Cara Spence joined the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives as Professional Research Associate in the summer of 2023.
With two decades of social and health research experience, Cara has a background in various methodologies; qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods; Indigenous Health; social determinants of health; social and health policy; Sustainable Development Goals; and local/global health. Cara has served in several leadership positions, directing research teams, building partnerships, attracting funds, teaching, supervising staff and students, and project management and administration. She is also a past recipient of the Hartley and Margaret Fredeen Scholarship in Co-operative Studies, awarded annually by the CCSC.
Guided by co-operative principles, Cara completed her dissertation work in East Africa, implementing a network of maternal health care clinics. She has worked closely with the Saskatoon Community Clinic, particularly the Westside location, initiating research projects and intersectoral collaborations. She brings that invaluable experience, knowledge, and relationships to her research here, evaluating the co-operative community clinic model as part of the JSGS-CCSC project team.
Cara is also a mother of two (almost) grown children, a yoga and meditation teacher, and a certified hypnotherapist.