Creating a better future for communities through research

Rich Janzen, Research Director

PhD (student) Community Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University rich@communitybasedresearch.ca, Tel: (519) 741-1318 ext 233

Rich Janzen has worked at CCBR since 1996, becoming Research Director in 2004. Rich sees research as a tool for social innovation and change - to find new ways of bringing people who are on the edge of society to live within community as full and equal members. Rich has an academic background in community psychology and religious studies, and has taught community-based research methods to graduate social work students at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Research and Action Interests

Rich has been involved in 65-plus participatory action research projects, many focused on issues of cultural diversity or mental health. This breadth of work has included multi-partner research initiatives, community mobilization, systems change evaluation, and needs assessment with direct policy impact. He is author of 20 academic articles, over 80 technical research reports, and presenter at over 80 conferences, workshops and community events. Rich is an affiliated member of the Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement (CERIS), the Ontario Metropolis Centre.

Recent Projects

Team Leader: Evaluation of the Waterloo Region Immigrant Employment Network (WRIEN)

  • A 3-year systems change evaluation of a comprehensive community initiative to promote immigrant employment. More details.

Team Advisor: Somali Muslim Hate Crime Forum

  • A project to organize a Somali Muslim hate crime forum to raise the level of awareness about hate crimes and to build strategies in response. Carried out in partenrship with the Somali Canadian Association of Etobicoke.

For a full listing, please search "Rich" in our projects directory. 

Sample Publications

Janzen R., Ochocka, J. & the "Taking Culture Seriously" Partners (2007). The road toward cultural empowerment: An invitation to inclusion. In D. Zinga (Ed.) Navigating Multiculturalism Negotiating Change. Cambridge Scholars Press. 58-70.

Janzen, R., Nelson, G., Hausfather, N. & Ochocka, J. (2007). Capturing system level activities and impacts of consumer-run organizations: Methods that inform future action. American Journal of Community Psychology. Special issue on systems change evaluation, 39, 287-299.

Janzen, R. & Buhel, O. (Spring 2007). A National Review of Immigrant Access to Professions and Trades Initiatives.Canadian Issues. Special issue on foreign credential recognition. Association for Canadian Studies.

View full CV.

Other Interests

Rich has visited over 30 countries around the world and previously worked as a cross cultural social planner in Toronto. He now lives with his family in Waterloo, Ontario. Rich is an active member of a community-minded Mennonite church located in a multicultural neighbourhood of Kitchener. He has self-published two family history books.