For Arundati Dandapani, Founder and CEO of Generation1.ca, WAPOR’s gathering in Mexico City was an opportunity to share her research, connect with fellow innovators and trace Generation1.ca’s evolving journey and impact as a not-for-profit brand across the Americas and beyond. The conference brought together some of the world’s most intellectually inspiring practitioners, academics and researchers to advance the value and impact of social research, survey science, data and insights globally. Conversations cut across regions and lexicons, connecting delegates through energy, vibrancy and a shared purpose of knowledge exchange and collective problem solving.
Advancing research through collective leadership
As a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Executive Council, Arundati joined fellow members and current, past and future leaders in conversations about elevating the discipline and profession. Data integrity across methods, sectors and markets, better population benchmarks and the responsibilities of collective leadership were recurring concerns.
For Arundati, these conversations also connected with her work leading Generation1.ca: bringing immigrant experiences into research and turning insights into professional supports, workforce opportunities and pathways to leadership.
Art, money and the questions societies ask
The Palace of the Counts, the founding headquarters of Banamex, brought art, culture, commerce, greed, corruption and prosperity into the same conversation at one magnificent venue. The history on display prompted questions about money, affordability and the forces that shape societies. “Where are the coffers?” delegates muttered half-jokingly.
There was plenty to mull about the future of societies in ways both measurable and unmeasurable. Across the conference, discussions travelled from paper-and-pencil interviewing—PAPI—to emerging research methods, from how researchers frame “happiness” versus “well-being” to the prominence of immigration as a public concern.
These questions resonate with Generation1.ca’s work: what people value, what they can afford, where they feel they belong and how institutions respond.
Who speaks for transnational publics?
Arundati presented “Who Speaks for the Transnational Publics? Diaspora Circles, Census Microdata and Synthetic Populations in Cross-Cultural Survey Research” to an engaged and esteemed audience, drawing on her award-winning work and Generation1.ca’s continuing research.
Her presentation explored questions central to serving immigrant communities whose lives, relationships and ambitions span borders. How can research better understand these dynamic communities? How can community knowledge, census microdata and synthetic modelling inform more responsive supports? And how should researchers assess what emerging approaches reveal and what they may miss?
For Generation1.ca, participation in these global conversations connects research innovation with the practical needs of its members and future members. Arundati’s work continues to bring those needs into dialogue with researchers and practitioners across markets.
A week of practitioner magic and academic rigour
Mexico City offered a culturally vibrant setting as preparations for the Day of the Dead filled the city with anticipation. Arundati joined a global contingent of investigators and provocateurs exchanging ideas, experiences and work throughout the week.
The gathering culminated in the wonderfully fitting Museum of Memory and Tolerance, closing a week alive with practitioner magic, academic rigour and possibilities for innovation in spaces that can be difficult and rarely fit into neat boxes.
Generation1.ca thanks WAPOR, its hosts and fellow delegates for a stimulating week of learning and connection and looks forward to building on the conversations.
