Wellesley Institute

Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health.

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Opportunities at Wellesley Institute:

Wellesley Institute aims to improve health and health equity in the Toronto area. We are an independent research and policy institute focused on the social determinants of health. Intermittently, we have opportunities to volunteer or for employment. Please continue to check this page as it will be updated when opportunities arise.

 

Title: Rexdale Community Researcher

We are looking to hire two community members for 2-month temporary contracts with the Wellesley Institute, to support field research for  the Community Voices Project in the Rexdale Community.

The Wellesley Institute: The Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health. Our mission is to advance population health and reduce health inequities by driving change on the so­cial determinants of health through applied research, effective policy solutions, knowledge mobilization, and innovation.

The Community Voices Project: Community Voices is a collaborative research project between the Wellesley Institute and the University of Toronto’s School of Cities. The study will increase our understanding of how residents of neighbourhoods within the inner suburbs value neighbourhood qualities that are positive social determinants of health (such as parks or access to transit and services), and their opinions on the public policies related to these qualities.  A core part of the study is a survey delivered to randomly selected homes within focus neighbourhoods in the West and East of the City.

Job Description:

The Rexdale Community Researcher will be responsible for supporting data collection for the Community Voices Survey in the neighbourhoods of at Elms-Old Rexdale, Mount Olive-Silverstone- Jamestown, Thistletown-Beaumond Heights and Humber Heights- Westmount.  They will provide oversight and on the ground support for the work of University of Toronto work-placement students who will also be delivering the survey, under the direction of the Community Voices Survey Coordinator.

Duties could include:

  • Survey team administrative and logistical support. This could include working with the survey coordinator on basic administration and planning around the work of the survey team. It could also include supporting the team in the field around financial oversight of petty cash, advice on the most effective ways to engage residents and support during emergency situations.
  • Delivering the actual survey by going door to door in community, with another team member, to randomly selected addresses.
  • Delivering the survey in public at high traffic locations to randomly selected individuals.
  • Administrative tasks, including helping with the preparation of promotional material.
  • Providing insight and advice to the larger team on how to ensure the survey is delivered in an effective and efficient way, which is also fully respectful of the local community.
  • Other tasks as required.

Job Qualifications:

  • A Post-secondary degree (college, university or professional certification) or equivalent work/professional experience.
  • Prior experience and/or training in community-based research.
  • Experience in the Rexdale Community, preferably as a resident in the community or through ongoing community-based work/volunteering.

Assets:

  • Prior experience in going door to door in a context such as political canvassing, fundraising or community engagement.
  • Prior experience in leading teams.
  • Prior experience in work or volunteer roles where one had to engage with the general public on a regular basis (sales, community outreach work, etc).

Renumeration and Hours of Work:  Work conducting the survey will take place on weekday evenings (after 4pm) and on weekends within the Rexdale Community. Specific evenings and weekend days will be determined on a week by week basis, in discussion with the Survey Coordinator.  Community based researchers will be required to log 15 hours a week as part of the contract.

Researchers will be compensated at a rate of $25.00 dollars an hour.   

Application Deadline and Instructions: Please submit a resume and cover letter to kofi@wellesleyinstitute.com by 5:00pm on September 25th 2019.  

Contact Information:  Please send applications or requests for further information to kofi@wellesleyinstitute.com.

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Acknowledgement of Traditional Land

We would like to acknowledge this sacred land on which the Wellesley Institute operates. It has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.

Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, on this territory.

Revised by the Elders Circle (Council of Aboriginal Initiatives) on November 6, 2014

In the spirit of equity and inclusion, if we can improve on this statement, please contact us. Thank you.