When: May 11, 2017 – 1:00pm – 2:30pm

Building Community-University Partnerships

Opening and Welcome: June Corman (Director, SJRI)

Panelists:

• Glen Walker (Chair, Niagara Poverty Reduction Network and Executive Director, Positive Living Niagara)
• Marc Todd (Manager, Social Assistance and Employment Opportunities, Niagara Region)
• Natalie Chaumont (Program Manager, Niagara Prosperity Initiative, United Way of Niagara Falls and Greater Fort Erie)

Discussant: Tom Traves (President, Brock University)

Join SJRI in discussion with Niagara community members as we learn about their research priorities and perspectives and reflect on building community-university partnerships in a number of areas such as poverty reduction.

This event is open to the Brock research community; please RSVP to sjri@brocku.ca by May 5, 2017.

Panelist Biographies:

Natalie Chaumont is the Niagara Prosperity Initiative (NPI) Program Manager with the United Way of Niagara Falls and Greater Fort Erie. Since 2009, Natalie has managed NPI’s operations from Request for Proposal (RFP) to monitoring and evaluating project success. Working with the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network, Natalie provides infrastructure support and recently began a collaborative project with Brock’s Social Justice Research Institute to study precarious employment in Niagara. Natalie is also the current Chair of the Niagara North Community Legal Clinic and past Chair of Niagara Pride Support Services.

Marc Todd is a manager with Niagara Region Community Services, Social Assistance and Employment Opportunities (SAEO). Employed with the Region since 2001, and has held positions as an Ontario Works Case Manager, SAEO cost analyst, trainer, and supervisor. Since 2008, Marc’s portfolio has included managing two SAEO offices (Welland and Port Colborne) as well as the lead within SAEO for Literacy, Mental Health, Addictions, the Eligibility Verification Process and Poverty Reduction, which includes the Niagara Prosperity Initiative (NPI). In 2008, Niagara Regional Council approved annual funding of $1.5 million dollars to increase prosperity for Niagara residents living in poverty. NPI focuses on neighbourhood based interventions and development.

Glen Walker has been the Executive Director of Positive Living Niagara (formerly AIDS Niagara) since 2011. The agency dedicated to the support of those affected by HIV/AIDS, HCV and other STBBIs in the Niagara Falls, Ontario area. In this capacity he has been involved in several community based research projects, which explore the impacts of supports on individuals with HIV. He is currently the chair of the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network. Glen is a Social Worker by training with over 25 years of experience in community clinical service provision within the developmental services sector. Where he established specialized clinical services in south western Ontario and assisted in the development of the Networks of Specialized Care across the province. He has also worked for the Ministry of Community and Socials Services in the Developmental Services Branch and at the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care a Senior Policy Analyst in Ontario. Glen has been in private practice lecturing on the treatment of individuals with a dual diagnosis and positive behavioural interventions and was formerly on the facility at Fanshawe College in London Ontario in the developmental services program.

Location of your event: Plaza Room 600F, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines
Cost: $0.00
Sponsor: Brock’s Social Justice Research Institute
Contact: sjri@brocku.ca