Academic Partners

The academic team is led by Dr. Rose-Krasnor, from Brock University, who is an expert in the field of youth participation and engagement, and social development. She has been an investigator on a number of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council-funded projects. Dr. Rose-Krasnor is also the Research Director for the Centre for Excellence in Youth Engagement. She will work with the Ontario hub and oversee the components of the project that will be common to all contexts, for comparison purposes.

Dr. S. Mark Pancer, from Wilfrid Laurier University, is an expert in the field of civic engagement, and youth development, and also has expertise in the area of program evaluation. He has been the principal investigator on numerous projects funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Dr. Pancer will work with the Ontario hub, and directly with the City of Kitchener team. In addition, his expertise will be crucial in exploring mentorship contexts, such as the volunteer program of our partner Frontier College.

Dr. David Bourgeois, a francophone researcher with St. Mary’s University will be part of the team. Dr. Bourgeois and the Students Commission are currently partnered on a number of different ongoing projects. Dr. David Bourgeois grew up in the youth leadership development programs of La Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française and has previously collaborated with the research team at Brock University to publish research on youth engagement and youth attending Fédération programs. He will be the academic partner working with the Heartwood team.

Dr. Susan Reid, a criminology professor at St. Thomas University, is the director of the Centre for Research on Youth at Risk. She brings expertise in the area of youth at risk, and youth involved in the justice system. She will be working closely with partner organization, John Howard Society New Brunswick and will work as lead of the New Brunswick hub.

Dr. Gordon Miller at the School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria, brings expertise in the areas of positive youth development, community youth development and youth-engaged community-based research to the team. He works closely with the Ministries of Health and of Child and Family Development, supporting research, policy and practice. He will support an already existing team of young people that are co-researchers collaborating with youth service providers, conducting a participatory action research project to develop a Youth Engagement Indicator Resource Kit. Youth-Adult partnerships were identified as one of the five key functions of youth engagement in this kit, and so is a good fit to build upon past work. Dr. Miller brings experience and expertise working in partnership with young people and providing research training.

Dr. Patricia McDougall at St. Thomas More College has had an ongoing partnership with the Students Commission and the Centre for the past 10 years, collaborating closely on various research projects with our Saskatoon office and partner organization, Youth Launch. She is an expert in the area of youth relationships and a skilled methodologist. Her experience and commitment to knowledge dissemination/mobilization and community-based partnerships (as evidenced by her recent successful SSHRC CURA application) make her a strong collaborator for the Saskatchewan hub.

Dr. Heather Ramey, from Humber College in Toronto, brings expertise related to youth engagement in organizational decision making, youth engagement outcomes, as well as experience engaging youth in research. She will be working with the Boys and Girls Club teams (national and provincial).