ICI’s DeBrittany Humphrey Presents at 2024 Knowledge Translation Canada Conference

This year’s Knowledge Translation Canada Conference selected DeBrittany (Mitchell) Humphrey, a Knowledge Translation Manager from the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI), to present on using a learning collaborative model as an integrated knowledge translation approach to help create youth apprenticeship programs in rural communities. The conference, which brings together knowledge translation experts from across Canada and beyond, focuses on the dissemination and implementation of research findings.

Photo of DeBrittany (Mitchell) Humphrey delivering a presentation on rural knowledge translation at the KT Canada Conference.

The Rural Youth Apprenticeship Development project (RYAD) uses the learning collaborative model as an integrated knowledge translation approach, partnering researchers with disability employment service providers across states to create more apprenticeship opportunities for youth with disabilities living in underserved, rural communities in the United States. One RYAD learning collaborative member shared about his experience:

“It’s been very eye-opening to me because I see a lot of the similarities in the struggles we face in rural communities across states. For example, transportation, especially for people with disabilities, is a real barrier and a recurring issue. So how do you address it? How do you know how to work together to find solutions to these problems? That’s one of the things we spent a lot of time brainstorming together in the learning collaborative.”

During the presentation, Humphrey highlighted key knowledge translation lessons learned from the RYAD project, emphasizing the importance of using the learning collaborative approach to move beyond disseminating research findings to fostering dialogue about best practices, barriers, and solutions to implementing apprenticeship programs in rural areas. She commented:

“We look forward to continuing our work on the RYAD project to help build more equitable and inclusive apprenticeship opportunities for youth with disabilities in underserved, rural communities.”

Photo of DeBrittany (Mitchell) Humphrey presenting her poster: “Rural Apprenticeships for Youth with Disabilities: Insights from the Learning Collaborative KT Model”

For more information about RYAD, view the project factsheet and explore the Rural Youth Apprenticeship Toolkit.

Photo of KT Canada Conference selected attendees and expert speakers standing in the courtyard of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. DeBrittany Humphrey is standing in the second row, second from the left.