Learning & Capacity Building
We demand change. And we’re building it.
The Alliance doesn’t just advocate — it acts. Members are developing tools, sharing learning, and building capacity across the sector.
Featured Tool
Assess & Align
A tool built by the Alliance to help Black voluntary sector leaders evaluate research requests for equity, collaboration, and cultural sensitivity.
Born from the manifesto’s demand for equitable research practices (Recommendation 12), Assess & Align provides a structured framework for community organisations to assess whether a proposed research partnership genuinely serves their community — or simply extracts from it.
The tool asks thirteen structured questions across six dimensions of equitable research:
- Community Voice — is the research question shaped by the community it affects?
- Power & Ownership — is funding, control and ownership shared equitably?
- Cultural Sensitivity — does the methodology respect cultural context?
- Benefit & Access — are findings accessible to participants, not just academics?
- Track Record & Accountability — is there accountability for how findings are used?
- Safeguarding & Aftercare — does the study safeguard the community it recruits from, with a named accountable lead and funded, culturally safe support if participants experience distress?
The safeguarding dimension was added in July 2026, shaped by Alliance members’ lived experience of research participation. It asks every study to show a trauma-informed framework and aftercare that is owned — a named lead and deputy — not “shared” across partners until no one holds it.
Built by Alliance members with lived experience of navigating inequitable research partnerships. Thirteen questions, six dimensions, and a feedback letter you can send — nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Resources & Toolkits
Practical guides
Whatever your place in the system, the evidence library is the place to start — every entry summarised in plain language, verified against its source, and tagged with what you can do with it.
For Black voluntary sector organisations
Navigating research partnerships, securing equitable funding, and building organisational resilience.
Start in the evidence library →For researchers
Doing better — equitable methodologies, community co-design, power-sharing in research partnerships.
Start in the evidence library →For commissioners & funders
Embedding equity in commissioning, funding Black-led organisations sustainably, and measuring what matters.
Start in the evidence library →For practitioners
Implementing manifesto recommendations in clinical and community settings. Anti-racist practice frameworks.
Start in the evidence library →Shared Learning
From the Alliance and beyond
A space for blog-style posts, workshop summaries, and curated resources from across the sector. The Alliance believes in sharing knowledge openly — capacity-building starts with access to information.
Have a workshop summary, a piece of writing, or a resource the sector should see? Get in touch — this is where the Alliance publishes what its members and allies share.
Looking Ahead
An evidence platform for Black civil society
Looking ahead, the Alliance is developing an AI-supported evidence platform that will transform how Black civil society organisations access and use research evidence.
The platform builds on the Synergi Collaborative Centre’s legacy of evidence-based work on ethnic inequities in mental health.
The vision: a single place where Black-led organisations can find, understand, and apply the evidence that matters to their communities — without needing to navigate paywalled journals or decode academic language.
Preview the draft libraryEarly development stage. The platform’s name will be announced by the Alliance in due course.
Get involved
Whether you want to contribute resources, collaborate on tool development, or implement manifesto recommendations in your organisation — we want to hear from you.