ABSTRACT: The Institutional Review Board (IRB) was created to protect human research subjects. In community based research, the IRB protections can inhibit centering the voices and experiences of community members themselves. This paper centers on a year-long IRB review for a community based research project where the authors attempted to center community members experiences and use student researchers. Ultimately, the authors decided not to pursue the research through the IRB and become consultants for the nonprofit instead. This paper will discuss both the positive and negative consequences of that decision and best practices for IRBs to use in the future. EXPLANATION: The theme of Innovative Pathways to Thriving Communities outlines the importance of community development initiatives in supporting flourishing communities. The town gown relationship is of utmost importance in community development and the relationship can be stressed by high education’s institutional requirements. It is important to have an open discussion about the role of IRBs in community based research in particular. Before the establishment of the IRB, community members (research subjects) were taken advantage of. Because the IRB exists, researchers were able to form trusting relationships with communities and create community based research initiatives. In today’s research landscape, the IRB is occasionally viewed as an obstacle to overcome. The IRB can be patriarchal, inflexible, and elitist, none of which center the voice of the community in community based research initiatives. It is up to both the researcher and the IRB to examine protective strategies that pose a barrier to community driven research. The IRB forced researchers to think about protecting community, now it is time that the researchers force the IRB to think about incorporating the community. To truly center community voice within community development, the IRB needs to evolve.
