Welcome! Please introduce yourself

Hi Everyone! By way of a response to this I'll share some info and my answers to Daniel's questions. Looking forward to meeting you!

A bit about me:

I'm Michelle, I'm an occupational therapist working at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in an early intervention outpatient psychosis clinic. I also work part time as a program coordinator with a mental health nonprofit in York Region, and I also am a project coordinator with Photographers Without Borders. I'm 27, pronouns she/her, mixed race, able-bodied, queer(ish), upper-middle class Canadian citizen, born in Canada. Other than that, I'm super into the outdoors/swimming/camping/etc., music (writing, playing, performing, listening, dancing, jamming), travel/experiencing cultures/languages, food/cooking, people and the world in general.

What is your past involvement with participatory methods (group problem-solving approaches, visual methods, action research, etc.)?

I have been interested in PAR for a few years now, mainly from a community development perspective. I did some work with Global Brigades conducting a PAR-based program evaluation project with rural Honduran people for my last placement for my Masters program. It wasn't true PAR as the participants were identified by Global Brigades - they were the leaders of various committees. Furthermore the work took place over Skype. However we drew on the lived experience and grassroots expertise of the folks participating in projects and committees (such as the Junta del Agua/Water Council and the Caja Rural/Community Bank) to identify areas for improvement and change. Prior to this I did an Intro to PAR training with California-based nonprofit Practicing Freedom.

Describe one particularly difficult challenge when facilitating or engaging groups or clients, based either on your direct experience or reading about participatory approaches and their limitations.

Navigating positionality... As an educated, upper-middle class person from a developed nation it can be challenging to try to connect with others genuinely and to try to ensure that diverse perspectives and life experiences are adequately represented.

What do you think you will do (practically) with the knowledge/skills honed during the workshop? Do you have a specific project or topic for action-research in mind? What is it?

I'm interested in working in community development with various marginalized community groups, in Canada and abroad. Nothing specific at this time but incorporated end-user perspectives into development initiatives (eg. implementing microfinance initiatives, improving healthcare and access) is very important to me and an area in which I hope to grow my skills.