Leah Levac
Biographic Data
| ID | 800529 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Leah Levac |
| GIVEN NAMES | Leah |
| FAMILY NAME | Levac |
| SIGNATURE | LEVAC L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Guelph |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9049-4491 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 19 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Inclusive and Participatory Policymaking at the Local Level: Problems and Possibilities
Municipalities are being called on to become more participatory in their approach to policy making and governing. Concurrently, they are working toward making their policies, programs, and staff complements more inclusive and equitable, and more responsive to the ongoing consequences of colonialism and other forms of systemic discrimination. These developments share common normative and theoretical foundations, but municipalities are not necessar…
Undermining Justice: The Political Framing of Actors in the Independent Assessment Process
This article presents findings from a critical discourse analysis of House of Commons debates about the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), an out-of-court compensatory adjudication process intended to resolve claims of sexual and physical abuse that occurred at Indian Residential Schools and one of five key elements of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement. Our analysis is guided by the question: What do elected officials’ discuss…
Legislated Poverty? An Intersectional Policy Analysis of Covid-19 Income Support Programs in Ontario, Canada
The Canadian Impact Assessment Act and intersectional analysis: Exaggerated tensions, fierce resistance, little understanding
Canada's newly adopted Impact Assessment Act requires gender‐based analysis plus (GBA+)—a type of intersectionality mainstreaming—as part of assessing the impacts of resource projects. This explicit inclusion of a GBA+ requirement in legislation for the first time represents an important advance in Canada's commitments to mainstreaming, and one that offers an opportunity to examine how interested policy actors both enable and challenge mainstream…
Transforming public policy with engaged scholarship: Better Together
Many people remain invisible in all stages of policymaking processes and are re/harmed by policy decisions made in their absence, even where public engagement has occurred. This lack of meaningful engagement affects those experiencing homelessness, migrant workers, northern and Indigenous women, and others with whom we have collaborated. This article demonstrates the transformative potential of recognising these ‘invisible’ actors as legitimate a…
Expanding evidence and expertise in impact assessment: Informing Canadian public policy with the knowledges of invisible communities
Globally, the impacts of natural resource development raise concerns about the often disproportionate and negative consequences experienced by Indigenous Peoples, women, and girls. We know far less about the consequences for other often-invisible community members – such as women and girls with disabilities, youth, and people who identify as LGBTQ2S+. Further, promising practices for attending to affected communities’ diverse needs and experience…
Honouring Ann Denis’ contributions to feminist intersectionality
A scoping review: The utility of participatory research approaches in psychology
Consistent with community psychology's focus on addressing societal problems by accurately and comprehensively capturing individuals’ relationships in broader contexts, participatory research approaches aim to incorporate individuals’ voices and knowledge into understanding, and responding to challenges and opportunities facing them and their communities. Although investigators in psychology have engaged in participatory research, overall, these …
Introduction to dialogues section on socially engaged research and teaching in political science
Topics as wide-ranging as climate change, reproductive and sexual justice, Indigenous rights and decolonization, conflict and violence, and global migration – not to mention their intersections wit
Negotiating tensions in a community engaged and intersectionality-informed political science course
There is growing pressure on Canadian universities to demonstrate their applicability and relevance in contemporary society. Community engaged learning opportunities can respond to this pressure, and can provide important benefits for both students and community partners with whom students work. In this paper, I draw on my experiences of teaching an undergraduate and graduate community engaged political science course over the last four years, to…
Towards a Framework for Building Community-University Resilience Research Agendas
In this paper, we ask: “How can we scope multiyear, multiscalar community–university collaborations that draw on the university’s diverse resources and contribute to community resilience”? We approach this question by presenting the development and application of the Advancing Collaborative Transdisciplinary Scholarship Framework (the “ACTS Framework”) which we argue has been successful at helping us better understand, foster, and work towards co…
Invisible Young Women and Public Policy in Ontario
Scholars across research fields have pointed to the exclusion of young women from theories and studies of citizenship, political engagement, and public policy. Limited systematic attention has been paid to whether or how diverse young women's experiences are reflected in public policy. We ask (a) in which provincial policy areas in Ontario do diverse young women warrant unique attention and (b) how are their experiences reflected in these areas? …
Socioeconomic Status and Child Development: A Meta-Analysis
Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is widely accepted to have deleterious effects on the well-being and development of children and adolescents. However, rigorous meta-analytic methods have not been applied to determine the degree to which SES supports or limits children’s and adolescents behavioural, cognitive and language development. While SES is largely determined by combinations of variables such as parental education level, marital status, an…
Is this for real?’ Participatory research, intersectionality, and the development of leader and collective efficacy with young mothers
Young mothers are often socially and economically marginalized, and tend to be discussed as one homogenous, high-risk, deficit-based group. They are frequently excluded from youth participatory action research and youth leadership research, which leaves little space for considering them as engaged citizens or leaders. To contribute to filling this gap, I created and implemented, in collaboration with a group of 11 young mothers, a policy-focused …
Complicating the public: Enabling young women's participation in public engagement initiatives
Despite growing attention to both public engagement in policy development, and youth civic engagement, the engagement of young women and young mothers receives little attention. This article proposes guidelines for engaging with young women in provincial public policy development via their participation in public engagement initiatives. Developed in the context of a small Canadian province, the guidelines are based on an existing public engagemen…
Is this for real?’ Participatory research, intersectionality, and the development of leader and collective efficacy with young mothers
Young mothers are often socially and economically marginalized, and tend to be discussed as one homogenous, high-risk, deficit-based group. They are frequently excluded from youth participatory action research and youth leadership research, which leaves little space for considering them as engaged citizens or leaders. To contribute to filling this gap, I created and implemented, in collaboration with a group of 11 young mothers, a policy-focused …
Transforming public policy with engaged scholarship: Better Together
Many people remain invisible in all stages of policymaking processes and are re/harmed by policy decisions made in their absence, even where public engagement has occurred. This lack of meaningful engagement affects those experiencing homelessness, migrant workers, northern and Indigenous women, and others with whom we have collaborated. This article demonstrates the transformative potential of recognising these ‘invisible’ actors as legitimate a…
Legislated Poverty? An Intersectional Policy Analysis of Covid-19 Income Support Programs in Ontario, Canada
The Canadian Impact Assessment Act and intersectional analysis: Exaggerated tensions, fierce resistance, little understanding
Canada's newly adopted Impact Assessment Act requires gender‐based analysis plus (GBA+)—a type of intersectionality mainstreaming—as part of assessing the impacts of resource projects. This explicit inclusion of a GBA+ requirement in legislation for the first time represents an important advance in Canada's commitments to mainstreaming, and one that offers an opportunity to examine how interested policy actors both enable and challenge mainstream…
Complicating the public: Enabling young women's participation in public engagement initiatives
Despite growing attention to both public engagement in policy development, and youth civic engagement, the engagement of young women and young mothers receives little attention. This article proposes guidelines for engaging with young women in provincial public policy development via their participation in public engagement initiatives. Developed in the context of a small Canadian province, the guidelines are based on an existing public engagemen…
Introduction to dialogues section on socially engaged research and teaching in political science
Topics as wide-ranging as climate change, reproductive and sexual justice, Indigenous rights and decolonization, conflict and violence, and global migration – not to mention their intersections wit
Invisible Young Women and Public Policy in Ontario
Scholars across research fields have pointed to the exclusion of young women from theories and studies of citizenship, political engagement, and public policy. Limited systematic attention has been paid to whether or how diverse young women's experiences are reflected in public policy. We ask (a) in which provincial policy areas in Ontario do diverse young women warrant unique attention and (b) how are their experiences reflected in these areas? …
Complicating the public: Enabling young women's participation in public engagement initiatives
Despite growing attention to both public engagement in policy development, and youth civic engagement, the engagement of young women and young mothers receives little attention. This article proposes guidelines for engaging with young women in provincial public policy development via their participation in public engagement initiatives. Developed in the context of a small Canadian province, the guidelines are based on an existing public engagemen…
Socioeconomic Status and Child Development: A Meta-Analysis
Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is widely accepted to have deleterious effects on the well-being and development of children and adolescents. However, rigorous meta-analytic methods have not been applied to determine the degree to which SES supports or limits children’s and adolescents behavioural, cognitive and language development. While SES is largely determined by combinations of variables such as parental education level, marital status, an…
Is this for real?’ Participatory research, intersectionality, and the development of leader and collective efficacy with young mothers
Young mothers are often socially and economically marginalized, and tend to be discussed as one homogenous, high-risk, deficit-based group. They are frequently excluded from youth participatory action research and youth leadership research, which leaves little space for considering them as engaged citizens or leaders. To contribute to filling this gap, I created and implemented, in collaboration with a group of 11 young mothers, a policy-focused …
Towards a Framework for Building Community-University Resilience Research Agendas
In this paper, we ask: “How can we scope multiyear, multiscalar community–university collaborations that draw on the university’s diverse resources and contribute to community resilience”? We approach this question by presenting the development and application of the Advancing Collaborative Transdisciplinary Scholarship Framework (the “ACTS Framework”) which we argue has been successful at helping us better understand, foster, and work towards co…
Invisible Young Women and Public Policy in Ontario
Scholars across research fields have pointed to the exclusion of young women from theories and studies of citizenship, political engagement, and public policy. Limited systematic attention has been paid to whether or how diverse young women's experiences are reflected in public policy. We ask (a) in which provincial policy areas in Ontario do diverse young women warrant unique attention and (b) how are their experiences reflected in these areas? …
A scoping review: The utility of participatory research approaches in psychology
Consistent with community psychology's focus on addressing societal problems by accurately and comprehensively capturing individuals’ relationships in broader contexts, participatory research approaches aim to incorporate individuals’ voices and knowledge into understanding, and responding to challenges and opportunities facing them and their communities. Although investigators in psychology have engaged in participatory research, overall, these …
Introduction to dialogues section on socially engaged research and teaching in political science
Topics as wide-ranging as climate change, reproductive and sexual justice, Indigenous rights and decolonization, conflict and violence, and global migration – not to mention their intersections wit
Negotiating tensions in a community engaged and intersectionality-informed political science course
There is growing pressure on Canadian universities to demonstrate their applicability and relevance in contemporary society. Community engaged learning opportunities can respond to this pressure, and can provide important benefits for both students and community partners with whom students work. In this paper, I draw on my experiences of teaching an undergraduate and graduate community engaged political science course over the last four years, to…
Expanding evidence and expertise in impact assessment: Informing Canadian public policy with the knowledges of invisible communities
Globally, the impacts of natural resource development raise concerns about the often disproportionate and negative consequences experienced by Indigenous Peoples, women, and girls. We know far less about the consequences for other often-invisible community members – such as women and girls with disabilities, youth, and people who identify as LGBTQ2S+. Further, promising practices for attending to affected communities’ diverse needs and experience…
Honouring Ann Denis’ contributions to feminist intersectionality
Undermining Justice: The Political Framing of Actors in the Independent Assessment Process
This article presents findings from a critical discourse analysis of House of Commons debates about the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), an out-of-court compensatory adjudication process intended to resolve claims of sexual and physical abuse that occurred at Indian Residential Schools and one of five key elements of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement. Our analysis is guided by the question: What do elected officials’ discuss…
Legislated Poverty? An Intersectional Policy Analysis of Covid-19 Income Support Programs in Ontario, Canada
The Canadian Impact Assessment Act and intersectional analysis: Exaggerated tensions, fierce resistance, little understanding
Canada's newly adopted Impact Assessment Act requires gender‐based analysis plus (GBA+)—a type of intersectionality mainstreaming—as part of assessing the impacts of resource projects. This explicit inclusion of a GBA+ requirement in legislation for the first time represents an important advance in Canada's commitments to mainstreaming, and one that offers an opportunity to examine how interested policy actors both enable and challenge mainstream…
Transforming public policy with engaged scholarship: Better Together
Many people remain invisible in all stages of policymaking processes and are re/harmed by policy decisions made in their absence, even where public engagement has occurred. This lack of meaningful engagement affects those experiencing homelessness, migrant workers, northern and Indigenous women, and others with whom we have collaborated. This article demonstrates the transformative potential of recognising these ‘invisible’ actors as legitimate a…
Inclusive and Participatory Policymaking at the Local Level: Problems and Possibilities
Municipalities are being called on to become more participatory in their approach to policy making and governing. Concurrently, they are working toward making their policies, programs, and staff complements more inclusive and equitable, and more responsive to the ongoing consequences of colonialism and other forms of systemic discrimination. These developments share common normative and theoretical foundations, but municipalities are not necessar…
Political science (14 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Gender Studies (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Gender Studies (7 works) · Intersectionality (7 works) · Politics (7 works) · Public Administration (7 works) · Public relations (7 works) · Law (6 works)