Centering Youth Voice Through Arts-Based Evaluation of the WiseGuyz Program

Community-Based Research Canada presents “Young People in Community-Based Research”: our winter 2024 e-learning series. This series will highlight community-based research projects, models, and processes that exemplify participatory engagement of young people in research. An important hallmark of community-based research is that the research is participatory, meaning it involves authentic and meaningful participation of stakeholders in all phases of the research. When research has impacts on the lives of young people, participatory research would involve authentically engaging young people in the planning, design, implementation, and dissemination of research. Within this series we will hear about youth-engaged models and processes for research, as well as research projects that have been driven by young people.

Webinar:

In this presentation, we will discuss how youth voice has been centered in the evaluation of the WiseGuyz program, with a focus on our use of arts-based evaluation processes. We will also discuss challenges in this work. WiseGuyz is a gender-transformative healthy relationships promotion and violence prevention program for adolescent boys developed by the Centre for Sexuality in Calgary, AB. All WiseGuyz evaluation is conducted through a collaborative community-university partnership model.

Presenters:

Dr. Deinera Exner-Cortens, PhD, MPH (she/her), Canada Research Chair (Childhood Health Promotion) and Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Calgary

Stafford Perry, (he/him), WiseGuyz Scaling Project Manager, Centre for Sexuality

Dr. Deinera Exner-Cortens works alongside school, community and youth partners across the country to co-create innovative research on promoting healthy youth relationships and preventing dating violence. Her work has been recognized by a Canada Research Chair appointment, an Early Career Award from the Society for Prevention Research, a Leadership in Family Violence Prevention Innovation Award from the Government of Alberta, and a Top 40 Under 40 Award from Avenue Magazine Calgary. Dr. Exner-Cortens holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University and a Master of Public Health from Boston University. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary. She is also the director of the HOPELab (www.hopelab.ca), and Scientific Co-Director of PREVNet (www.prevnet.ca).

Stafford Perry is an award-winning actor and community leader with extensive experience in public engagement and facilitation. As a community leader in men’s engagement, Stafford has worked specifically with men and boys to prevent violence and foster social change for close to a decade. He was instrumental in coordinating and developing the award-winning WiseGuyz program, a groundbreaking violence prevention program for young men and has facilitated over a hundred professional and community workshops across the province. Stafford translates his comprehensive knowledge and expertise as an actor into his community work and offers a unique approach to using experiential arts-based practices to foster healing in communities. With passion, integrity, vulnerability, and humour, he creates spaces that foster empathy, genuine connection, authentic expression, and support.

*This event is intended for CBRCanada members only. If you are employed, studying, or affiliated with any CBRCanada member institution/organization, you are already considered a member. If you are unsure if your institution is covered, learn more here. Individuals whose institution is not on this list are welcome to register as an an individual member. We value community participation and have a free membership option for registered community mobilizers.