RISR's Origin Story
The creation of Redwood Institute of Social Research (RISR) was the result of several exciting and serendipitous events.
After teaching social research methods for several years, in spring 2021, Heather received a Course-Based Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities Program (CUReCAP) grant from Chico State in which she was awarded the opportunity to provide her students with an authentic community-based research experience. Heather was able to partner with her prior employer to guide students through a multifaceted post-adoption research endeavor. She felt this was a “career trifecta” as it brought together three things she was experienced and passionate about: research, teaching, and adoption.
Following this, it opened the door into research consultation regarding high-fidelity post-adoption wraparound services with another small business. Around the same time, a former social work research student, who was now well into her career as a Program Manager at a rural county behavioral health program, reached out to Heather to collaborate on data collection needs on several grants she had been on and needed assistance with.
Heather Werner has been steadfast in her desire to increase macro-focused opportunities to undergraduate/graduate students in behavioral/social science disciplines by increasing the number of skilled professionals to meet the need for rigorous and ethically conscientious research consultation services for social service agencies in rural/frontier Northern California. The merging of these ideas led to the foundation of RISR.
To accurately understand the intricacies of the community being served, RISR embraces an authentic, cooperative approach incorporating the direct and underrepresented voices of community members, recognizing their invaluable assets and crucial knowledge about the needs, challenges, and sustainable pathways of their community. RISR prioritizes diversity, equity, and inclusion as a fundamental framework that shapes our planning, decision-making, and evaluation processes aimed at improving social determinants of health.
RISR’s commitment to a collaborative process is further reflected by their diverse team composition and remote working environment that promotes each person bringing their best and full-selves to work. RISR has developed institutional partnerships with California State Universities (Chico, Humboldt, and Sacramento) to provide interdisciplinary stipend-based internships for students in interdisciplinary social sciences. RISR believes that cultivating hands-on higher-education learning opportunities is valuable to continue to diversify the voices on their team as well as provide a pipeline for academic connection and cutting-edge developments in rural communities.