Phase II: California State University, Northridge – BUILD PODER

With a framework of critical race theory, the BUILD PODER I initiative at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), reported excellent student outcomes and unique institutional and faculty initiatives. With as many as 130 trainees concurrently, BUILD PODER’s students were recruited from four community colleges and 16 departments. Occupying CSUN’s first research building, BUILD PODER I’s four new cluster hired faculty members in Health Sciences and Psychology are forming the Health Equity Research and Education (HERE) Center, the program’s home for sustainability for Phase II.

At the HERE Center, the BUILD PODER team will conduct research training and Community Partnered Participatory Research side-by-side with local health partners. Student and faculty educational modules developed from Phase I best practices and informed by critical race theory will be tested at a neighboring institution for validity and portability and disseminated by a CSU-wide data repository with a newly formed CSU BUILD Alliance in Phase II.