New Directors to lead PolicyWise forward
For over twenty years, PolicyWise for Children & Families has gathered evidence and collaborated with partners to improve the health and well-being of children and families.
At our 2025 Annual General Meeting, President & CEO Kristine Williamson shared how PolicyWise is evolving. We are now strengthening our capacity to move from evidence to impact in ways that are faster, more responsive, and more deliberate. We are building on what works and expanding our reach into communities where change is most needed.
Built on a strong foundation of research and policy work since 2003, we are moving forward with a clear strategic direction. We are introducing three new interconnected strands of practice that are designed to accelerate research into action. They grow directly from the research and policy skills we have built over two decades, while also keeping equity, reconciliation, and community voices at the centre of everything we do.
Three strands that strengthen each other
These three strands — Action-Ready Research, Strategic Initiatives, and Accelerated Advocacy — work together. Each one strengthens the others to create something greater than any one activity could achieve on its own.
Our research benefits from the best practices we uncover through our strategic initiatives. Our strategic initiatives’ services benefit from our depth of knowledge in supporting children, youth, and families. And our advocacy work benefits from the relationships we build with our partners through our research. Collectively, our impacts ripple from organizations to communities to systems near and far.
Action-Ready Research: Fast, relevant, and community-driven
Action-Ready Research starts with a powerful question: “What do communities need to know right now?”
This approach transforms research into a tool that people can pick up and use immediately. Whether they work on the frontlines, design programs, or shape policy, they can quickly apply what they have learned.
We collaborate with communities to ensure our research findings lead to solutions that organizations can use right away. Our work is always grounded in equity and built on grassroots connections, reflecting the voices of those it serves.
Strategic Initiatives: Bridging knowledge and action
Strategic Initiatives help organizations move from challenges to change. We are focused on bringing the right knowledge, skills, and people together to improve the system of supports available to our communities. Sometimes that means tackling one piece of the social system. But often it means working with collaborations or multiple partners who are tackling complex problems in a variety of ways.
Our services are flexible to meet your needs. Whether it is program evaluation, improving your data capabilities, or testing a new way to help kids thrive, our team members will find ways to help you make wise decisions that stick.
Accelerated Advocacy: A clear voice for change
Accelerated Advocacy recognizes that good ideas grow stronger when communities work together. When policy changes arrive suddenly, grassroots organizations need coordination, credibility, and support to speak with one united voice.
Our approach connects these organizations by bringing together evidence and lived experience. We advocate for policies and practices that serve children and families well. By building knowledge on key issues and bringing partners together for large-scale change, we can act as a catalyst to unite like-minded organizations around shared goals.
Leadership designed to move from evidence to impact
To ensure the success of these new strands of practice, we recently created two new leadership roles. Each role keeps us close to community wisdom while enabling us to move quickly from insight to action. Together, they will focus on shifting from evidence to impact at every stage of our work.
The Director of Research will lead our action-ready research agenda. Their work weaves equity, decolonization, and community voices into every project. With their team, they will turn research into practical solutions that shape policy, improve services, and create better outcomes for children and families. By building strong partnerships, this role will help elevate PolicyWise into a national leader in community-informed, policy-relevant research and advocacy.
The Director of Strategic Initiatives will design and deliver equity-centred services that strengthen the well-being of children, youth, and families across Canada. Their work will bring strategies to life by nourishing partnerships, supporting organizational growth, and making sure resources are in place for long-term success. Leading a skilled team, the Director will connect research with action, so that communities can see meaningful and lasting change.
Meet the Directors
Dr. Jennifer Medlock, Director of Research
Dr. Jennifer Medlock has taken on the role of Director of Research. Since joining PolicyWise in 2018, she has guided more than thirty research and evaluation projects that touch youth well-being, mental health, and community development.
She will now lead a team that turns community insight and rigorous evidence into strategies that can be used right away. Under her leadership, our research will start by listening to those closest to the issue. She will work with partners to shape the right questions, to choose methods that respect context, and to share results in ways that invite action.
“To me, action-ready research means moving at the pace of community insight and need. When evidence keeps up with what’s happening on the ground, we can build support systems that respond with more empathy, relevance, and impact.”
– Dr. Jennifer Medlock
Jody Wolfe, Director of Strategic Initiatives
Our new Director of Strategic Initiatives is Jody Wolfe, who has been with PolicyWise since 2021. She brings skills in strategic planning, program evaluation, business intelligence, and community collaboration obtained from her twenty-five years of work in academic, public, for-profit, and non-profit settings.
Jody and her team will collaborate with our partners to turn good ideas into clear, workable plans. Together, they will bring the right skills to the table to deliver services that are as flexible as they are useful.
Impact that lasts also needs sound stewardship. Jody aims to grow our strategic services so the social sector can work more closely together, learn from each other more often, and become stronger year by year.
“I’m excited to imagine how we might offer a greater benefit to the social sector. I see Strategic Initiatives as an opportunity to work in close partnership with other organizations to achieve our shared goal of a better system of supports for children, youth, and families.”
– Jody Wolfe
Where research and action meet
These two new roles meet the challenges of improving how organizations support children and families from three distinct, yet interconnected, directions. Action-Ready Research identifies and fills gaps in knowledge and solutions. Strategic Initiatives responds to help organizations tackle immediate challenges at a local level. Accelerated Advocacy is about scaling those solutions up and out by influencing systems.
Picture a community organization that wants to improve youth mental health supports. Jennifer‘s team gathers stories and data, then shares what the evidence shows in clear terms. Jody‘s team can then shape a path that fits their specific needs. They can provide training, simple tools, and time frames that people can trust. Together, they take what has been learned and applied to advocate for change more broadly.
Each strand of our work strengthens the path from evidence to impact. This rhythm turns knowing into doing, doing into learning, and learning into action. Each step informing the next.
Looking ahead
PolicyWise is building on decades of trust, knowledge, and relationships. We are now creating something more action-oriented to produce greater impact with our partners, and for children and families. What comes next will require dedication and focus.
Our AGM called on us to keep practising the quiet work of change. That work is careful, hopeful, and close to community life. With our three new interwoven strands of practice and the leadership of Kristine Williamson, Dr. Jennifer Medlock, and Jody Wolfe, PolicyWise is committed to moving from evidence to impact with greater speed and care.
We remain true to our mission and values. Together with our partners, we can shape wise decisions and help children, youth, and families thrive.
Connect with us
As PolicyWise continues to grow and respond to the needs of children and families, we invite service providers, researchers, advocates, and organizations across sectors to connect with us. Whether you are looking for collaborative research support, tools to strengthen your programs, or ways to expand your impact, we are ready to work together.
Explore our website and resources, learn more about our initiatives, sign up for our newsletter, or reach out to start a conversation.
