Centre for Community Based Research and
the Evaluation Capacity Network
The Centre for Community-Based Research (CCBR) is one of the founding members of the Evaluation Capacity Network (ECN), a partnership of diverse researchers, funders, practitioners, and community organizations from across Canada. The partnership is led by Rebecca Gokiert from the University of Alberta and engages partners who collectively have decades of cumulative experience in early childhood, community engagement and cultural relevance, evaluation, and systems theory.
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CCBR leads the ECN strategic planning team, evaluating these partnerships to ensure alignment with ECN's four guiding principles: community-driven, culturally relevant, equitable participation, and action-oriented. Through this work, we help evaluate and understand the collective impact of ECN's efforts. As a member of the ECN Steering Committee, CCBR provides strategic guidance for ECN’s key initiatives.
CCBR collaborates with ECN on research and evaluation projects that empower organizations and communities to create meaningful change. Key projects include:
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This capacity-building project was designed for early childhood and prenatal programs within the Ontario Network of Community Action Program for Children (CAPC) and the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP). CCBR developed an interactive online toolkit with custom training materials, which were refined through pilot workshops with Ontario CAPC/CPNP organizations.​
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Using an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) framework, this research identified strengths, evolving needs, promising adaptations, and strategic directions for CAPC/CPNP projects. The goal was to enhance equitable and inclusive programming across Ontario.
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This project-built evaluation capacity among organizations and groups who support refugees across Canada. The project was led by CCBR in partnership with the Evaluation Capacity Network and guided by a cross-stakeholder advisory group. The project had 3 phases over 3-years: 1) developing a national evaluation capacity-building strategy, 2) holding evaluation capacity-building events across the country, and 3) providing evaluation support as organizations do their evaluations.