Our Work
Education
We engage a broad diversity of community members and criminal legal system stakeholders in conversations on ways to transform the existing system into one that provides real justice.
We do this through our annual Re-Imagining Justice conference, online webinars, and community events.
Research
Our research is collaborative and participatory, drives our education and engagement with the community, and has an impact on policy. We conduct three broad buckets of research: partnerships and evaluations, policy-focused research, and community-led research.
Policy
We use our research to support the development of policies that shift the criminal legal system toward our vision of justice.
In addition, our research is used by partner organizations and public policymakers in their development of policy and advocacy efforts.
Our research equips communities with tools for transformative change
What does this look like in practice?
Our partnership and evaluation research is responsive to community needs and the critical direct service and programmatic work happening locally here in Minnesota.
We work in partnership with organizations and agencies to evaluate programs and processes, and provide recommendations for meaningful change.
Our Partners Include
Who does our research?
Our research program is led by our Research Director in partnership with a Research Steering Committee. Our growing team of Research Managers, Assistants, and Consultants are on-the-ground designing evaluations, collecting data, working with partners, and contributing to research products and the creation of educational tools and policies on a project-by-project basis. Our research interns support our Research Director, working across projects.
Our research is guided by five core values:
Community
We view knowledge as co-created and generate our research ideas with and in community.
Rigor
We strive for rigorous high standards for data collection and analysis, understanding the myth of pure objectivity while seeking balance and openness to learn and shift what we believe.
Diversity
We seek diverse life experiences, expertise, and perspectives.
Participation
We require commitment from community members to deeply engage with our work and use our research to hold hard conversations.
Impact
We strive to push our research to meaningfully affect change.
Support Our Work
A gift to MNJRC enables us to continue our research, education, and policy development that directly impact and create a criminal justice system that aligns with our commonly held-values.
The Minnesota Justice Research Center is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The work of MNJRC is made possible by the generous support of local organizations and community members who believe that practical, high-impact research and policy development can help to create a more effective, humane and equitable justice system for all Minnesotans.
