Grounding Collective Impact in Black Feminist Epistemology: Reimagining Shared Leadership and Dismantling Power Dynamics

Traditional Collective Impact (CI) evaluation centers on assessing the effectiveness of collaborative efforts to achieve shared goals. However, in its traditional form, CI evaluation often overlooks the complex and layered nature of power dynamics within collaborative spaces. As Black women STEM education researchers engaged in the UPLIFT project—an initiative exploring the undergraduate experiences of interruption among Black women in STEM—we recognize that our work operates within a broader collective impact framework. By grounding collective impact in Black Feminist ways of knowing, we interrogate how traditional hierarchies and power structures shape our roles as researchers and knowledge producers, impact decision-making, determine whose voices are centered, and influence how data is interpreted and used. This session will highlight how shared leadership — rooted in trust, mutual accountability, and co-created meaning—can disrupt dominant norms and practices not as symbolic inclusion, but as a redistribution of power, knowledge, and voice throughout the collaborative project.
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Justina Jackson; Tamara Pearson; Jatisha Marsh; Kathaleena Monds; Monica Stephens Cooley