CBOP – A model for building community institutions for social justice in community-based participatory research

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) proposes a set of guiding principles that highlight the importance of understanding and attending to issues of power and empowerment in research. Often in CBPR, there is an imbalance in participation, influence, power, and viability among the partners. Community-based organizations and community-academic partnerships are frequently utilized as vehicles to conduct community health promotion interventions without attending to the viability and sustainability of CBOs or capacity inequities among partners. The Community Based Organization Partners (CBOP) – a forerunner of the National Community Based Organization Network – was organized to more strategically represent community members and voices. This presentation describes the history of CBOP and how it has evolved into an institution that represents community interests with one voice. CBPR cannot exist without community representation, but for CBPR to meet the needs and interests of the community it may be necessary for community voices and visions to be unified and consistent. When community perspectives are fragmented, they are weak and can be easily divided and marginalized. It is critical for community members to independently determine their goals and objectives so that they can effectively represent community needs and interests in community-academic partnerships. CBOP provides a model for organizing community voices and interests that can be replicated nationally. This presentation describes that structure and uses illustrative examples to highlight how having a unified community voice has been essential in navigating partnership politics and practices, and overcoming power imbalances. Cultivating community power is a key aspect of successful CBPR.