The Implementation Science & Practice-based Advances Research Center (iSPARC) is a new DMH-funded collaborative effort between the former Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center, Quantitative Health Sciences and Boston University\u27s Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation. With 52 core and affiliate investigators, iSPARC features five interacting programs: Stakeholder Engagement, Public Mental Health and Implementation Research, Technical Assistance and Consultation, Workforce Development, and External Funding. The mission of the Stakeholder Engagement Program is to lead the mental health research community and beyond in working in partnership with individuals with lived mental health experience, their families, and the agencies that serve them. This program intersects with several of iSPARC\u27s activities. It includes three active advisory groups with more than 20 members representing youth, individuals with lived mental health experience, and family members. These advisory groups adopt a participatory action research (PAR) approach and seek to engage community stakeholders at every stage of research, from development through enrollment and dissemination. Starting in 2018, the Stakeholder Program will seek to increase engagement and diversity through several additional initiatives. A new community provider advisory group is currently being developed and the Program is working to assess and assure diversity across all advisory groups. The Program will use a structured assessment tool and continuous quality improvement approach to measure and facilitate participatory action research across all iSPARC\u27s projects. The Program will develop and disseminate products to assist other organizations in initiating and maintaining stakeholder engagement. The proposed poster will summarize these activities and include examples of products created
