Lorraine O’Donnell has a graduate diploma in Community Economic Development (Concordia University) and a Ph.D. in history (McGill University). She has three decades of experience as a professional researcher, project coordinator and consultant. She has also taught history at Université Laval and Cégep Champlain-St. Lawrence.
Since 2008, Lorraine has been the Coordinator-Researcher of the Quebec English-Speaking Community Research Network (QUESCREN). It is a joint initiative of the School of Community and Public Affairs at Concordia University and the Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities, which is affiliated with Université de Moncton. These partners and Canadian Heritage support QUESCREN. The Network's Advisory Board includes representatives from Quebec’s English-language educational and community sectors.
QUESCREN provides opportunities to promote the understanding and vitality of Quebec’s English-language minority communities through networking, training and collaborative production and mobilization of knowledge. For QUESCREN, Lorraine has co-organized many research events including conferences at the annual Association francophone pour le savour (Acfas) congress. She also produces a newsletter and a bibliography listing over 10,500 publications. Lorraine's main research projects at QUESCREN have been on the subjects of immigration, seniors and the creative economy. For details, see the QUESCREN website.
Apart from her work at QUESCREN, Lorraine O’Donnell carries out independent research and knowledge mobilization activities. Her focus for the past fifteen years has been on history and heritage projects that involve and help build communities and social groups. Recent projects have involved researching and curating Quebec history exhibits on topics including the Jewish and Irish communities; social movements; and English-speaking housewives during World War II.
In 2015, Concordia University named Lorraine O’Donnell as an Affiliate Assistant Professor with its School of Community and Public Affairs.