Dr. Jane Palmer is a community-engaged researcher and former practitioner. She founded the Community-Based Research (CBR) Scholars and CBR certificate programs at American University. She is deeply dedicated to community-engaged / community-led research and experiential learning. She has partnered with dozens of DC-based and national organizations over the past 10+ years. She currently serves as a RWJF Interdisciplinary Research Fellow and is an editorial board member for the Journal of Participatory Research Methods.

This award is presented in recognition of Dr. Palmer's groundbreaking contributions to the field of community-based participatory research and your commitment to bridging scholarship with social justice. Through her leadership at American University and her co-authored study Youth-Led Action Research: Lessons Learned from a University–Community Partnership in Washington, DC, she has elevated the role of youth voices in research while modeling how community partnerships can challenge inequity and advance systemic change. Dr. Palmer's work seamlessly integrates rigorous inquiry with authentic collaboration, producing scholarship that not only informs but transforms. In every project—from the Community-Based Research Scholars program to her national collaborations on gender-based violence prevention—she demonstrates that engaged research is both a methodology and a moral imperative, one that lights the way toward a more equitable and participatory academic landscape.