Steering Committee

CBRTC Co-Lead
Julie Chamberlain

Julie Chamberlain, Assistant Professor, Department of Urban and Inner-City Studies, has been involved in community-based research for over a decade, training students and community researchers in Toronto, Hamburg, and now Winnipeg. She is interested in a spectrum of community-engaged and participatory approaches to doing research and sharing knowledge, with a focus on knowledge and action for anti-racist and anti-oppressive change. You can find out more about her work at http://juliechamberlain.org

MRA Project Coordinator
Jess Klassen

Jess Klassen (she/her) is the Manitoba Research Alliance Coordinator (MRA) at CCPA Manitoba. She returned to CCPA in February 2023, having previously worked with the MRA from 2014-2019 as a grant administrator and community-based researcher. Jess holds a Master of Social Work with a focus on communities, policy, planning, and organizations from Wilfrid Laurier University.

CBRTC Co-Lead, MRA Principal Investigator
Dr. Shauna MacKinnon

Dr. MacKinnon, Professor and Chair, Department of Urban and Inner-City Studies, has conducted research on social and economic issues for over 20 years with a focus on public policy, poverty and inequality. As described in her 2018 edited book, Practising Community Based Research: Stories of Engagement, Empowerment and Mobilization, Dr. MacKinnon subscribes to a social justice, community-led research approach to research, actively engaging with community partners beyond research to mobilize knowledge and use research as a tool to advocate for progressive change.

Dr. MacKinnon’s interest in expanding student and community-researcher involvement in community-based participatory research, inspired the idea of establishing a CBRTC at the University of Winnipeg, in partnership with the MRA.

Dr. MacKinnon was also a presenter on the February 16th CBRTC panel discussion on Community-Based Research.

(Staff) Program Assistant
Dagen Perrott
Email: da.perrott@uwinnipeg.ca

Dagen Perrott (he/him) is the Program Assistant for the Community-Based Research Training Centre. His role involves coordinating CBRTC events and communications, general administration, and supporting the long-term vision of the steering committee.

(Staff) Senior Research Assistant
Kayleigh Russel
Email: k.russell-ra@uwinnipeg.ca

Kayleigh Russell (she/her) is a Senior Research Assistant for the Community-Based Research Training Centre. As a recent graduate of the Urban and Inner-City Studies program, Kayleigh believes in the importance of community-led research as a pathway towards change. She collaborates with community organizations, academic researchers, and students to carry out action-oriented, community-based research projects. 

Nadya Alahakoon

Nadya Alahakoon was instrumental in launching the Community-Based Research Training Centre. She was an active steering committee member in the first few years providing support through her role as the Department Administrator and Community/Student Liaison Officer for the Department of Urban and Inner-City Studies at the University of Winnipeg. She is now the Research Coordinator and Program Officer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Winnipeg.

Andrée Forest

Through her role as the Project Coordinator at the Manitoba Research Alliance Andrée helped to facilitate many of the initial connections and relationships that have led to the success of the Community-Based Research Training Centre. She now works for the City of Winnipeg working on Community Safety and Wellbeing.

Jeannie Kerr

Jeannie Kerr is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education formerly at The University of Winnipeg and currently at Simon Fraser University. She is a former co-lead of the Community-Based Research Training Centre

Her research examines the reproduction of societal inequalities through K-12 and higher education, and considers the ways that both teacher education and higher education can engage complexity, uncertainty, and diversity so as to address local and global inequalities.

Beyond being instrumental in ensuring the success of the CBRTC in its first two years, Jeannie has also presented a number of sessions including Community-Based Research and Ethics: From Ethics Forms to Honouring Relations which can be viewed here, and a collaborative workshop with Ray Silvius on the Ethics and Practice of Interviewing which was unfortunately not recorded.