Community-Based Research Facilitator

Community-Based Research Facilitator – Position Description

Position Type: 0.8 FTE (32hrs/week)

Reports To:

Principal Investigator and Aunties Within Reach Program Leadership

Location:

Fort McMurray/Wood Buffalo Region (with travel to First Nation and Métis communities in the region)

Term:
Grant-funded position; 1-year contract with the opportunity for extension

The Community-Based Research Facilitator will support research, evaluation, and implementation activities for Aunties within Reach (AWR), an award-winning, Indigenous-led program dedicated to advancing reproductive health and family well-being in Indigenous communities across the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB). This role is embedded within the AWR program at Fireweed Wellness Lodge and serves as a link among community knowledge, practice, and research, ensuring that research and evaluation activities reflect community priorities, Indigenous perspectives, and the realities of program implementation.

Through a research partnership between AWR and the University of Alberta’s CARE Lab, this position will help generate and mobilize knowledge that strengthens the AWR program and improves access to reproductive and maternal healthcare. The position will provide research and evaluation support across multiple funded initiatives in partnership with AWR, including the Indigenous Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (I-HeLTI), which promotes parental social and mental well-being during preconception, pregnancy, and early childhood, and the National Women’s Health Research Initiative, which supports outreach midwifery, birthwork, and Auntie navigation services in the community.

Working collaboratively with Indigenous community partners, community members, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, service providers, and researchers, the Community-Based Research Facilitator will foster meaningful relationships, support community engagement, coordinate research and evaluation activities, and facilitate knowledge sharing and exchange. A core focus of the role is to strengthen opportunities for Indigenous communities to participate in and help shape research processes, ensuring that knowledge generation is respectful, reciprocal, culturally grounded, and responsive to community priorities.

Through these efforts, the Facilitator will contribute to continuous program learning and improvement while supporting better health and wellness outcomes for Indigenous women, children, and families throughout the RMWB.

• Build and maintain respectful relationships with Indigenous communities, partners, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, service providers, and program participants.
• Coordinate community engagement activities, including meetings, sharing circles, workshops, gatherings, and community events.
• Facilitate communication between community partners, Aunties within Reach staff, and the UofA research team.
• Work with the UofA research team to plan community events to promote research participation and knowledge sharing.

• Support community-based research and evaluation activities aligned with the goals of the AWR program and funding grant requirements.
• Participate in regular research meetings to plan research and evaluation activities, design data collection tools (e.g., sharing circle guides).
• Assist with participant recruitment, informed consent processes, and data collection activities.
• Coordinate interviews, sharing circles, focus groups, surveys, and other participatory activities to generate and share knowledge.
• Maintain accurate records and documentation of research and engagement activities.
• Support data management processes in accordance with OCAP®, Indigenous data sovereignty principles, and University ethics requirements.
• Contribute to monitoring program outcomes and indicators related to maternal, child, family, and community wellness.

• Assist in the development of reports, presentations, briefing notes, community summaries, and other knowledge-sharing products.
• Support the translation of research findings into accessible formats for…