Tracing the Development and Circulation of a Tool for Coalitional Change

Abstract

This experience report describes the origin story and use journey of a visual tool for community engagement and organizational change work. We articulate the tool (i.e., the pyramid) as a theoretical framework and demonstrate how the tool has been used to intervene in organizations, engage coalitions, and mitigate risks as we move towards a more socially just future. It is both all about community-engaged research and also not about it at all: we built it in and with communities and coalitions and we have also brought it to communities and coalitions, adopted it, adapted it, and reinvented uses for it. By tracing its development and circulation, we are both documenting its past and present use cases and offering it up as a tool for others to adopt and adapt.