CCPH 11th Conference - May 12-15, 2010 - Marriott Downtown Waterfront - Portland, Oregon, USA
Overview	Program	Registration	Call for Proposals	Exhibiting & Co-Sponsorship	Accommodation &Transportation	Contacts

Creating the Future We Want to Be:
Transformation through Partnerships

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

Pre-Conference Workshops provide participants with in-depth knowledge and skills in a specific content area. Enrollment is limited and participants register based on a first-come first-served basis. Workshops are scheduled from 1:00 pm to 4:00pm on Wednesday, May 12th, with lunch included from 12 noon to 1:00pm. There is a $50 registration fee for pre-conference workshops.

If you can't attend the entire conference, the Pre-Conference Workshops are an excellent professional development opportunity, especially for those who live within driving distance of Portland, Oregon. To register, just use the Online Registration Form and only select a Pre-Conference Workshop.

Click on a pre-conference workshop to view a complete description.

Integrating Citizen Engagement and Knowledge Translation into All Aspects of Research
Service-Learning: Principles, Practice, and Pedagogy
Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Ethics
Publishing and Disseminating Products of Community-Engaged Scholarship
Building Faculty for the Engaged Campus: A Competency-Based Approach
Introduction to Community-Based Participatory Research at the National Institutes of Health: A Road Map to Funding
Collaborative Policy Design: Defining Evidence Based Community Driven Health Policy

Integrating Citizen Engagement and Knowledge Translation into All Aspects of Research

Description
This pre-conference workshop will broaden participants' knowledge of why and how to engage communities, knowledge-users, policy and decision makers and individual citizens in all aspects of research through a process being pioneered by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research: Integrated Knowledge Translation.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency responsible for funding health research. At CIHR, knowledge translation (KT) is defined as a dynamic and iterative process that includes synthesis, dissemination, exchange and ethically-sound application of knowledge to improve the health of Canadians, provide more effective health services and products and strengthen the health care system.CIHR categorizes KT into two categories: end-of-grant KT and integrated KT. End-of-grant KT covers the dissemination and application of knowledge that researchers undertake once the findings from a project are available. Integrated KT is a way of doing research that includes knowledge-users as fully-participating members of the research team who are involved in all stages of the research process including defining the research questions.

This interactive session will describe Integrated KT, why it is important for health research, its potential benefits for the research process and its ability to facilitate the uptake of research evidence.

This session will also highlight the ways in which CIHR plans to use input from Canadians (and how they have used this input in the past) in its work. CIHR's new Citizen Engagement Framework has been designed to ensure that CIHR as an organization has a cohesive and systematic approach to gathering these contributions from citizens who are ultimately the recipients of health research benefits. CIHR staff would also like to hear stories and suggestions from workshop participants on the strategies they have used to promote the involvement of citizens in their own organizational activities.

Objectives: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Identify the key issues that should be considered when taking an integrated approach to creating knowledge and translating it to action.
2. Explain how integrated knowledge translation differs from end-of-grant knowledge translation and is supported by the principles of participatory research.
3. Describe the contributions citizens can make in research priority-setting, delivery and dissemination activities.
4. Describe the goals and objectives of the CIHR Citizen Engagement Framework and how a similar framework can be developed and applied in their own work.

Presenters
Ann C. Macaulay is a Professor of Family Medicine at McGill University and the Inaugural Director of a new center, Participatory Research at McGills whose mission is to promote all forms of participatory research and knowledge translation, and contribute to the academic understanding of these approaches to research. She was a practicing family physician in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake from 1970-2008, and from 1994-2006 she was also PI of the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project. The latter is an ongoing participatory research project that is widely recognized for community relevance, scientific integrity, integrated knowledge translation and influencing changes in policy at CIHR and NIH for research grants and ethical guidelines. She is a recipient of Family Medicine Researcher of the Year (2008) for her contributions to participatory research, the Order of Canada (2006) for contributions to Aboriginal Health, foreign member of the Institute of Medicine USA (2005), and is a past Advisory Board Member, Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (2005-2009). She is co-author of the CIHR KT learning tool "A Guide to Researcher and Knowledge-User Collaboration in Health Research".

Jon Salsberg is Associate Director & Research Manager at the center, Participatory Research at McGill in Montreal. He spent the last eight years working in Integrated KT and participatory research, both in communities and at McGill. Five of these years were situated in a community-based primary prevention project, where he managed the population health component of a national CIHR-IHRT study looking at diabetes in the Aboriginal population. He also worked in both northern and southern Aboriginal community settings, and has consulted on participatory projects involving various knowledge-users such as patients in an urban family practice centre; Canadian pharmacists; Montreal urban youth; and federal and provincial public health policy makers. He is co-author of the CIHR KT learning tool "A Guide to Researcher and Knowledge-User Collaboration in Health Research" and was invited faculty for the 2008 CIHR Summer Institute on KT Research.

Rosa Venuta is the CIHR Senior Advisor for Citizen Engagement with the Partnerships and Citizen Engagement Branch. Rosa is responsible for developing tools and resources that will promote a cohesive and consistent approach to engaging citizens in CIHR's research processes, including participating in decision-making and informing strategic priorities. She has worked at CIHR since 2003.

Chaid Leneis is a Knowledge Synthesis and Exchange Specialist under the CIHR Knowledge Translation & Public Outreach Portfolio. Chaid has been at CIHR since 2001 and has held various grant funding administrative roles, including that of HIV/AIDS Community-Based Research Officer. His experience in dealing with funding applicants and grant reviewers allows him to understand the need of CBR stakeholders wishing to access CBR funding in order to improve the health of communities. Chaid is currently managing various Knowledge Translation based programs, including the CIHR National Prize for Knowledge Translation.

Service-Learning: Principles, Practice, and Pedagogy

Description
This pre-conference workshop will help participants solidify and enrich their understanding of and ability to use service-learning as a pedagogical tool. By gaining an ability to understand how service-learning contributes to developing students who are able to engage in critical analysis and creative thinking while meeting community-defined needs, participants will learn how to use service-learning effectively in their teaching. Through didactic and small group sessions, an emphasis will be placed on a) how community and faculty members can develop authentic community-academic partnerships, b) a variety of reflection modalities and reflection's role in service-learning, and 3) evaluation. Participants will learn from each other as well as from the session presenters; participants should come prepared to share what has worked in service-learning and where they have experienced difficulties.

Objectives: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the theoretical basis and key components of service-learning
2. Articulate the varied ways in which service can be viewed
3. Apply the principles of partnership to service-learning
4. Explain the role reflection plays in service-learning and be able to demonstrate a variety of reflection modalities
5. Use evaluation tools to assess service-learning goal attainment

Presenters
Suzanne Cashman: Formally trained in health services research, evaluation and administration, Suzanne Cashman has spent the thirty years of her professional career teaching graduate courses in public health, conducting community-based evaluation research, and developing partnerships aimed at helping communities improve their health status. Currently, Suzanne is Professor and Director of Community Health in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS). Also faculty for the University's Preventive Medicine Residency, Suzanne has residency-related administrative/teaching responsibilities as well as leadership responsibilities for developing the Department's community health agenda. In addition, she carries out community-based evaluation research, provides evaluation technical assistance to the Area Health Education Center, and teaches public health skills to medical students and residents, as well as students in the Graduate School of Nursing and the School of Public Health. Suzanne incorporates service-learning in several of her courses and mentors other faculty using service-learning in their courses. She serves as a member of the core leadership team for UMMS's Community Engagement Committee as well as for its newly funded Prevention Research Center; she has been instrumental in developing Worcester's Healthy Communities Initiative.

Suzanne joined the UMMS faculty in 1999, after having spent the preceding decade developing and nurturing a community-oriented primary care (COPC) focused, interprofessional preventive medicine fellowship in Boston, MA. Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through its urban COPC national demonstration initiative, this project used the preventive medicine training template to launch a multi-professional training program aimed at teaching participants skills that would help them work collaboratively with communities to improve health.

Currently, Suzanne serves as a Board and Executive Committee member of the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research; she is also president of the Board of Directors of Community Partners, Inc. and is a Senior Consultant for CCPH where she provides training and technical assistance for grantees of the Health Disparities Service-Learning Collaborative and serves as a mentor for the CCPH Service-Learning Institute.

Barbara Gottlieb, MD, MPH is a primary care internist at Brookside Community Health Center, where she has worked since 1981. In addition to her patient care responsibilities, she is responsible for developing clinical and public health programs and coordinates teaching activities at the health center. She also coordinates research activities at the health center, and serves as a liaison to academically based research projects.

She is also a member of the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care and the Division of Women's Health at Brigham and Women's Hospital and teaches regularly on the in-patient service and lectures on topics related to community health and underserved populations.

She is Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, where she teaches in several courses and is a member of the Division of Service Learning and Chair of the Community Service Committee. She has a strong interest in medical education, and is a member of the HMS Academy for Teaching and Learning. She has a joint appointment at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she teaches in the interdisciplinary program in Women, Gender and Health. She also directs the practicum course for MPH students. She serves as advisor and mentor to medical and public health students on domestic and international community service and research projects.

She is a longstanding member of CCPH, for which she is a Board Member and immediate past Chair of the Board of Directors. She has served as a mentor at the CCPH Summer Service-Learning Institute since 2005, and has consulted nationally and internationally in the development of service-learning programs and community-academic partnerships.

Julie Nigon is the manager of the Rochester, MN Public Schools Adult and Family Literacy Program and administrator of Hawthorne Education Center. In the 28 years that she has been with the program, Julie has seen it grow from a small General Educational Development (GED) Preparation and basic literacy volunteer project to a multi-faceted and multi-site program that serves adults from Southern Minnesota and 70 different nations. Julie became the program manager in 1992 and now encourages and assists the educational efforts of sixty staff and 2,500 learners per year. Hawthorne Education Center currently collaborates with Mayo Medical School, Winona State University, and University of Minnesota, Rochester on service learning curriculum and community based participatory research projects. She serves as a mentor for the CCPH Service-Learning Institute.

Rachel Vaughn is a Senior Consultant with Community-Campus Partnerships for Health. Rachel has organized the CCPH Service-Learning Institute since 2005, and has served as a mentor for the Institute since 2003. Rachel also works with CCPH to coordinate the CCPH Consultancy Network, and to share service-learning resources for CCPH members. In addition to her work with CCPH, Rachel serves as the Associate Director of the Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center at the University of Washington. In her role at the Carlson Center, Rachel directs the service-learning program and works closely with faculty to assist them in integrating service-learning into their course syllabi, assignments, and academic research. In addition, Rachel works with the neighboring University District to develop quality service-learning experiences to meet the needs of community partners, clients, UW students, and faculty.

Prior to working at the Carlson Center, Rachel worked full time as a Program Director with Community-Campus Partnerships for Health. In this role, Rachel coordinated the CCPH Consultancy Network, the CCPH Fellows Program, Partners in Caring and Community: Service-Learning in Nursing Education, and other CCPH capacity building activities involving campuses and communities.

Community-Based Participatory Research Ethics

Description
An overall goal of CBPR is to create, share, and mobilize knowledge in ways that can inform policy, practice, and research. Given the multiple voices and perspectives involved in CBPR, questions are arising regarding, “What is ethical? According to whom?” In this workshop, participants are invited to add to a circle of ideas. We will reflect on such issues as community-level consent and emergent-research design. We will consider how the developing areas of CBPR practice may require an expanded understanding of the review of research ethics (e.g., discourse ethics, research ethics) and of research practices. Consistent with CBPR’s equitable nature, a discourse-ethics lens supports a balancing of power across partnerships. In relational ethics, honouring personal and professional relationships as the infrastructure of CBPR requires enhanced awareness of an ‘ethic of care’ as a critical, implicit feature of community-university work.

Objectives: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Discuss how research ethics is understood in conventional research and in CBPR and the potential for growing the research-ethics review system to include alternative approaches (e.g., relational, discourse).
2. Respond with some common understanding to such questions as:

What are the ethical issues/implications of research that involves community members as active partners
What strategies help to maximize community benefits and minimize community risks in CBPR?
What policies/systems can partnerships put in place to ensure that their research attends to community-level ethical considerations
What policies/systems can IRBs/REBs put in place to ensure that CBPR attends to community-level ethical issues?

3. Identify possible next steps for thinking about and acting on our pooled understanding of ethics in CBPR

Presenters
Sherry Ann Chapman joined the Community-University Partnership for the Study of Children, Youth, and Families (CUP) in 2006. With a PhD in Human Ecology and a Master’s degree in Museum Studies, she has a well-developed understanding of the research world and also a practice background. Over the last fifteen years as an educator, she has created learning opportunities both in formal university courses (e.g., in-person, on-line, undergraduate, and graduate formats) and in informal settings (e.g., in museum exhibitions, living-history museums, and conference workshops) developing and implementing curricula for all ages in Edmonton, Calgary, and Toronto. As Assistant Director of Lifelong Learning, Sherry Ann is responsible for leading CUP’s capacity building particularly in terms of community-based research and evaluation (CBR&E). She is a member of the CCPH Workgroup that is developing the IRB/REB Curriculum on Ethical Considerations in Community-Engaged Research.

Brenda Roche is Director of Research at the Wellesley Institute, an independent non-profit research and policy institute working to advance health equity through community-based research, community engagement, social innovation and policy development. Trained in medical anthropology and public health, her research experience includes community-based research on social and health issues in urban settings, such as homelessness, sexual health, violence and psychological trauma. Dr Roche’s doctorate, through the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, examined discourses on trauma' that operate within the context of refugee resettlement, and how these influence health and social care practices for women (and their families) seeking political asylum in the United Kingdom. Her current work with the Wellesley Institute focuses upon practical and theoretical issues in community-based research.

Publishing and Disseminating Products of Community-Engaged Scholarship

Description
Community-engaged Scholarship (CES) is scholarship that results from a collaborative approach that equitably involves all partners, recognizes the unique strengths that each brings, and produces mutual benefit. CES has an important role to play in improving physical and mental health, health care, and the health of communities, but community-engaged scholars face challenges in the traditional system of peer review and publication. Although an increasing number of journals are accepting manuscripts resulting from CES, there continue to be barriers to publishing CES manuscripts, including discrepant definitions of what is scholarly, lack of familiarity with CES approaches, and constricted definitions of who is a "peer" in peer review. In addition to traditional journal articles, community-engaged scholars often produce innovative products (e.g., documentaries, briefs, websites, toolkits, manuals, curricula, etc.) as a result of their community-based scholarly endeavors. We have lacked mechanisms for peer review and broad dissemination of these products, limiting their impact both in communities and promotion and tenure decisions. However, new opportunities exist. The presenters are editors of a peer reviewed print and online journal and peer-reviewed online portal that have expanded definitions of "peer" and "scholarly product". They will review peer review and publication challenges for community-engaged scholars, discuss the opportunities represented by their publication mechanisms, and facilitate discussion about the issues raised in challenging publication traditions.

Objectives: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Define community-engaged scholarship (CES)
2. Describe examples of traditional and innovative products resulting from CES
3. Identify challenges to disseminating CES products
4. Describe strategies for addressing these dissemination challenges
5. Identify outlets for peer-reviewed publication of products of CES

Presenters
Cathy Jordan is the founding editor of CES4Health.info, launched in November 2009 with support from the US Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education. CES4Health.info is a mechanism for the rigorous peer review and online dissemination of innovative products of community-engaged scholarship. She is Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology and Director of the Children, Youth and Family Consortium at the University of Minnesota and Co-Director of CCPH's Faculty for the Engaged Campus Initiative.

Darius Tandon is the Deputy Editor of the journal Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action that is published by the Johns Hopkins University Press with support from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. He is a community psychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University. He is currently conducting community-based participatory research studies in the areas of adolescent/young adult depression and postpartum depression.

Patricia J. Tracey is a Community Relations Coordinator for the Johns Hopkins Center in Urban Environmental Health, and she is an Associate Editor for the journal, Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education and Action, providing a community member’s perspective. Pat has over 34 years of professional experience in working with volunteer agencies in an administrative capacity in developing programs for youth. For over 14 years, she has provided administrative support and coordination, community outreach, and oversight for environmental health research projects that relate to lead poisoning and asthma in children. She also serves in an advisory and administrative capacity on many committees and programs in Baltimore, Maryland that relate to environmental health issues that impact the health of residents.

Barbara Bates-Hopkins, a native East Baltimorean, is a community activist and Community Relations Coordinator at the Johns Hopkins Center in Urban Environmental Health. She is an Associate Editor for the journal Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research Education, and Action. Barbara has over 10 years of experience organizing and developing programs involving neighborhood improvement, sanitation, and leadership development. She currently sits on several committees with local organizations that implements policies and procedures governing the redevelopment of East Baltimore Redevelopment Plan. She also serves as a board member of the Environmental Justice Partnership.

Pam Reynolds is full professor at Gannon University in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. She has published many peer-reviewed book chapters and articles related to service learning and community-based research. Recently, she served as a guest editor for special issue of the Journal of Physical Therapy Education titled, “Service Learning and Community-Engaged Scholarship.”

Jessica Ruglis is a W.K. Kellogg Health Scholar Postdoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, where she is also an Editorial Fellow of the journal Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action. An urban educator by training, Jessica conducts youth-led community based participatory research. Her work focuses on schooling as a social determinant of health, intersecting systems of human insecurity for youth, and on alternative forms of civic engagement, leadership and resistance. She is currently conducting a youth-led CBPR study of the transition from middle to high school across diverse educational settings.

Building Faculty for the Engaged Campus: A Competency-Based Approach

Description
A critical issue facing higher education today is how to institutionalize and sustain community-engaged learning and research as core values and practices in the academy. Having a cadre of faculty with the commitment and competencies for community-engaged scholarship (CES) is central to addressing this issue. In this session, participants will learn about using a set of core competencies and activities to plan faculty development activities for their campuses. Session content will include materials used in a two-day Faculty for the Engaged Campus charrette as well as information learned from the 20 diverse campuses that participated and the six campuses that have received grants to implement their action plans. Specific topics include CES definitions and core competencies, campus assessments and SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analyses, and action plan development.

Objectives: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Define CES and the core competencies that faculty need to succeed in conducting it
2. Describe the concept and application of competencies for implementing and evaluating CES faculty development activities.
3. Describe innovative mechanisms for preparing faculty for community-engaged careers in the academy.
4. Apply a framework and process for designing campus-based CES faculty development programs.

Presenters
Lynn Blanchard is director of the Carolina Center for Public Service at UNC-Chapel Hill. She received her MPH and PhD degrees from the UNC School of Public Health, where she serves on the faculty. Formerly, she was associate director of Family Support Network of North Carolina, held faculty appointments at UNC-Chapel Hill and Pennsylvania State University, and served as the vice chair of Community Health and Health Studies at Lehigh Valley Hospital, where she directed a comprehensive community health initiative in eastern Pennsylvania. Currently, she oversees development of the Center, including the Public Service Scholars and Faculty Engaged Scholars programs and a recent reorganization that brought the APPLES Service-Learning Program into the Center. She also teaches the undergraduate courses "The Role of the University in American Life: the Engaged Institution," and "Philanthropy as a Tool for Social Change." Lynn is the co-director for faculty development of CCPH's Faculty for the Engaged Campus Initiative.

Sherril Gelmon is Professor of Public Health in the College of Urban and Public Affairs at Portland State University. While her major teaching responsibilities are in health services management and policy, much of her research in recent years has addressed strategies for assessing community-based research, learning, and institutional policy. She is a former Engaged Scholar with Campus Compact, and is lead author of their monograph on assessment methods and co-author of their monograph on the Engaged Department. She is the founding chair of the International Association for Research on Service-learning and Community Engagement.

Sherril serves as the evaluator for CCPH's Faculty for the Engaged Campus Initiative. She is an alumna of the Pew Health Policy Fellows Program, and received her doctorate in health policy from the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. Her master's degree is in health administration from the University of Toronto, and she holds undergraduate degrees in physiotherapy from the Universities of Toronto and Saskatchewan.

Introduction to Community-Based Participatory Research at the National Institutes of Health: A Road Map to Funding

Description
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognizes the value of community participation in the research process and has consequently increasingly supported the field of community-based participatory research (CBPR) through funding and training opportunities. This workshop aims to offer participants a clear understanding of CBPR at NIH, including recommendations for securing funding. This event features NIH grantees, program and review officials who will offer presentations and a panel discussion covering CBPR's progress at NIH, funded projects, grant application and review processes, application preparation tips, and available funding opportunities.

Workshop presenters include new and repeat NIH Principal Investigators, CBPR program officials, and a scientific review officer. Presentations will highlight the grantee, program and review perspectives while a panel discussion will focus on lessons learned and recommendations for prospective grant applicants.

Objectives: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Identify CBPR approaches, advantages and efficacy in generating improved health outcomes
2. Assess the presence and progress of CBPR at NIH
3. Examine thriving research projects by NIH grantees targeting health promotion, interventions, and health disparities
4. Understand the NIH grant application and review process
5. Compare successful and unsuccessful CBPR grant applications

Presenters (Biographies pending)
Dana M. Sampson is the lead for community-partnered research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) and directs its trans-NIH program on community-based participatory research (CBPR). As OBSSR’s program official for CBPR, Ms. Sampson manages multiple funding programs and has developed numerous scientific sessions and training initiatives for various audiences domestically and internationally. With more than a decade of federal government experience, she has conducted policy research for a member of Congress and the Department of Defense prior to joining NIH in 2001. Her scientific areas of interest are health policy, health disparities, community engagement, and community-based research.

Bonnie Duran, University of Washington

Deborah K. Johnson-Shelton, Oregon Research Institute

Paula Goodwin is currently a Health Scientist Administrator with the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) at the NIH. Her primary duty at the NCMHD is managing the portfolio of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) grants. She obtained her doctoral degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Human Development and Family Studies. Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Goodwin was an Assistant Professor at Purdue University and she also worked as a statistician at the CDC. Her research interests include racial and ethnic health disparities, and the impact of women's social and family roles on their health.

Collaborative Policy Design: Defining Evidence Based Community Driven Health Policy

Description:
For many community-academic partnerships engaged in research, collaborative policy design can serve as a necessary bridge between research and action. Collaborative policy design is a process for envisioning healthier policies that are sustainable and lend themselves to implementation. The virture of this process is that is can create policies that are both evidence-based and community-driven. This process will demonstrate that policies can have both scientists and constituents organized together to promote implementation.

Participants in this workshop will learn the rudiments of policy analysis, and explore how to analyze policy collaboratively. Examples will be drawn from the Kellogg-funded cross-site analysis of the impact of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) on policy and the experience of participants in the room. Beginning with a discussion of what exactly constitutes policy or systems-level change, participants will be guided through a process that will uncover issues in the community, policies that may address those issues, and a process for deciding upon which policies to pursue. We will conclude with a discussion of products and persuasive ways of packaging your analysis in preparation for your advocacy campaign.

Objectives: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the process of collaborative policy design.
2. Identify a range of policy solutions to a given community issue.
3. Identify collective values in order to develop evaluative criteria for proposed policies.
4. Articulate the benefits of using cost-benefit analysis as a tool for understanding and advocacy.
5. More effectively advocate for systems-level change.

Presenter:
Cassandra Ritas is the Principle Policy Advisor for The People’s Policy Institute, a national education and action company that provides skills-building workshops and consulting services to community-academic partnerships seeking policy change. As a researcher, Cassandra has conducted action research projects with participants ranging from youth to survivors of domestic violence. As an advocate, she has worked on issues ranging from disability rights to criminal justice reform. Cassandra served as the Chair of the Policy Work Group for the Harlem Urban Research Center (URC) - now the Harlem Community-Academic Partnership - during its formative years. She then spent several years working for the New York State Senate, developing and piloting a stakeholder-based policy development process. While a CCPH Fellow, Cassandra authored the popular guide to policy work for CBPR practitioners, "Speaking Truth, Creating Power." Her work is also represented in many of the CBPR textbooks published in the last decade. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.