Jennifer Wolowic

Trained as an ethnographer and cultural anthropologist, I approach democracy through the lens of culture, community and lived experience– putting people first.

I look at the intersections between policy, procedures and experience to identify ways we can strengthen our democratic skills and competencies among individuals and groups. I've created games, tools, and programs to facilitate difficult conversations and created evaluations to understand how programs impact democratic culture.

The Strengthening Canadian Democracy Initiative at the SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue researches what shape our democratic beliefs, knowledge and practices. Through collaborations with institutions, practitioners, and citizens we also design programs and conduct evaluations to identify what works, when, and how to improve democracy. Most recently, we are invested in systems change research and solutions exploration around the topic of local government and public hearings in British Columbia.

Since 2000, the SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue has designed and facilitated more than 500 in-person and virtual events from local to international in scale, reaching hundreds of thousands of people. They offer a comprehensive range of in-person and virtual services to support governments, community organizations and non-profits in meaningful and participatory engagement and solution-oriented outcomes.