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Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet FS1390

Community Engagement Through an Intersectional Lens

  • Veronica Jones, Family and Community Health Sciences Educator, Essex County
  • Ricardo Kairios, Family and Community Health Sciences Educator, Mercer County

Community engagement is a form of civic engagement that involves stakeholders (individuals, groups, or organizations) that collectively work together to solve shared issues within their communities. Community engagement is a strategic process where all stakeholders understand the outcomes they hope to achieve, and the approach needed to reach common goals. Bringing together diverse groups to work together involves relationship building, trust, and effective communication.

An intersectionality lens is one model employed in community engagement work. Because different ideas and ways of doing are involved, intersectionality is a vital lens for understanding overlapping social identities – such as race, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, immigration status, and ability are impacted by the issues at hand. In other words, how do systems of oppression and privilege affect community well-being? For community-based partners, healthcare providers, and health educators, acknowledging that these layered experiences are essential to advancing health equity. When the principles of intersectionality is embedded into education, policies, and practices, spaces are created for more equitable, inclusive, and responsive systems – particularly for communities historically marginalized or excluded from decision-making and resources.

Intersectionality, where identity intersects with context – place, policy, history, and institutional power – moves away from one-size-fits-all solutions and recognizes complexity, embraces cultural responsiveness, and centers justice. This fact sheet provides an outline for the integration of the principles of intersectionality into community engagement, offering definitions, real-world examples, and practical strategies grounded in the social determinants of health.

Key Definitions

  1. Intersectionality: The interconnected nature of social identities (e.g., race, class, and gender identity) that can lead to overlapping interdependent systems of oppression, discrimination, disadvantage, and privilege.
  2. Social Determinants of Health (SDOH): The non-medical factors and conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age that influence health outcomes (e.g., education, income, housing, access to healthcare).
  3. Health Equity: The fair and just opportunity for all individuals to achieve their highest level of health, requiring the removal of systemic obstacles such as poverty, discrimination, and limited access to resources.
  4. Health Disparities: Preventable differences in health outcomes and access to care that are closely linked to social, economic, and environmental disadvantages.
  5. Health Justice: A transformative framework that seeks not just to eliminate disparities, but to dismantle structural inequities and ensure meaningful participation in decisions that affect community health and well-being.
  6. Oppression: Systemic and prolonged mistreatment or discrimination of a group that limits their rights, opportunities, and access to resources.
  7. Privilege: Unearned advantages granted to individuals or groups based on their dominant or favored social identities.
  8. Bias: A predisposition for or against individuals or groups that can shape attitudes and behaviors, consciously or unconsciously.
    • Explicit Bias: refers to conscious beliefs or attitudes that lead to intentional discrimination.
    • Implicit Bias: refers to subconscious attitudes or stereotypes that influence actions and decisions without the person's awareness.

Intersectionality and Social Determinants of Health

Intersectionality, a term made famous by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, emphasizes the interconnected nature of social identities and systemic oppression. It reveals how individuals can experience unique layers of disadvantage based on overlapping marginalized identities, for example, a low-income LGBTQIA2S+ individual of color may face compounded barriers in accessing quality care such as the cost of care, transportation, or stigma, and additional forms of oppression, such as disability, can further intensify these intersecting challenges. These barriers reflect broader social determinants of health, which refer to the non-medical conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age that shape health outcomes.

Intersectionality deepens the understanding of how social determinants influence health outcomes in ways that are not evenly distributed across populations:

  1. Economic Stability: Income gaps may reduce access to nutritious food, housing, and health services.
  2. Education: Discriminatory policies and resource gaps affect educational attainment, literacy, and lifelong health opportunities.
  3. Health Care Access: Implicit bias and systemic racism can lead to unequal treatment and mistrust in the medical system.
  4. Neighborhood and Built Environment: Segregated or poorly resourced areas often lack green space, safe housing, and access to healthy food.
  5. Social and Community Context: Experiences of exclusion, marginalization, or discrimination increases stress levels adversely affecting mental health and community cohesion.

In public health, intersectionality is vital for identifying health disparities and developing responsive, inclusive solutions that address root causes, not just symptoms.

Community Engagement as a Driver for Health Equity

Community engagement is a core element of public health. No one person or entity does equity work alone. Working together requires a strong connection built on mutual respect, understanding, and commitment.

Equitable engagement builds trust through transparency, responsiveness, and accountability. Health equity begins with listening, and inclusive programs are co-created with communities, not for them. This section provides tangible strategies for fostering culturally responsive relationships, honoring lived experience, and removing barriers to participation. Whether you're organizing a community forum or redesigning a health initiative, these takeaways are designed to bring intersectional values to life and support meaningful, sustained engagement.

  1. Practice Active Listening: Show genuine interest in understanding the concerns and perspectives of historically marginalized communities.
  2. Invest in Training: Ensure staff and volunteers receive ongoing training in cultural sensitivity, bias reduction, and intersectionality.
  3. Build Trust: Develop long-term, authentic relationships with communities through transparency and accountability.
  4. Enhance Accessibility: Remove physical, linguistic, accessibility, and economic barriers to participation in health programs.
  5. Engage in Intersectional Data Collection: Use disaggregated data to identify health disparities and measure progress toward equity.

Community Engagement in Action: A Case Example

Scenario

Access to fresh fruits and vegetables has been an ongoing concern in a particular neighborhood. There have been small efforts here and there to address this need, but finally a coalition of residents, non-profit organizations, and health agencies decided to collectively launch an initiative to address food insecurity and promote food equity.

A community engaged approach could involve:

  1. Community Listening Sessions: Identify barriers to accessing fresh produce and gather input on preferred crops and garden locations.
  2. Partnerships with Schools and Faith-Based Organization: Convert vacant lots into community gardens.
  3. Training Programs: Offer resources to residents on sustainable gardening, composting, and nutrition education.
  4. Youth Engagement: Create summer internships and school-based garden clubs.
  5. Policy Advocacy: Support land access and funding for urban agriculture.

Layering an intersectionality lens in this example could include:

  1. Ensure that the listening sessions are inclusive, accessible (sign language interpreters, etc.) and have representation for all groups in the community as their food access challenges may differ.
  2. Grow culturally relevant crops that reflect the diversity and heritage of the residents.
  3. Design accessible community gardens to prevent physical access as a barrier.
  4. Support leadership roles to include historically excluded groups in decision-making training, and advocacy efforts.

Tools for Continued Learning

The pursuit of equity within community engagement is lifelong work. In this section, there is a curated list of books, tools, and training opportunities to support your ongoing learning and action. Use these resources to spark dialogue with your teams, reflect on your organizational practices, or expand your toolkit for advancing justice in health and community settings.

Books

  • "So You Want to Talk About Race" by Ijeoma Oluo.
    A practical and accessible guide that breaks down complex topics such as systemic racism, privilege, and intersectionality. Oluo offers everyday tools to help readers navigate difficult conversations about race with confidence and empathy.
  • "The Intersectional Environmentalist" by Leah Thomas.
    Explores how environmental justice and social justice intersect, emphasizing why environmental movements must center on marginalized communities. Thomas provides frameworks and actions for advancing equity within sustainability work.

Online Tools

  • Project Implicit:
    Offers free online assessments that help individuals explore their implicit attitudes and unconscious biases across topics such as race, gender, disability, and more. The tools promote self-reflection and awareness as a foundation for more equitable behavior. reflection and awareness as a foundation for more equitable behavior.
  • Health Resources in Action – Engagement for Equity:
    Provides tools, case studies, and evidence-based strategies to support equitable community engagement. The platform helps organizations integrate equity principles into partnerships, planning, and public health initiatives. based strategies to support equitable community engagement. The platform helps organizations integrate equity principles into partnerships, planning, and public health initiatives.

Training Programs

  • National Center for Cultural Competence:
    Offers training, tools, and research-based frameworks to help organizations develop cultural competence and advance health equity. Their resources build capacity for inclusive practices, cross-cultural communication, and systems-level change.
  • Race Forward:
    Provides racial equity training, workshops, and organizational development support focused on systemic change. Their programs help individuals and institutions apply intersectional racial justice principles to policy, practice, and community work.

Applying the lens of intersectionality—how layered identities and systemic forces shape health outcomes and begin to dismantle the barriers that keep communities from thriving—helps the community engagement process. Whether you're designing a nutrition program, engaging in advocacy, or facilitating training, this fact sheet provides you with tools to begin or deepen that work. Together, we can build community health systems that are more equitable, accessible, and culturally responsive for everyone.

References

February 2026