Research & advocacy program
Community-driven research for social transformation
Bridging Concordia’s research capacity with our partners’ advocacy efforts to advance social transformation.
About the Fellowship
SHIFT’s Research and Advocacy Program (RAP) connects Concordia researchers with community partners to drive social change. We help researchers address community priorities, build collaborations, and turn research into actions that make a difference.
Our Fellowship program invites Concordia graduate students into a year-long collaboration with a Montréal community organization in a research project designed to serve the organization’s systems change goals.
Selected students work directly with community partners to understand their needs and create relevant research outputs that serve their work. At the same time, as a cohort, students participate in training and co-learning sessions to hone their capacity to conduct research that contributes meaningfully to social change work. Students also have access to SHIFT staff throughout their engagement for coaching and support.
How it works
The fellowship has two phases.
Phase One: Groundwork
September 2025 - March 2026
Students are guided through the development of three sets of deliverables linked to their partner’s systems change goals:
- Power map
- Policy analysis
- Case studies
Phase Two: Activation
April - August 2026
Based on their work in Phase One, students develop and execute an "activation project” that supports their partner organization to put their findings to use. Examples include drafting public education materials, contributing to a campaign strategy, or creating presentations for community consultations.
Brique par brique: Community Finance Knowledge Mobilization
Raising awareness about the transformative potential of community bonds in Quebec.
Research team:
- Catherine Juneau, Strategic Development for housing & community centre projects
- Amanda Vincelli, Director of Strategic Development, Brique par brique
- Jonathan Lapalme, Documentary Media Producer
- Marcus-Xavier Granada, Student Researcher, Concordia M.A. Candidate, Philosophy
Project description:
This research supports the impact and social activation campaign for a futurist documentary, produced using participatory methods, about community economic development. The project explores the history of social finance in Quebec, particularly lessons from local experiences with community bonds. The resulting video uses speculative approaches to explore future pathways for scaling up community bonds campaigns in Quebec. The Research Fellow works with the Brique par brique team to develop power maps, create targeted communications plans for the documentary, and support outreach to stakeholders for strategic screenings.
Brique par brique is a nonprofit organization founded in 2016 to respond innovatively to the need for affordable housing in the gentrifying and multicultural Parc-Extension neighbourhood. The organization raises community-based investments to fund the development of affordable housing and cultural spaces for residents facing systemic barriers.
Clark Street Reimagined: the JIA Foundation
Community-led housing and real estate for Montreal's Chinatown.
Research team:
- Jessica Chen, Executive Director, JIA Foundation
- Isabel Teramura, Student Researcher, Concordia MSc Candidate, Geography, Planning, and Environment
Project description:
This research collaboration supports JIA Foundation's Clark Street Reimagined initiative by conducting a comprehensive overview of community-based real estate solutions including land trusts, community bonds, and real estate management co-ops.
Clark Street Reimagined is a community-led vision for housing and real estate in Montreal's Chinatown. The campaign focuses on three plots of land on Clark Street, which have been acquired by the City of Montreal with the intention of reselling to a community partner for developing non-market housing. In response to this opportunity, JIA Foundation launched Clark Street Reimagined to create a concept plan for a mixed-use housing project in collaboration with Chinatown residents, business owners, and non-profit organizations.
The research team will turn findings into community workshops on potential models for the Clark Street development. These sessions will provide space for neighbourhood stakeholders to offer input on JIA Foundation's proposal to the City.
Community Healing Days: Family Care Collective
Expanding access to alternative health services in Quebec.
Research team:
- Dr. Suparna Choudhury, Concordia Affiliate Professor, Department of Applied Human Sciences & Co-Founder, Family Care Collective
- Leila Salazar, Student Researcher, Concordia B.A. Candidate, Anthropology
Project description:
This research collaboration supports the Family Care Collective’s efforts to expand access to alternative health services in Quebec through Community Healing Days, low-cost healing clinics offering traditional therapies to low income and marginalized folks who are underserved by the public healthcare system.
Tkà:nios (It Grows)
A sovereign, sustainable agri-food hub for Kahnawá:ke.
Research team:
- Rae Skye Katsi’tsaronkwas Brooke Rice: Steward, Tkà:nios, Concordia M.A. Candidate, INDI
- Elena Tresierra-Farbridge: Student Researcher, Concordia B.A., Sociology and Sustainability
- Dr. Govind Gopakumar: Chair and Associate Professor, Centre for Engineering and Socety at the Gina Cody School of Engineering
Project description:
The research collaboration is centered on the work of Tkà:nios, an intergenerational collective of Kahnawake community members working to reclaim traditional Haudenosaunee ways of life by nurturing local foodways and advancing food sovereignty. They are engaged in a collaboration with researchers from the Centre for Engineering in Society to develop technical plans for physical infrastructure (e.g. community kitchen, seed bank, learning pavilion) that will provide a long-term home for their work in Kahnawake.
Keep up with the Tkà:nios project
Plateau Pour Tous: Indigenous Support Work Project
Understanding municipal land use policies and processes to advocate for the Plateau's unhoused Indigenous population.
Research team:
- Lyn Black: Director and Co-Founder, Indigenous Support Work Project
- Frederique Hebert-Mondragon: Student, Concordia MSc Candidate, Geography, Planning, and Environment
- Ted Rutland: Associate Professor, Geography, Planning and Environment
- Meghan Joy: Associate Professor, Political Science
Project description:
Plateau Pour Tous is an initiative of the Indigenous Support Work Project (ISWP), a small but tenacious team of Indigenous people supporting the Indigenous Street Community in the Plateau borough in Montreal. The mandate of ISWP is to centre and support the well-being of Indigenous people with lived experiences of homelessness through decolonial advocacy and revitalization practices.
Plateau Pour Tous is interested in understanding municipal land use policies and decision-making processes to inform their advocacy and engagement strategies. The project involves a literature review and case study development leading into a co-created strategy.
How do we work with SHIFT partners?
We work according to the needs of participating partners to support research and advocacy projects from conception to activation.
We can help with:
- developing research questions and scoping projects
- recruiting and remunerating research assistants
- engaging faculty members in your projects
- providing administrative and project management support
- accessing relevant training and coaching opportunities
- getting access to financial and in-kind support to activate research findings (e.g. develop campaigns, host events, engage with media).
Hear from one of our past Research & Advocacy Program Fellows:
Want to know more?
Meet the Concordia faculty members already applying their work to address community priorities and turning their research into actions that make a difference.
