Master's Projects
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Item Experiences of stigma within the substance using community in Richmond(2026) Remedios, Daniel; Cunningham, BartonStigma faced by individuals who use substances is known to be a barrier to treatment as well as a roadblock to the implementation of progressive programs and policies that can increase the quality of life and care received. Stigma is often cited as one of the causes of individuals using substances alone, which relates to the cause of death due to overdose. The community of Richmond is an immigrant-majority city where the added layer of cultural and immigrant stigma towards substance addiction also hinders individuals from stepping forward and discussing their own substance use journeys. This study conducted a literature review on the current research on substance use addictions, with the key points being illustrated in the conceptual framework used. Based on the literature review, a conceptual framework was created to help identify the most common impact areas in which individuals who use substances are stigmatized. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven people who use substances in the community of Richmond, and the interview findings were analyzed to identify key themes, which revealed that stigmatization occurs across various areas. These findings were corroborated by current research. The participants also offered their perspectives on stigma-reduction interventions across the different impact areas. Recommendations were based on themes from the literature review and participants' input.Item Inupiuraaqtuat Ilisazaġviŋmi: Inupiaq speakers in school. Inupiaq immersion phrase book for Ilisaurit ‘teachers’(2026) Aġviaq, Kiminaq; Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa; Daniels, BelindaInupiuraaqtuat Ilisazaġviŋmi is an Inupiaq Immersion Phrase Book for Ilisaurit (teachers). Inupiuraaqtuat Ilisazaġviŋmi means, those who speak Inupiaq in school. This phrase book was written by myself and was started when I was an Inupiaq immersion teacher for four years. While teaching in immersion, I was still learning the language myself and continue to do so today. I created this phrase book to help grow the number of Inupiaq immersion teachers. While teaching I used a small notebook to help me learn the daily phrases to be in immersion with my students. For my graduate project I typed up and organized the Inupiaq phrases based on the flow of the typical kindergarten school day. This resource is intended to inspire those in my community to become Inupiaq teachers: I hope one day I can say there are countless teachers who teach in the Inupiaq language to help dramatically increase the number of Inupiaq speakers. This project provides Inupiaq teachers with a handbook of phrases to use daily in the classroom. It will allow teachers to be successful Inupiaq immersion teachers. The phrasebook is in the King Island dialect of Inupiaq. King Island is located 90 miles west of Nome, Alaska in the Bering Straits.Item Hazǫǫ̀ Tłıchǫ Yatıı̨̀ Hoghàdets’etǫ: A community-based approach to learning Tłıchǫ yatıı̨̀ online(2026) Benning, Rosie; Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa; Daniels, BelindaAs Indigenous communities continue to strengthen, revitalize, and promote their languages, there is an urgent need for accessible, culturally grounded learning opportunities. This Indigenous language revitalization project responds to this need through the design of an asynchronous Tłı̨chǫ language online course grounded in community collaboration and Indigenous methodologies. Developed in partnership with Tłı̨chǫ Elders, Knowledge Holders, educators, and learners, the course supports language reclamation and revitalization for diverse learners, including community members within and beyond Tłı̨chǫ communities, as well as non-Indigenous allies. The flexible asynchronous format increases accessibility for teachers, students, government employees, and independent learners, while maintaining structured engagement through a 14-week, 42-hour program facilitated by instructors who provide ongoing feedback and support. Guided by an Indigenist research paradigm and community-based language research, the course is rooted in Tłı̨chǫ values, relational accountability, and culturally grounded ways of learning. It emphasizes not only language acquisition but also the strengthening of identity, community connection, and intergenerational knowledge transmission. Grounded in land-based and community-centered approaches to learning, this course model also offers a framework that can be adapted by other Indigenous language communities seeking to develop accessible, culturally relevant online language learning programs.Item Chekoghàehtǫǫ Dǫǫ̀ Gha: Purpose of a unit and lesson plans(2026) Camsell, Donna; Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa; Daniels, BelindaThis project is created to support Indigenous language teachers, especially those across the Northwest Territories. But really, it can be used by anyone. I have created this project from the few resources developed by the Government of Northwest Territories (GNWT), such as: the Our Languages Curriculum, Our Languages: Teacher Guide, and the Dene Kede Curriculum. I decided to create this Unit Plan as a way to demonstrate to other language teachers how they can utilize the resources that we are expected to follow when teaching our Indigenous languages to our students and families. We have access to these amazing resources but do not have detailed lesson plans that we are able to follow. I have been a teacher since 2019 and had not had prior teaching experiences in which I was teaching language. I had to develop my own lesson plans and did not have any guides or plans to follow. This made it difficult to teach and I often felt as though my students were not grasping the language as I hoped they would. Going through this program has allowed me to find valuable resources and discover new methods that I incorporated within my project to help make teaching Indigenous languages easier, fun, and engaging for our students. This project is not only for the school it can be used by anyone, including, families that want to regain language in the home.Item Tsúūt’ínà Gūnáhà úwà Naahínànísha: Post-secondary program proposal for Tsúūt’ínà Nation(2026) Crane-Starlight, Janelle; Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa; Daniels, BelindaThis paper presents the development of the Tsúūt’ínà Gūnáhà úwà Naahínànísha Post-Secondary Program, a groundbreaking initiative designed to revitalize and sustain the Tsúūt’ínà language and culture through a comprehensive, accredited certificate program within the Tsúūt’ínà Nation. Grounded in Indigenous research methodologies and guided by the wisdom of Elders, community engagement, and personal lived experience, this project addresses the urgent need for culturally responsive language education at the adult and post-secondary levels. Through critical review of a research bundle, comparative witnessing, and relational research practices, the program framework prioritizes community-based curriculum, holistic learning outcomes, and the integration of traditional knowledge systems. The research explores effective methods for adult language acquisition, assesses the impact of higher education partnerships, and identifies strategies for supporting proficient Tsúūt’ínà speakers and future instructors. Research underscores the centrality of language in cultural identity, the necessity of community-driven approaches, and the transformative power of Indigenous-led education. This work contributes valuable insights for Indigenous language revitalization efforts, offering a model for other Nations seeking to reclaim and strengthen their languages and ways of life through post-secondary education.Item ʕumtnaakšiƛ: To have a traditional name. The importance of revitalizing traditional ʔiiḥatisʔatḥ names(2026) John, Christina; Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa; Daniels, BelindaNaming practices for ʔiiḥatisʔath people have changed over time due to the ongoing effects of colonization. We traditionally carried more than one name throughout our lives and through the devastating effects of colonization, our people have moved to a more standardized, Euro-western way of naming: one first name and one surname, which is used for an entire life time. This project focuses on reclaiming our ʔiiḥatisʔatḥ naming ceremonies which revitalizes a vital tradition for our people: Carrying more than one name based on milestones and achievements in life, resulting in multiple family names being used over the span of one lifetime. These aren’t just names; our names give us identity, a sense of belonging, and a means of reconnecting us to our ancestors who had come before us.Item Hlaa Dim Mas’us’m Ahl Luu’majam Hlit’: Let’s play ball - A sport method for teaching Gitxsanimx̱(2026) Nyce, James; Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa; Daniels, BelindaThis research was inspired by my own up-bringing, mentorship and love for basketball, which explores the application of Total Physical Response (TPR), Where Are Your Keys (WAYK), and Situational Navajo methods for language acquisition to sport, specifically basketball, to teach Gitxsanimx̱. I developed a product-as-a-project, a coaches resource for teaching Gitxsanimx̱ through basketball, including a glossary of terms and phrases, example coaching plans, and labeled court diagrams. In my community there are no language programs for Youth outside of the schools’ Gitxsan Language and Culture exposure classes. However, basketball is growing in popularity with many players participating across the different age groups. Many teams are composed of Youth and adults, resulting in opportunities for mentorship and relationships to develop. Mentorship is a key aspect of the community and will be an important feature of the program if it is to succeed long term. Basketball serves as the perfect medium for language teaching, especially using physical language acquisition methods like WAYK and TPR. The benefit of using basketball to teach language is it takes the language out of the classroom and into the community. It provides a positive, culturally responsive, and fun space for community to use the language.Item Ka·kⱡukaqwaⱡa qakikaxuʔmik nas ʔamaks (Our language was born from the land): A land-based Ktunaxa pronunciation guide(2026) Twigg, Aiyana; Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa; Daniels, BelindaThis project explores how Ktunaxa sounds can be understood, taught, and learned through a Ktunaxa worldview grounded in land, spirit, and the belief of ʔa·kxam̓is q̓api qapsin (all living things). Responding to documented challenges in Ktunaxa language learning, particularly related to pronunciation, sound discrimination, and sound–symbol correspondence, this research moves beyond technical phonetic approaches to center land-based, ceremonial, and relational ways of knowing. Guided by a Ktunaxa research methodology, K̓itqawxantiⱡ ʔa·kuk̓pⱡuⱡaⱡ (Gathering Juniper), the project understands research as a living, embodied, and spirit-led process. Methods included land-based listening and observation within ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa (Ktunaxa territory), metaphor development grounded in relationships with animals, plants, and place, relational verification with a language mentor, and the creation of pedagogical resources. The outcomes of this research include: (1) a 32-page land-based Ktunaxa pronunciation guide, (2) thirteen land based articulation videos for sounds commonly identified as challenging for learners, and (3) a website that houses videos and audio recordings to support accessibility. This project demonstrates that Ktunaxa sounds are not abstract linguistic units, but living expressions born from land, ceremony, and ancestral relationships. By re-centering sound as relational and ceremonial, this work contributes to Indigenous language revitalization scholarship and offers a culturally grounded model for teaching pronunciation that supports healing, identity, and longterm language revitalization, while providing practical insights for the fields of Indigenous Language Revitalization (ILR), Indigenous Language Learning (ILL), Indigenous Education, and pronunciation teaching.Item ʔəx̌ex̌sdənox̌ qənox̌ w̓ila Lik̓ʷala lax̌ənox̌ gigukʷa(2026) Roberts, Dana; Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa; Daniels, BelindaThis project is about bringing Lik̓ʷala language back into the home as a natural everyday language. This work aims to normalize Lik̓ʷala in the home-domain through intergenerational learning and daily use, in ways that are respectful, loving and rooted in our ǧʷayilelas - our ways of knowing and being. For our Kwakwakaʼwakw peoples, language is not only a means of communication; it is a vessel for teachings, it’s part of our identity and our ways of knowing and being. This project seeks to return our Lik̓ʷala language to the centre of the family life through home-domain based language learning, recognizing that language flourishes where relationships are strongest. For this project I have created a guidebook for room domains and routines (i.e. Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom, Food, and Table). The routines can be used in each room domain for families to practice Lik̓ʷala together. I have also provided names for items related to each domain: these can be hung up on the items (e.g. a picture of a refrigerator; these are associated with QR Codes so the sounds and pronunciation can be heard). The ultimate goal is to use the guidebook by working with families on a weekly basis, practicing the room-domains and having families bring the resources home to practice throughout the week.Item W̱YÁLḴEN EṮ W̱SÁNEĆ(2026) Bob, Kiona; Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa; Daniels, BelindaThis project outlines the research and development of creating 6 SENĆOŦEN songs for the purpose of helping W̱SÁNEĆ peoples learn language on traditional homelands and re-establish relationship to language and land. Developing songs cultivated for teaching speech acts and basic sentence structure as well as establishing spiritual connection to language and land can create a more wholistic and decolonial way of language learning outside of an educational institution. W̱ÁLḴEN EṮ W̱SÁNEĆ is intended to bring our teachings back to our homeland for the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples’ and create speakers inside and outside of community who are W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. The songs developed will be used for on the land language learning for W̱SÁNEĆ peoples between the ages of 20-55 to mend the gap that has occurred in this age group due to language loss from colonization of Indigenous peoples’ in Canada.Item Kinaunira Qulliq Isumagillugu: Identifying through the Qulliq(2026) Coley-Sudlovenick, Miali-Elise; Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa; Daniels, Belinda; Evic, LeenaOver the years, I have felt connected to who I am through my first language, Inuktitut. I am proud to speak, read, write, understand and express myself wholeheartedly in the language I knew before any other. I was exposed to some English, but mainly once I was in elementary school that I started to understand it better. When I consider the connection to who I am through Inuktitut, I feel connected to a lineage of people who survived and continue to thrive, even in the harshest obstacles. When I consider the connection to who I am, I am also forced to consider the disconnection to who I could have been. I consider the disconnection my mom lived through during, removed from a time that a qulliq kept her family warm, while reflecting on what was lost to be where we are today. The focus of my project is on the qulliq, a traditional oil lamp. I attempt to highlight how the qulliq is an important source and tool to connect me to the land, to Inuktitut and to our Inuit culture and identity. When I think of the qulliq, I consider the elements that are required to come together to light it and keep it going. I think about my own life and what has had to be, in nature and in survival, to get me to this point. I reflect on the times that I get to walk on the nuna (tundra) and collect for the qulliq. I think about the hunters who face the elements to hunt and harvest the animals that have uqsuq (fat/oil), all to keep the qulliq going. I share about the bond to people in relation to tending and learning about the qulliq and my experiences in through this paper and a video story including photos and a voice-over.Item Breathing life into Lunáapeew language through echoes of the past using archival recordings(2026) Noah-Nicholas, Velma; Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa; Daniels, BelindaThis project focuses on contributing to preserving and revitalizing the Lunáapeew language by using archival audio materials. It centres the recorded voices of Lunáapeew elders from the Eelunáapeewi Láhkeewiit Nation in Southwestern Ontario, Canada—voices that serve as an irreplaceable record of ancestral sound. With only one remaining first‑language speaker, the authentic sound of the language is at risk of being lost. This project seeks to maintain, honour, and make the original sound of Lunáapeew accessible to community members The project includes creating an activity booklet that pairs archived audio recordings with QR codes, allowing learners to connect visuals, writing, and sound. This resource supports incremental language learning—one word, one sound, one memory at a time—and helps safeguard the linguistic heritage of the Lunáapeew People.Item TPR-D: A drama method for Indigenous language revitalization(2026) Zamora, Torah; Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa; Daniels, BelindaThis project presents a drama method for Indigenous language revitalization (ILR). Inspired by the successful teaching methods of Total Physical Response (TPR) and Total Physical Response Storytelling (TPR-S), this project expands on the premise of these methods by considering the potential for Indigenous language learning in Western drama practices. By incorporating the Western drama strategies of ‘movement’ and ‘role-play’ into Indigenous language pedagogy, a new teaching method can emerge -- Total Physical Response - Drama (TPR-D). To exemplify TPR-D in action, this project includes appended examples of activities in the Ts’msyen language, Sm’algyax. These materials are intended for Sm’algyax speakers, teachers, and learners and may be adapted by other Indigenous communities for their language use.Item Healing the wounded healer: A guide for counsellors(2026) Goodings, Heather; Gulamhusein, ShemineThis project explores the wounded healer archetype within child and youth care (CYC) and clinical counselling practice, examining how practitioners lived experiences of woundedness influence professional effectiveness and functionality. Drawing on Jungian depth psychology, counselling literature, and CYC perspectives, this project critically examines woundedness as both a potential vulnerability and a source of strength in the helping professions. While the literature identifies unexamined woundedness as contributing to professional boundary issues, countertransference, burnout, and practitioner impairment, it also highlights the potential to deepen empathy, altruism, and therapeutic presence when woundedness is consciously acknowledged and integrated. The project culminates in the development of Healing the Wounded Healer Handbook: A Guide for Counsellors, a practical, manualized resource designed for counsellors working in a community-based counselling practice. The handbook integrates reflective exercises, somatic practices, mindfulness, and Jungian approaches to support ongoing self-awareness, professional sustainability, and ethical practice. Overall, this project seeks to contribute to CYC scholarship by normalizing practitioner woundedness, reducing stigma, and offering practical, trauma-informed strategies that support both practitioner wellness and relational practice.Item Ksaahkomm Aaapio’tokann (Mother Earth’s Teachings)(2026) Williams, Stephanie; Gulamhusein, ShemineThis master’s project explores how Blackfoot land-based teachings can inform Child and Youth Care Counselling (CYCC) practice within a Western institutional setting. It was developed in collaboration with Niitsitapiwahsi (Indigenous Relations program) at Hull Services in Calgary, Alberta, through relational engagement with Elder Casey Eagle Speaker and Director Susan Bare Shin Bone. A narrative inquiry approach and a Two-Eyed Seeing framework guided the work and position Indigenous and Western knowledge systems as complementary. The four teachings of respect, resilience, humility, and forgiveness were shared by Casey through story and connection to the land. They are presented as living knowledge grounded in relational accountability, identity, and connection. The project also includes practical tools, including an arts-based representation and a framework for requesting cultural support. These teachings are not intended as a template beyond Hull Services, as they are nation-specific and were gifted within this context. However, the relational processes used in this project such as beginning with relationship, engaging community, reflecting continuously, and remaining open to tension may be applied in other settings. This work supports more relational and culturally grounded practice guided by Elder knowledge.Item Empowering the Victoria community to care for animals: Addressing the gaps in services for pet guardians experiencing poverty and homelessness(2026) Hamill, Emma; Krawchenko, TamaraVictoria, BC has one of Canada’s highest per-capita homelessness populations. With visible pet ownership among this group, their experience is intensified by rising living costs, scarce affordable and pet friendly housing and limited access to animal-related supports. Partnering with the BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA) as it shifts toward a community-care model, this project examined how local services can better support vulnerable guardians, reduce stigma, and strengthen supports. Using a mixed-methods design, data was collected in the Spring of 2025 from 33 service users and 8 service providers through trauma informed, accessible questionnaires, supplemented by publicly available organizational information. Quantitative data was analyzed descriptively, while qualitative responses underwent thematic analysis, resulting in 11 themes and 10 subthemes that highlighted strong emotional bonds and reciprocal relationships, substantial structural barriers particularly veterinary costs and access and widespread appreciation for low-barrier compassionate services. Service providers reported diverse offerings but faced chronic limitations including funding shortages, veterinary capacity constraints, foster shortages, and geographic barriers. These findings led to the development of the Victoria Pet Survival Guide. This guide is purposefully written in plain language, intended to be available digitally and physically accessible as a resource consolidating information on veterinary care, pet-friendly housing, emergency boarding, food banks, and lost and found supports. The project identifies opportunities for expanded services, cross-sector collaboration, mobile and low-cost veterinary initiatives, and broader advocacy to reduce systemic barriers. Together, this work provides a practical tool and strategic direction for improving community-based animal welfare supports and helping keep people and their pets together.Item Validation of a genetic-algorithm-optimized coplanar stripline filter using HFSS and ABCD matrix modeling(2026) Asadi Shad, Tannaz; Smith, LeviThis work presents a hybrid design framework for terahertz (THz) filters that integrates genetic algorithm (GA) optimization with ABCD matrix modeling and full-wave validation using HFSS. The proposed approach enables efficient inverse design by combining fast circuit-level analysis with electromagnetic accuracy. The developed framework, based on the work of Ali Dehghanian (2025) [32], employs a GA to explore a binary design space representing metallic and dielectric pixel distributions. Each candidate geometry is evaluated using an analytical ABCD model, enabling rapid calculation of S-parameters during optimization. The final geometry is then validated through finite-element simulation in HFSS to ensure physical accuracy. Two filter types were designed and evaluated: a low-pass filter (LPF) and a band-stop filter (BSF), with performance analyzed across frequencies ranging from 0.25 THz to 2.0 THz. For the LPF, the results show that at lower frequencies (0.25 THz), the design achieved strong attenuation (–10.2 dB) but required higher structural complexity and slower convergence. As the frequency increased, the optimization became more stable and efficient, with consistent convergence behavior and improved transmission characteristics. At higher frequencies (1.5–2.0 THz), the LPF demonstrated faster convergence, reduced structural complexity (as low as 12 rows), and stable performance with fitness values around –6.3 dB. For the BSF, a similar trend was observed. Lower frequencies exhibited wider stopbands but slower convergence, while mid-range frequencies (0.75–1.0 THz) showed improved stability and faster convergence. At higher frequencies, the BSF achieved stronger notch characteristics and more efficient optimization, with the best performance observed at 2.0 THz (–4.844 dB), along with smooth convergence and reduced parameter sensitivity. Across both filter types, the results indicate that increasing frequency leads to improved optimization efficiency, reduced structural requirements, and more stable convergence behavior. A comparison between ABCD-based analytical results and HFSS simulations shows strong agreement in both magnitude and phase responses, validating the accuracy and reliability of the proposed GA–ABCD–HFSS framework. Overall, the proposed methodology provides a fast, consistent, and physically reliable approach for designing high-performance THz filters.Item A performance evaluation of collective communication libraries(2026) Srinivasan, Subiksha; Wu, Kui; Prakash Champati, JayaCollective communication operations such as AllGather and AlltoAll are fundamental to high-performance computing (HPC) and large-scale machine learning workloads. Their performance, however, is tightly constrained by network structure, link latency, and bandwidth availability across modern multi-GPU and multi-node systems. As systems scale and become increasingly heterogeneous, traditional collective scheduling approaches, which often assume unrealistic symmetry in latency and topology, become ineffective. This project investigates Traffic Engineering for Collective Communication (TE-CCL), an optimization-based framework that formulates collective scheduling as a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem. TE-CCL explicitly incorporates link-level latency (α) into its scheduling formulation, enabling more realistic modelling of heterogeneous multi-fabric GPU clusters. This project examines how varying α across links affects routing decisions, epoch schedules, and solver behaviour. By introducing heterogeneous α values—rather than assuming a fixed latency across all links—the model adapts its schedules to prioritize low-latency paths, reduce hop count where beneficial, and capture realistic communication delays found in the cloud and datacenter clusters. This work provides an analysis of TE-CCL under latency variability, evaluating solver behaviour, schedule structures, and topology sensitivity across multiple cluster designs. The study highlights how α-aware scheduling reshapes the communication patterns selected by the solver and provides insights into when and why topology-regularity influences optimization stability. Overall, this investigation clarifies the importance of latency modelling in collective communication and offers guidance for extending TE-CCL toward more robust, topology-adaptive scheduling strategies for next-generation HPC and ML systems.Item Deployment of a real-time face mask classification system using browser webcam streaming and FastAPI(2026) Venkatraman, Yazhini; So, Poman; Popli, NavneetThis project presents a real-time face mask classification system designed to support safety monitoring in public and controlled environments such as workplaces, institutions, and healthcare facilities. The system detects a person’s face and classifies mask usage into four categories: with mask, without mask, with N95 mask, and improper mask. A curated dataset of face images was preprocessed through face detection, cropping, resizing, normalization, and augmentation to improve the model’s robustness under different lighting and orientation conditions. The model is built using a MobileNet based convolutional neural network, chosen for its efficiency and suitability for real-time applications. A classical Single Shot Detector is used to localize faces before classification. The trained model is evaluated using standard metrics including accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and a confusion matrix and achieves strong performance across all four mask categories. A live webcam interface has also been implemented to demonstrate real-time inference and practical usability. Overall, this work shows that a lightweight deep learning pipeline can reliably classify mask wearing conditions in real time on standard hardware. The system forms a basis for further improvements, such as handling complex occlusions, expanding the dataset with more diverse samples, and deploying the model as a standalone desktop or mobile application for real-world monitoring needs.Item More than decision making: How local elected officials navigate support for community-based initiatives(2026) McLean, Matthew; Siemens, LynneThis study examines how local elected officials in British Columbia support community-based initiatives (CBIs), defined as community-developed and community-run projects that provide services or benefits to residents. While CBIs are primarily driven by citizen action, elected officials are increasingly involved in supporting this work, yet their specific practices remain underexamined. Addressing this gap, the research explores the approaches elected officials use, the opportunities and challenges they encounter, and the strategies they employ to navigate tensions arising from their dual community leadership and governance roles. Using an interpretive mixed methods design, the study combined a province-wide survey of 44 local elected officials with two focus groups involving eight participants. The survey identified a broad range of support practices, while the focus groups validated findings and explored underlying tensions and decision-making strategies. Despite a modest sample size, participants reflected the demographic and geographic diversity of local elected officials in British Columbia. The study identifies 57 distinct approaches used by elected officials to support CBIs, grouped into categories that include public statements of support, resource provision, relationship building, direct services, providing guidance, championing initiatives and status work. Relationship building emerged as particularly central, reflecting the boundary-spanning nature of the elected role. Findings also highlight key outcomes elected officials seek when supporting CBIs, alongside persistent challenges including time constraints, capacity limits, competing priorities, and concerns about role boundaries. In response, the study offers six practice-oriented recommendations to support more intentional, effective, and sustainable engagement with CBIs. Overall, the research provides an early but robust framework for understanding how local elected officials support community-based initiatives and offers practical guidance to inform future practice and research in this evolving area of local governance.