July 10, 2025
A recent partnership between Wilfrid Laurier University and the YMCA of Hamilton | Burlington | Brantford has yielded far-reaching benefits — not only for the YMCA, which gained valuable insights into the effectiveness of its youth programs, but also for the student researchers who led the project.
Supported by a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the two-year research initiative gave students in Laurier’s Child and Adolescent Research and Education (CARE) Lab a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience as paid research assistants. The team of 25 lab members developed and administered questionnaires and interviewed youth participating in YMCA of Hamilton | Burlington | Brantford programs to evaluate social-emotional outcomes, laying the groundwork for the organization’s impact assessments going forward.
As CARE Lab research training coordinator and third-year PhD student Avnee Sharma notes, it’s exactly the kind of project the lab was designed to take on.
“The whole idea of the CARE Lab is to conduct research that benefits the broader community,” says Sharma. “We’re a part of the community in which we operate and we’re always open to collaboration.”
As one of the project leads, Sharma helped train and coordinate the team of research assistants and contributed to analysis of the collected data, which was presented to the YMCA. The entire process, she says, was enriched by the mentorship of CARE Lab director and founder, professor Danielle Law.
“She’s one of those supervisors who is hands-on when you need her to be, but steps back when you’re ready to spread your wings and fly,” says Sharma.
In turn, research assistants learned from each other. The lab’s team-oriented atmosphere encourages collaboration between students at various stages in their Laurier journey.
“Just because I’m a PhD student doesn’t mean I can’t learn something from an undergrad,” says Sharma. “Before this, I wasn’t seasoned in conducting research with young children, so I was very grateful for my colleagues who had experience framing questionnaires and conducting interviews in ways that kids would understand.”
Research assistant Bailie Kinrade says her initial doubts about the value of her contributions as an undergraduate student were immediately dispelled.
“It didn’t matter if you had eight years of experience or no experience at all, everyone was working together and it felt like a proper community in itself,” says Kinrade.
The confidence she gained in the lab inspired Kinrade to take on research of her own, pursuing a fourth-year Psychology thesis that earned her an honourable mention at the 2025 Academic, Creative and Engaged Research Showcase (ACERS).
“I learned a lot of the ‘how-tos’ of research through the CARE Lab,” she says. “If I had any questions along the way, I messaged Avnee or one of the other lab members who had more experience. None of them had an obligation to help me, but they did, which I really appreciated.”
Now that she’s earned a double Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Criminology, Kinrade plans to apply for a master’s degree. According to graduate student and fellow CARE Lab member Usha Chawda, listing “research assistant” on her CV will give Kinrade a competitive edge.
“Gaining all these skills — recruiting participants, collecting data, analyzing data — put me way ahead of my cohort in my master’s degree,” says Chawda. “I was the only one who had this hands-on experience and it made me feel really confident as a researcher.”
The confidence Chawda attributes to her experience in the CARE Lab has manifested in other ways. She recently launched a club for Laurier Brantford students living with autism, with the goal of establishing a similar sense of community among members. Among the skills she’s honed in the lab, one has proven particularly useful in this new venture.
“We’ve applied for a few grants to fund a sensory tool library, so I really drew on my experience in grant writing from the CARE Lab,” she says.
Chawda is also modeling her role as club leader on Law’s example.
“I want everything to be student led, and I want to cultivate empathy — all of the things Danielle stands for.”
“I am deeply grateful for the hard work and commitment of my team. They inspire me with their creativity, thoughtfulness and dedication to helping others as they pursue their academic goals. I am grateful they have chosen to be part of the CARE Lab and its vision.”
Professor Danielle Law, Laurier CARE Lab director
For Sharma, an in-person event at the Laurier Brantford YMCA to acknowledge the Ontario Trillium Foundation funding and publicly share the research findings was the perfect capstone to the project. Bringing together CARE Lab members, executives from the YMCA of Hamilton | Burlington | Brantford and local dignitaries offered an opportunity to reflect on the research and its practical benefit to the YMCA and its young clients. It also underscored the reason Sharma joined the CARE Lab as an undergraduate student six years earlier.
“I was born and raised in Brantford and I’ve seen the changes that have occurred in the downtown core since Laurier arrived in 1999,” says Sharma. “The work that the CARE Lab does really supports that development and helps local organizations like the YMCA serve a very diverse community with evolving needs.”
The Inspired Community, Real Impact report celebrates the 25th anniversary of Laurier's Brantford campus by showcasing exceptional alumni, groundbreaking research and investments in infrastructure that have fostered a thriving environment for local residents, businesses and organizations.
