position research as superior to practice. Effective partnerships require structures that value both equally and create genuine reciprocity.

MY COLLABORATIVE METHODOLOGY

1. Collaboration Requires Personal Examination

Real collaboration starts with examining our own assumptions: When do I defer?  When do I dominate?  What have I absorbed about whose knowledge matters?  Without this internal work, structural changes alone won't prevent silencing effects.

2. Hierarchy is the Hidden Barrier

Most collaboration failures stem from unexamined hierarchies—disciplinary status, positional authority, institutional power. Innovation requires making these explicit and restructuring interactions to flatten them.

3. All Expertise Has Value

Technical knowledge, local knowledge, lived experience, practical wisdom—different contexts require different types of expertise. Effective collaboration integrates them rather than ranking them.

4. Trust is Earned Through Structure

In contested spaces, trust doesn't come from good intentions. It comes from processes that demonstrate respect for all participants' knowledge and create genuine opportunities for influence.

5. Transformation is Uncomfortable

Examining power dynamics and changing behavioral patterns generates discomfort. My role is creating space where people can stay present with that discomfort long enough for change to occur.

6. Researchers and Practitioners Need Each Other

Innovation happens at the intersection of research knowledge and practical wisdom. But academic-practitioner collaborations fail when unexamined hierarchies position research as superior to practice. Effective partnerships require structures that value both equally and create genuine reciprocity.