About FACES
Built on the belief that the people closest to a problem are the ones best placed to help solve it — and that the right connections make all the difference.
A practice built around connection.
FACES — Family and Community Engagement Support — was founded on a straightforward but powerful conviction: health research is better when the people it’s designed to serve are genuine partners in shaping it. The challenge is that finding those partners, building those relationships, and supporting them throughout a study or project takes dedicated expertise. FACES identifies and connects the right family members, youth, and community voices to the researchers and health organizations whose work affects their lives. We support those partnerships so that everyone in the room walks away stronger for having been part of it.
Carla Southward, Founder of FACES
Experience grounded in practice.
PhD, Neuroscience · Lean Six Sigma Black Belt · IAP2 Certified · Knowledge Translation Training Certificate · Patient Engagement Certification · 15+ years in Ontario’s health research and community engagement ecosystem
FACES Philosophy
The right match changes everything.
Finding the right partners for a research study or health program is not a posting — it's a relationship. We do the specialist work of identifying, preparing, and connecting people whose lived experience makes your work stronger.
We meet you where you are.
Every researcher, every health organization, every community, every project is at a different starting point. FACES tailors its involvement to what each situation actually needs — from a single introduction to additional support along the way.Win-win or it isn't working.
We measure success by whether everyone involved (families, researchers, clinicians, and health organizations) walks away stronger, more capable, and more connected than when we started.