Lived Experience Governance Lead

Identifying Information

Organization Summary

Canadian Mental Health Association - Edmonton Region (CMHA Edmonton) is a community-based organization dedicated to strengthening mental health and wellbeing for all. Guided by its mission to advance a coordinated and effective system of community mental health and suicide prevention programs and services, CMHA Edmonton delivers a broad range of supports, including crisis response, navigation services, housing services, peer and family programs, and community-based initiatives. The organization is committed to person-centred service delivery, collaboration, lived-experience leadership, and continuous improvement in support of meaningful and lasting community impact.

Program Area Summary

CMHA Edmonton's Community Programs and Strategies area offers community mental health programs grounded in lived experience. The team co-designs and co-facilitates community outreach, lived experience engagement, recovery-oriented education, community-based research, system-change initiatives, and peer-led evaluation. Through strong partnerships, the area works to improve mental health, housing stability, social inclusion, and community wellbeing across Edmonton.

Role Summary

The Lived Experience Governance Lead coordinates and supports Edmonton’s Strategy for Community Mental Health (SCMH), the Council for Community Mental Health (CCMH), and a Systems Change Leadership table. The role works with CMHA Edmonton programs, City of Edmonton, people with lived and living experience, and community leaders and partners to help build a more connected and effective community mental health system.

The position leads inclusive and trauma-informed engagement, supports the CCMH, its committees, and Systems Change Leadership tables, helping to ensure community voices shape priorities, decisions, implementation, and evaluation. The position leads coordination and communication, maintains feedback loops with participants, and tracks key actions, plans, risks, and deliverables. The role works closely with CCMH members, CMHA Edmonton leadership, system and service organization leaders, City partners, lived experience insight communities, and project leads across the initiative.

Key Responsibilities

Initiative Leadership, Governance, & Coordination

• Provide backbone coordination for SCMH, CCMH, and Systems Change Leadership activities across CMHA Edmonton, the City of Edmonton, lived experience communities, and partner organizations.
• Support the implementation and continuous improvement of CCMH and Systems Change Leadership governance structures, committees, action groups, and related processes.
• Coordinate meetings and governance activities, including agendas, materials, records, decisions, action items, and follow-up.
• Recruit, onboard, orient, and support CCMH members and other initiative participants.
• Support Systems Change Leadership engagement with the CCMH.
• Serve as a central point of contact and maintain effective communication, alignment, workplans, timelines, risks, and progress reporting across partners and initiatives.

Lived Experience Engagement & Community Building

• Work with Lived Experience Engagement Lead to build and maintain a diverse lived experience insight community that informs SCMH priorities and decision-making for the CCMH and Systems Change Leadership.
• Create meaningful opportunities for people with lived and living experience to identify priorities, share insights, develop recommendations, and influence systems change.
• Build relationships with community members, grassroots organizations, Indigenous and ethnocultural communities, equity-deserving groups, and other interest holders.
• Ensure engagement approaches are inclusive, culturally responsive, trauma-informed, recovery-oriented, peer-centred, and accessible, including providing appropriate participant supports and accommodations.

Facilitation, Communications, & Knowledge Sharing

• Plan and facilitate meetings, community conversations, workshops, focus groups, webinars, gatherings, and leadership forums in virtual, in-person, and hybrid formats.
• Create safe and respectful spaces that support lived experience leadership, dialogue, collaboration, and shared learning.
• Gather, analyse, and synthesize community feedback into reports, recommendations, presentations, and decision-support materials.
• Maintain clear feedback loops so participants understand how their input informs decisions, priorities, and actions.
• Support initiative communications, knowledge sharing, public presentations, and community outreach activities.

Research, Evaluation, & Continuous Improvement

• Support community-based research, environmental scans, literature reviews, and other learning activities that inform SCMH priorities and decision-making for the CCMH and Systems Change Leadership.

• Co-develop and implement peer-led and developmental evaluation approaches, including community knowledge and storytelling as evidence.

• Identify indicators, monitor progress, analyse findings, and prepare reports for CCMH, and decision-making for the CCMH and Systems Change Leadership, CMHA Edmonton, the City of Edmonton, funders, and community partners.

• Apply evaluation findings, community feedback, and emerging evidence to strengthen engagement, governance, and initiative effectiveness.

Administration & Operational Support

• Coordinate engagement and event logistics, records management, participant information, and reporting systems.
• Support contracts, consultants, vendors, invoicing, financial tracking, and deliverable monitoring.

• Provide administrative and operational support required to advance SCMH priorities and decision-making for the CCMH and Systems Change Leadership.

Required Qualifications / Experience

• Post-secondary education in community development, social sciences, public health, human services, business administration, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Three or more years of experience in community engagement, facilitation, project coordination, community development, or a related field.
• Experience supporting collaborative initiatives, advisory groups, governance bodies, or community-based projects involving multiple partners.
• Experience working in partnership with people with lived and living experience and supporting meaningful involvement in planning, decision-making, implementation, research, or evaluation.
• Strong facilitation, relationship-building, communication, organization, and project coordination skills.
• Ability to gather, analyse, and communicate complex information through clear reports, presentations, recommendations, and updates.
• Knowledge of trauma-informed, recovery-oriented, culturally responsive, inclusive, and accessible practices.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a clear Police Information Check with Vulnerable Sector Check and an Intervention Record Check.

Preferred Qualifications / Experience

• Lived experience with community mental health systems, or experience working in accountable partnership with people with lived and living experience.
• Knowledge of Edmonton's community mental health, housing, suicide prevention, community safety, and social service systems.
• Experience with community-based research, evaluation, performance measurement, or using stories and data to demonstrate impact.
• Experience engaging diverse communities, including Indigenous, ethnocultural, 2SLGBTQIA+, youth, seniors, families, people with disabilities, and other equity-deserving groups.
• Experience working with government, community organizations, funders, senior leaders, and cross-sector partners.
• Experience coordinating events, participant supports, contracts, budgets, invoices, and project deliverables.
• Peer support training or other lived experience leadership training is an asset.

Core Competencies

• Initiative Leadership: Coordinates people, information, and resources to advance shared goals.
• Facilitation: Leads inclusive discussions that support participation, learning, decision-making, and action.
• Relationship Building: Builds trust and strong partnerships across communities, organizations, government, and leadership groups.
• Lived Experience Engagement: Values and integrates lived and living experience in respectful, inclusive, and meaningful ways.
• Cultural Responsiveness: Adapts approaches to meet diverse cultural, accessibility, language, and community needs.
• Analysis & Communication: Identifies key themes and insights and turns complex information into clear recommendations, reports, and updates.
• Planning & Organization: Manages priorities, tracks commitments, maintains records, and supports timely delivery.
• Collaboration & Judgement: Works effectively across different perspectives and handles sensitive situations with professionalism.
• Adaptability: Responds effectively to changing priorities, emerging needs, and evolving initiatives.

Skills & Abilities

• Strong facilitation, engagement, presentation, and communication skills.
• Ability to build trusting relationships, maintain confidentiality, and respond professionally to sensitive situations.
• Strong organizational, project coordination, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively across multiple partners and projects.
• Ability to prepare reports, presentations, meeting materials, workplans, and other project documents.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365, virtual meeting platforms, engagement tools, databases, and project management software.
• Commitment to CMHA Edmonton's values, including Reconciliation, equity, diversity, inclusion, Indigenization, lived experience leadership, and community wellbeing.

Key Performance Indicators

Performance in this role will be assessed based on CCMH, SCMH, and partnership priorities, including:

• Initiative Coordination: Workplans, meetings, actions, milestones, and deliverables are well coordinated and tracked.
• Meaningful Engagement: Engagement activities are inclusive, accessible, trauma-informed, and responsive to participant needs.
• Community Participation: People with lived and living experience have meaningful opportunities to contribute.
• Governance & Facilitation: CCMH and related groups are well supported, with productive meetings and clear outcomes.
• Use of Community Insights: Community feedback is gathered, shared, and used to inform priorities, decisions, and actions.
• Participant Accountability: Participants understand how their input has influenced decisions and initiatives.
• Partnerships & Communication: Strong relationships and effective communication are maintained across partners and stakeholders.
• Evaluation & Improvement: Progress is documented, reporting requirements are met, and learning is used to improve the work.
• Administrative Excellence: Records, finances, contracts, participant supports, and project information are accurate, secure, and up to date.

Working Conditions

• Work is performed in office, virtual, and community settings across Edmonton.
• The role requires regular interaction with people sharing sensitive or difficult lived experiences and requires professionalism, boundaries, reflective practice, emotional resilience, and access to appropriate support.
• Evening and occasional weekend work may be required to support accessible community participation, meetings, and events.
• Local travel is required for community meetings, engagement sessions, partner activities, and events.
• Regular use of Microsoft 365, virtual meeting platforms, databases, project management systems, survey or engagement tools, and presentation technology is required.