Our people

Meet the team behind the research centre's success.

3D people interlocking puzzle

Centre Founder and Co-Director

Professor Christa B. Fouché, a distinguished leader at the University of Auckland, is the founder and original Director of the Centre for  Community Research and Evaluation (CCRE). She is now a Co-Director  guiding the centre into its future. Her expertise in practitioner  research, particularly in chronic illness and healthcare, exemplifies a deep commitment to fostering a research-minded community and cultivating partnerships with human and social service organizations. CCRE, under  her leadership, offers a collaborative platform for community organizations to engage in impactful research. Her mentorship nurtures early career academics and practitioners, empowering them as research leaders. Christa can create a dynamic environment for innovative solutions and meaningful community engagement.

Co-Director

Dr Laura Ann Chubb started her time in the CCRE as a Research Fellow and now serves as Co-Director alongside her mentor Professor Christa Fouché. Laura is a community-based participatory action researcher and Senior Lecturer. Laura’s research is grounded in participatory arts-informed evaluation methodologies. Her expertise spans youth wellbeing and global health in rural and urban communities and the cultural responsiveness of social sector programs and services. She has significant experience working in Sub-Saharan Africa and New Zealand, leading multi-phased research community projects. She is skilled in innovative processes that promote knowledge exchange in co-researching environments. Laura can help organisations tell their stories of change.

Partnership Board

We are updating the membership profiles of partners governing CCRE through advisory roles. Watch this space!  

Centre Management

Centre Manager

Amanda Wallace is the Centre Manager of the CCRE and comes to us on a secondment from Events at the University of Auckland. Amanda supports the operational tasks for the evaluation of programmes and capacity building activities, liaising with community partners, while also responsible for ensuring the operation of CCRE deliverables. Amanda is skilled in supporting strategic partnerships, project management, stakeholder management, relationship building, budgeting, and coordinating events ranging in scale. Amanda will ensure activities of partnerships with CCRE are supported in their goals of advancing evidence.