Beginning in 2024, in partnership with Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights’ National Youth Advisory Board, we hosted a series of planning workshops with 16 youth co-researchers from across Canada hired to join the team. Youth co-researchers play an active role in the community-engaged research project from planning workshops to develop and refine research priorities and questions; co-create digital mapping, arts-based research tools; facilitating youth-led data collection (mapping of sexual health services); to participatory analyses and knowledge mobilization to reflect back the results to clinicians, policy makers, and general public on youth’s experiences and journeys in accessing sexual health care services within their community.

The 16 Youth Co-Researchers (YCRs) on the team joined from the National Youth Advisory Board and referred from other partner organizations and collaborators, bringing diverse geographic, intersectional identities and lived experience perspectives.