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Michelle Maroto, Lead Director

Michelle Maroto is a Professor of Sociology and Director of the Certificate in Applied Social Science Research (CASSR). As described on her , her research interests include social stratification, gender and family, race and ethnicity, labor and credit markets, and disability studies. Her projects address the many dimensions of wealth inequality, the complicated dynamics behind social class in Canada in the Great Canadian Class Study, and labor market outcomes for people with different types of disabilities. Dr. Maroto's methodological expertise extends across qualitative and quantitative areas and includes survey development, longitudinal data analysis, and audit study methods. In addition, Dr. Maroto has a strong interest in community-engaged research, and she regularly brings together students and community partners through her course.

Sara Dorow, Director

Sara Dorow is a Professor of Sociology at the º£½ÇÉçÇø and the Director of the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology (iiQM). Dorow uses qualitative research methods and intersectional and transnational approaches to examine mobility and migration, work and family, and processes of racialization and gendering. She has applied ethnographic, narrative, and community-engaged approaches to the study of transnational adoption and to multiple projects in the northern Alberta oil sands region. Currently, she heads the interdisciplinary, multi-media project Work-Life in Canada (SSHRC Insight Grant) and is project holder for the Intersectionality in Action Partnership: Co-learning for Inclusive Community Outcomes (2023–2025) – a project that applies an intersectional lens to two community-based housing partnerships (SSHRC Partnership Development Grant). She served as founding director of the UAlberta Community Service-Learning program and a co-founder of the Intersections of Gender signature research area.

Jared Wesley, Director

Jared Wesley is a Professor in the Department of Political Science, Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty of Arts, and a member of the Black Faculty Collective at the º£½ÇÉçÇø. Prof. Wesley’s research and teaching concern the intersection of political culture, political parties, and public policy. His major research project is Common Ground: a multi-method study of the unspoken norms and values underpinning politics in Western Canada and the American West. The study combines surveys with persona-based focus groups to uncover the difference between who people are as individuals and who they see themselves to be as communities.

Gillian Lemermeyer, Director

Gillian Lemermeyer, PhD, RN is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the º£½ÇÉçÇø, Canada, and the Associate Director of the International Institute of Qualitative Methodology (IIQM). Dr. Lemermeyer’s research explores the embodied ethics of healthcare practices, investigating questions situated in the relational encounters between nurses and other healthcare practitioners with the people in their care. Her research program is focused on themes of relational ethics, the lived body (of patient and practitioner), the nurse’s touch, and the ethics of artificial intelligence in healthcare. Methodological approaches include phenomenology and other qualitative methods. Dr. Lemermeyer is co-lead of the AI + health hub and a core member of the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre.

Karen Edwards, Director

Karen Edwards is the Director of Community-University Partnership for the Study of Children, Youth, and Families in the School of Public Health. Karen is a community engaged researcher with three decades of experience, Karen is passionate about forging authentic and reciprocal partnerships between communities and the university. Her work across Alberta, northern Canada, and internationally focuses on understanding and addressing critical health, education, and social issues to enhance community well-being Karen has supported the development of impactful collaborations such as a municipally led poverty elimination strategy, a national Indigenous leadership program for health research, the outreach and knowledge mobilization for a global polar science initiative, and national indoor air quality program in schools. She is a fervent advocate for the power of collaboration across systems, recognizing the power of strong networks that engage community, government, researchers, funders, and students. Her work centres on the importance of community voice, embraces evidence-informed decision-making, and empowers stakeholders to drive meaningful change in practice, program, and policy.

Leigh-Ann Waldropt Bonair, Lead RA

Leigh-Ann Waldropt-Bonair is a Sociology Ph.D. candidate at the º£½ÇÉçÇø. Her research interests include international migration, substance use disorders, aging, food security, and climate change. She engages with both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and has worked as a Research Consultant with organizations such as the ACP Observatory on Migration, the ACP-EU Migration Action; IOM, EU-COPOLAD, OAS-CICAD and PAHO. Ms. Waldropt-Bonair was also the Lead Consultant for the 2013 IOM published work entitled “Invisible Immigrants: A profile of irregular migration, smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons in Trinidad and Tobago,” and she conducted qualitative research on human trafficking and migrant smuggling in select Caribbean islands. Ms. Waldropt-Bonair’s current research is focused on the movement of Caribbean immigrants to Canada and their integration outcomes. She was also a Teaching Assistant for the courses Introduction to Social Statistics and Applied Research Internship.

Advisory Committee

Stacey Gellatly

is the Branch Manager of Social Development for the City of Edmonton. Her career has occupied a niche professional skillset centered around driving change in highly complex portfolios in the private sector, not-for-profit sector, and provincial, federal, and municipal governments. Stacey holds a BA with Honours in Political Science from the University of Victoria, a MA in Global Governance obtained jointly through the University of Waterloo and the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, and was awarded the International Top 40 under 40 in Economic Development, and Canada’s Top 40 under 40.

Roxanne Felix-Mah

Roxanne Felix-Mah is the Managing Partner of the . Felix-Mah has twenty five years of experience working in equity and inclusion in the fields of health promotion, community-based research and evaluation, and social services. She has also worked across many sectors - working for government, research organizations and various non-profits focused on newcomer integration, mental health and anti-racism. These diverse experiences give her comprehensive insight into both the theory and practice of equity work, currently applied in her role in a shared leadership position as Managing Partner with the Edmonton Social Planning Council. She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor with the School of Public Health at the º£½ÇÉçÇø.

Ashima Sumaru-Jurf

Ashima Sumaru-Jurf is the Managing Partner of the . Sumaru-Jurf has been working in community-based organizations for the last 20 years, in every role – from frontline to Executive Director and board member. She has also been working on various components of community based research and evaluation during this time and brings a lens (and experience) of a practitioner-researcher to her work. Ashima has extensive experience in the theory and practice of equity, anti-racism, and intersectional policy and approaches. Over the last decade, she has worked in shared leadership with Roxanne Felix-Mah to build the capacity of CBOs to integrate equity into their structure, processes, policy, and governance.

Leo Wong

Leo Wong is an Associate Dean (Education) of the Alberta School of Business, at the º£½ÇÉçÇø. His focus is on elevating the student experience while having a positive impact on society. His teaching focuses on educating the next generation of students to address complex societal issues, using business concepts that are aligned with socially responsible thinking and ethical decision-making.