Luna Introduces Director of Research, Naomi Parker

The Luna Child and Youth Advocacy Centre is pleased to welcome Naomi Parker as Director of Research. In this role, Naomi will lead the development of a community-academic partnership focused on the use of research evidence to inform policy, improve practice, and strengthen outcomes for children and families.

“Together with our Core Partners, we’ve been dreaming of a position like this for the last few years,” said Luna CEO, Karen Orser. “It’s so important that we build our own research agenda and coordinate research with child and youth advocacy centres across the country. Naomi will help Luna create strong partnerships within the academic community that will allow us to generate research that is reflective of our multidisciplinary approach, and effectively mobilize that knowledge to improve and align our practices nationally.”

Naomi boasts many years of experience working in the field of addiction and mental health, ranging from front line practice to prevention, policy, and research. She joins Luna from PolicyWise for Children & Families where she served as Senior Operating Officer, overseeing a team to conduct research, evaluation and data analytic projects related to child, family and community well-being. In her role at PolicyWise, Naomi helped lead the development of Luna’s Theory of Change and Evaluation Framework.

“As someone who is committed to mobilizing knowledge to promote evidence-informed policy and practice, I am so excited to work with the incredible multidisciplinary team at Luna to build a research agenda and focus for the organization,” said Naomi. “It is such a privilege to join with Luna’s Core Partners, University of Calgary, and the network of Canadian child and youth advocacy centres to generate robust research and knowledge about and with CYACs. I strongly believe that evidence and knowledge should be used to learn and improve and be generated with participatory and contextually sensitive approaches. I am looking forward to building this together with our partners at Luna.”

Naomi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, a Master of Business Administration, and is currently completing her Doctorate of Business Administration.