Reclaiming authentic collaboration: What we achieve when lived experts share in the power

This article is part of the “First-voice expertise and social change” series.

During the Islamic Golden Age (8th to 13th century), Baghdad was a hub of vibrant cross-cultural exchange in trades, goods and more. At the heart of it all was the House of Wisdom, where people from Persia, Greece, India and China gathered to exchange ideas. What made this time period remarkable was the vast knowledge created and preserved through this spirit of collaboration. People of multiple faiths and life experiences sat at the same table, discussed and built on each other’s insights. These diverse individuals not only translated ancient texts and debated ideas, they created new knowledge in mathematics, astronomy, science, and medicine. That spirit of creating space for all kinds of people to connect with curiosity and openness led to understanding and innovation.

Fast forward to the present: Across Canada, we continue to grapple with a colonial legacy that has fractured cross-cultural cooperation with its hierarchical systems. We’ve become conditioned to think in silos, wherein expertise belongs only to people with academic credentials, power, or proximity to privilege.

As a result, even when we value the idea of working with communities, “consultation” can end up being performative, a tokenized form of giving direction, rather than a genuinely reciprocal dialogue. The people most affected by systemic barriers are too often seen as recipients of help, not as sources of solutions. This view causes us all to miss out, as the people most affected by a problem usually see the hidden gaps, and often carry invaluable insight into how to solve that problem.

Why centring lived expertise matters to our work for social change

First voice is a term coined by advocates in the community to reflect the value of our lived expertise. It signifies the primacy of knowledge gained by those of us whose realities of constantly navigating barriers contain insights that data alone cannot. Lived or first-voice expertise is not a substitute for academic or professional skill; it’s another dynamic of intellectual competence that can deepen our understanding and ground our decisions. For first-voice experts, the goal isn’t just to be involved – it’s to ensure we have opportunities to share leadership and shape ideas.

When we truly honour first-voice expertise and leadership, three things happen:

1. We disrupt assumptions about who counts as an expert and how we collaborate.
2. We transform our priorities and our measures of success, shifting the focus from optics to outcomes.
3. We start to close the gap between good intentions and effective impact, by helping to prevent inequities before they grow.

Collaborative leadership is shared, relational, and grounded in trust. Guidance and direction from first-voice experts can help spot the gaps between policy and reality, and to co-design new systems that work universally.

Case study: The Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement

Remember Nancy from the first article? She was the principal at my kids’ elementary school, who supported my service as school council chair. One day, Nancy casually suggested that I might enjoy being a member of one of the Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) advisory committees. Before I knew it, I was sitting in a meeting room at the TDSB head office. In the room were educators, representatives of community organizations, community leaders, and volunteers.

It felt surreal. At the table, I sat quietly. I focused and listened intently to passionate discussions about poor educational outcomes for many low-income families, barriers facing new immigrant populations, and the struggles students with higher needs experience navigating baked-in systemic inequities. They strategized around how best to use data, possible motions they could put forward, and opportunities to speak in front of decision-makers.

I’ll admit – I was gobsmacked. I wondered if I had been transported to a different time and space – ancient Baghdad?I marveled, witnessing knowledge sharpen knowledge, as one person clarified or added on to another person’s point from their own lens. I experienced how multiple worldviews and formal and informal learning refined and complemented one another – none superior, each bringing value.

I remember thinking how incredible it all was. Who knew there were people with power and privilege (and I would have thought, better things to do) not only caring about, but actively working for the benefit of families like mine?

That initial meeting changed everything. It inspired me to become an active participant influencing the policies that affected my family and my community. I became co-chair of the Inner City Community Advisory Committee (ICCAC), serving from 2013 to 2021. During that time, I watched something remarkable unfold: community advocacy driving institutional transformation.

Community voices shape, teach, and lead

The TDSB’s 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.

In 2017, ICCAC presented a motion to establish the Enhancing Equity Task Force, a city-wide consultation involving more than 1,300 students, parents, educators, and community partners. The goal of the task force was to gain insight on what was working in education, what wasn’t, and what needed to change. I attended many of these open sessions across the city where diverse individuals shared their thoughts and suggestions verbally, in writing, and in back-and-forth conversations.

The task force published their findings. This is important because it allows everyone involved to continue to learn from each other and gives the community equal ability to use and benefit from it. Public access also helps ensure that participants don’t feel used and left behind but instead remain part of the learning cycle. Publishing a “what we heard” report of findings and any recommendations can be a powerful way to sustain trust with the community.

The consensus from the report was unmistakable: Black students disproportionally face systemic barriers, anti-Black racism, and low expectations. These affect everything from classroom safety to well-being to suspension rates. The community had been saying it for years. Now, we had data from the consultations that said it, too. People called for shared decision-making, student voice, and accountability.

Gathering feedback is not enough. Without action, community voice is rendered void. Too often, institutions move slowly: out of fear, out of bureaucracy, out of habit. Even when staff want to act, systems typically aren’t built for quick, responsive change. Moving from listening to action takes courage, commitment, and, sometimes, convincing. With unrelenting advocacy from the Black community, and following several disturbing headlines, the TDSB took a bold step. In 2020, it approved the creation of the CEBSA.

Equity can’t be achieved for communities, it must be achieved with community

Today, the Centre stands as a model of leadership grounded in first-voice expertise, from Black students, parents, educators, community leaders and allies who understand the system from the inside out. I have participated in several parent and caregiver consultations as well as special events thoughtfully curated from feedback the Centre receives from the community. This is not performative, its performance-enhanced skill development for the whole community.

Each year, the Centre supports a student-led, student-designed Youth Participatory Action Research Conference to showcase Black youth research, advocacy, and solutions for education. Students present their own research on how to dismantle barriers and improve school experiences for all Black students. These young leaders aren’t relegated to being “future leaders,” they are the leaders of today, working to shape policies that affect them and their peers. They are the now – current knowledge-holders who are changing the face of expertise with their capacity to transform systems and mindsets. Their research informs programs, policies, and priorities that shape the learning experience from elementary to high school. It’s also an incredible opportunity for students to stretch, take risks, and grow their confidence. (Alas, my own children have not yet been able to participate in this program but manifesting hard for 2026!)

Putting it into action: Attention and intention

Communities like mine, those that have been made invisible, want to define what progress looks like through our own lens.

Restoring the power of collaboration starts with two things: attention and intention. Attention to our biases, to whose voices we elevate or overlook. Intention to act on what we learn – not just nod along.

The scholars of ancient Baghdad advanced knowledge through the rigorous exchange of diverse ideas and thoughts. Reclaiming that today means treating first-voice experts as valuable knowledge holders. When we share power across lines of difference, collaboration becomes a normalized practice – one that builds trust, closes gaps, and changes outcomes where it matters most – in people’s lives.