A Toolkit on the Meaningful Engagement of People with Lived Experience of Homelessness
Meaningful engagement takes relationship building, resourcing, and accountability. This toolkit draws on the Expert Steering Team’s experience to help organizations and communities put those commitments into practice.
Whether you’re building a team, strengthening an existing partnership, or organizing for change, you’ll find guidance on recruitment, compensation, shared decision-making, preventing tokenism, and more. Use it as a starting point for conversations and approaches shaped by your own community.
You can download the full toolkit (PDF) or explore the toolkit by chapter below.
Chapter 1: Environmental Scan & Key Learnings
Before creating the Expert Steering Team (EST), the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa conducted an environmental scan to understand promising practices for engaging people with lived experience in systems change. This work drew on national…
- Topic: Environmental Scan
- Environmental Scan
Chapter 2: Creating a Team for Systems Change
“Effective teams do not define their staff members by their personal intersections and identities.” Who Should Be at the Table When EST members are asked to describe the elements that contribute to our team’s success,…
- Topic: Skills & Competencies, Tokenism
- Skills & Competencies, Tokenism
Chapter 3: Structuring the Team
Team size and structure matter. Smaller teams (e.g., 5–10 members) tend to be more successful as the group size fosters trust, agility, and meaningful engagement. Coordination costs rapidly add up in purpose driven groups and…
- Topic: Conflict Resolution, Decision-Making, Team Model
- Conflict Resolution, Decision-Making, Team Model
Chapter 4: Coordination
“The Engagement Manager role requires a mix of emotional intelligence, flexibility, and accountability.” Dedicated staff support for scheduling, admin, and logistics is essential. No professional team can work to its full capacity without effective management,…
- Topic: Engagement Manager, Management
- Engagement Manager, Management
Chapter 5: Recruitment and Hiring
Recruitment should be equitable, transparent, and low-barrier. Key considerations include: Advertisement Advertising can utilize word-of-mouth, community centers, social media, partner organizations, and more. The reach of your advertisement should mirror the intentions you’ve set for…
- Topic: Interviewing, Job Descriptions, Recruitment & Hiring, Roles & Responsibilities
- Interviewing, Job Descriptions, Recruitment & Hiring, Roles & Responsibilities
Chapter 6: Onboarding the Team
Creating a new team, particularly when using a co-design approach, can feel messy and even intimidating. A strong onboarding process provides structure and grounding, ensuring that everyone has the information they need to do their…
- Topic: Avoiding Assumptions, Onboarding
- Avoiding Assumptions, Onboarding
Chapter 7: Compensation
We receive more questions about compensation than nearly any other area. Money conversations are still a cultural taboo, and this is made worse when we factor in complicated power dynamics, confusing tax laws, and well-intentioned…
- Topic: Compensation, Payroll
- Compensation, Payroll
Chapter 8: Working in Governance and Systems Change
Gaining a seat at decision-making tables involved in governance and systems change does not happen overnight, particularly for people with lived experience. Persistent stigma means lived experience is often undervalued or excluded from formal governance…
- Topic: Governance, Systems Change, Value of Lived Experience
- Governance, Systems Change, Value of Lived Experience
Chapter 9: Preventing Tokenism & Ensuring Ethical Engagement
Meaningful engagement is more complicated than simply inviting people with lived experience to the table. In fact, engagement conducted with unethical or outdated models can cause as much harm as exclusion. Time must be taken…
- Topic: Ethical Engagement, Inclusion, Tokenism
- Ethical Engagement, Inclusion, Tokenism
Chapter 10: Evaluation & Continuous Learning
Ongoing evaluation ensures teams are effective, members feel supported, and impact is measurable. However, the work of teams like the EST can be varied in scope, deeply interpersonal and/or conversational in approach, and not always…
- Topic: Evaluation
- Evaluation
FAQ
1. What is the EST, and who can participate?The Expert Steering Team (EST) is a permanent part-time staff team of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa. The EST consists of individuals with lived experience of…
- Topic: Funding, Peer Support, Professional development, Safety, Training
- Funding, Peer Support, Professional development, Safety, Training
Community of Practice
Work through the questions together Putting this guidance into practice? Our Community of Practice connects people who coordinate, facilitate, or support lived experience engagement. Bring your questions, exchange approaches, and learn alongside others navigating similar…
- Topic: Community of Practice
- Community of Practice