Chair: Julia Fursova, York University

Transforming Monitoring and Evaluation: A Research Collaboration with a Palestinian Community Foundation
Emily Regan Wills, University of Ottawa

This paper presents the outcomes of a participatory research project with Dalia Association, a community foundation located in Palestine, to develop a transformative and critical approach to monitoring and evaluation that meets Dalia's needs and is responsive to community, staff, and funder needs. The project is grounded in the experiences of community-based funders in a variety of countries, as well as Dalia's specific practices, challenges, and strengths.

“Participation - with what money and whose time?” – a community-based perspective on participatory processes
Julia Fursova, York University

This presentation shares key learnings from community-based participatory action research on community member experiences of participation in collaborative initiatives addressing social determinants of health. The proposed paper reflects on issues of power and privilege and discusses power distribution in participatory processes convened by non-profit organisations within the context of health equity and systems change work. Featuring a poem and a mixed-media collage informed by the research and created in collaboration with community members, the presentation invites reflections from academics and practitioners on meaningful community engagement.

"'I’m abnormally normal here. I feel like I belong’: Discourse analysis of low barrier/harm reduction discourse vs. addiction discourse in a non-profit women’s drop-in”
Heather Smyth, University of Waterloo

This presentation offers a discourse analysis of participant narratives from a community-based research project conducted at a low barrier, harm-reduction, trauma-informed drop-in for cis women and trans people. The qualitative interviews show how marginalized participants see a cause and effect relationship between low barrier policies and the dignity, accessibility, and agency that help them reduce harms and gain connection and stability in their lives. The common language used by participants juxtaposes an emergent emancipatory discourse of harm reduction against dominant stigmatizing discourses of addiction.