Steps for Meaningful Community Partnership in Research: An Intersectional Feminist Research Program Case Study

The historical focus of the HIV movement on men who have sex with men has led to the systematic exclusion of women from research, programming, and decision-making. In the early 2000s, women researchers, advocates, and community leaders drove transformative shifts in Canada’s HIV sector through community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches. Their use of CBPR not only revolutionized women’s engagement but also propelled significant progress towards gender-equitable research, including with trans communities and gender diverse and expansive persons. In this article, we critically examine the history of CBPR, specifically in the HIV field, from an intersectional feminist lens. We then present a case study of our research program: the Women and HIV Research Program, as a framework for meaningful community partnership. Next, as academics and community leaders, we describe the conceptualization of meaningful community-engaged research that we developed over 20 years. Our research program has been built upon a strong foundation of genuine academic-community partnerships and has embraced co-creation as a core principle. We reflect on the changes we have seen and responded to in the field over time. Our goal is for this article to serve as a reflective blueprint for those interested in meaningful community engagement and partnership in research.