First voice is a term coined by advocates in the community to reflect the value of lived expertise. It signifies the primacy of knowledge gained by experience. It’s not a substitute for academic or professional skill; it’s another dynamic of intellectual competence that can deepen our understanding and ground our decisions.
Ingrid Palmer was co-chair of the Inner City Community Advisory Committee, a body that advised the Toronto District School Board, from 2013 to 2021. During that time, she watched something remarkable unfold: community advocacy driving institutional transformation.
The Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement (CEBSA) is what happens when first-voice expertise becomes leadership. The Centre was demanded, designed, and sustained by the Black community itself.
Ingrid’s article illustrates what authentic collaboration between institutions and communities can look like:
- Shared knowledge: Publish findings from community conversations to ensure everyone can use and benefit from this research.
- Shared power: Make decisions with community, not for community.
- Shared risk: Create leadership pathways where community members can make, test, and revise decisions without tokenism.
- Shared credit: Publicly name and celebrate community co-leaders for their work.