Learn more about the work of CMS affiliate and CEO of AMSSA, Katie Crocker.
Katie Crocker is the Chief Executive Officer of AMSSA, a British Columbia provincial umbrella association that strengthens over 90 member agencies as well as hundreds of community stakeholder agencies that serve immigrants and newcomers. Katie represents the BC Settlement Sector on the National Settlement and Integration Council, sits on the Executive Committee of the UBC Centre for Migration Studies and is the Co-Chair of Pathways to Prosperity. Along with her background in not-for-profit management and her knowledge of the settlement and integration sector, Katie brings expertise in supporting neurodiverse children and their families as a mother of a child with Autism and as a member of UNITI’s Board of Directors. In recognition of her achievements, Katie was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal in August 2024.
Can you tell us a bit about your professional background and what brought you to work on migration-related issues?
Upon completing my Bachelor degree at UBC with a major in Sociology, I began working in the disability sector, supporting families and children with Autism. After working in that role in a senior administrative position, I connected with a settlement service provider who was interested in developing programing for newcomer children with Autism, and that was my first foray into this sector in 2013. In 2014, I made the move to AMSSA, where I developed a passion for policy, research and evidence-based practices, and working with member organizations to advance their missions. Migration issues affect all of society, so the cross-section of work that I have done in my 11 years at AMSSA expands into health, education, housing, mental health, and all facets of our community’s prosperity and well-being.
What motivated you to become a CMS affiliate?
I have been connected with CMS from its conception, joining the UBC Migration Cluster in its early days. Dan Hiebert was a strong influence on my desire to be a part of the CMS story, as he is so connected to the important data needs of the sector to advance our work. I felt compelled to work with the broader cluster to ensure their connection to community organizations was reciprocal, always respecting and centering the newcomer. There is a natural fit between AMSSA and CMS, we do not directly serve newcomers but we have a deep mutual interest in their success.
What kinds of partnerships or conversations do you think are most needed between academic and community-based actors?
I believe that academia and community should not exist without the other. In community, we see the world through our own experiences and add a contextual lens that may carry unconscious assumptions to our interactions with people and systems around us. When we collaborate with academia, we root our knowledge not just in experience, but with data, diverse approaches to knowledge and understanding, and evidence-backed information. Reciprocally, academia needs community to tell the story. We are not just data points or people to be studied. We have the full lived experience that needs to drive what is researched and how that research is shared to advance the voices of those who are often silenced.
How can research institutions like CMS better support the work of settlement and community-based organizations?
Research institutions like CMS can better support settlement and community-based organizations by co-creating research that is grounded in lived experience and community priorities. This means engaging organizations from the outset, not just as data sources, but as equal partners in shaping questions, methods, and outcomes. Timely knowledge translation, culturally responsive analysis, and accessible formats are key. By bridging theory and practice, CMS can help generate evidence that informs policy, supports frontline work, and reflects the nuanced realities of settlement. Research becomes most powerful when it is rooted in trust, shaped by those on the ground and used to advance equity, not just analysis.
What gaps do you still see between research and practice in the settlement field, and how can they be addressed?
A key gap is the tendency to treat each other transactionally. Researchers often “dial a settlement worker” when they need community access, and vice versa, organizations reach out to academia when data is required. These one-off exchanges can feel extractive. What’s needed is a shift from episodic collaboration to sustained, trust-based relationships. Academic timelines and language can also make research inaccessible or too late to be actionable. Bridging this gap means co-designing projects, valuing community expertise as knowledge, and translating findings in practical formats.
What have been some of the most meaningful outcomes or moments from your work with CMS?
One of our most profound collaborations has been on the Belonging in Unceded Territory project. Bringing together Indigenous Knowledge Keepers, racialized newcomers, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, ISSofBC, CMS and AMSSA, it centered settler colonialism in questions of social belonging. As one participant reflected, this work is not just “extracting data to evaluate,” but “shifting minds and attitudes along the way”. Likewise, our annual Research Collaborations Day with CMS has created a rare space for academia and the settlement sector to reflect, question, and move forward together. In the context of decolonization, neither sector can do this work alone. Academia brings tools for deep inquiry; AMSSA and our sector bring lived realities and frontline knowledge. It’s through collaborative accountability, not parallel efforts, that we can begin to reimagine systems, challenge power, and build pathways rooted in reciprocity, not hierarchy.
As you will close this chapter with AMSSA, can you share what’s next for you?
In many ways, it doesn’t feel like I am closing a chapter on AMSSA. I’m taking all the knowledge, wisdom, and skills that I have gained over the last 11 years with me in a way that I think will truly honor the uniqueness of this incredible organization, and the people I get to interact with every day. I am excited to be going back to my roots, back to my true purpose, and taking on a role in direct service delivery that focuses on housing, employment, and programming for people with disabilities. I will remain a staunch advocate for our country to be welcoming to those who choose to or must make Canada their home, I will continue centering Indigenous presence in my work, and I will walk shoulder to shoulder with many new Canadians in the disability sector. I am not closing this chapter with AMSSA, just changing my character’s role to the number one fan and cheerleader for this outstanding team of people who put everything they have into creating something truly amazing!
