Alexandra Guemili

Hello! My name is Alexandra Guemili, my pronouns are she/her.  I am a second-generation Canadian and proud to have roots from both Morocco and Barbados. I graduated with an Associate degree from Langara College with a concentration in Women’s Studies and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the School of Communications at Simon Fraser University.

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After graduation, I interned in Mexico City as a Project Officer with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), working in accessibility issues with persons with paraplegia. Over the years I have worked in both the non-profit sector as well as the Provincial government. My non-profit sector experience includes supporting individuals with disabilities to live independently in the community and with newcomers to Canada integrating into the Manitoba labour market. As a civil servant, I have worked in child welfare, employment and income assistance, and with Manitoba Justice as a youth probation officer. This experience included a specialized role with the FASD Justice Program, a conduit to the only existing FASD court in Canada.

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While working, I have been diligently chipping away at completing my Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Manitoba after completing a Pre-Master’s program.  My program’s focus has been on leadership, management and policy and I expect to graduate in the spring of 2022. Under the academic supervision of Dr. Ashley Stewart-Tufescu, my master’s project entails conducting an evaluation of the Youth Engagement Program at MACY utilizing a Responsive Evaluation Framework.  This experience has led me to become a member of the Canadian Evaluation Society.

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I was a SPECTRUM fellow between September 2019 and November 2020.  The experience enabled me to be a part of exciting workshops with multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary partners across the public sector, community organizations and academic stakeholders. As a fellow, I was able to contribute to the foundation of SPECTRUM by participating in partnership building workshops, attending meetings, completing literature searches and synthesis, and creating presentation materials. I also received mentorship from Dr. Nathan Nickel and co-authored a submission to the 2020 International Population Data Linkage Network (IPDLN) conference entitled “Building Research Capacity and Organizational Empathy Among Students: Making Connections Beyond the Data”.  My role at SPECTRUM helped me gain the confidence to reach a pivotal career goal and move from direct to macro-practice.

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In 2020, I transitioned to becoming a macro-practitioner by joining the Quality Assurance and Research team at the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth (MACY) by accepting a newly developed role as their Systemic Advocacy Analyst. Through my educational and career pursuits, I seek to break barriers, bridge services and promote responsive programming for individuals and families. I am motivated by finding creative opportunities in the workplace and beyond, as well as identifying service gaps, simultaneously advocating for change. Through my current role with MACY, I continue to be a part of SPECTRUM as a partner, and I look forward to what SPECTRUM can achieve.

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My research interests include program evaluation, anti-oppressive practice, collaboration in social service systems and systemic advocacy.  When I’m not busy with work and school, I am spending time with my partner and our two beautiful and tenacious daughters.  I also enjoy camping, and basking in the presence of my two cats, Chewy and Chula, and my giant dog Bruno.