Welcome Smudge led by Jolene Wilson.

Growing & Harvesting Collective Action: Stories of Economic Change

The Gathering Opening is a chance to see that your work as a community builder is part of an even bigger movement for change. Our communities and economies face serious challenges. The Gathering Opening will share stories how communities are growing collective action to tackle these challenges, whether it be the housing crisis, food security, climate justice, or more. Together, we will explore how communities are harvesting the rewards of collaborative work to ensure our communities are sites of economic transformation.

Workshops will be participatory, featuring smaller group discussion, direct learning, and participation.
No need to sign up in advance! Workshop descriptions here.

Workshop ONE

• Social Justice and Taking Action with Sandra Krahn and Nicolas Dousdebes from Manitoba Association of Rights and Liberties 
• Fighting for Social and Economic Human Rights: Make Poverty History Manitoba with Molly McCraken and Desiree McIvor from Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives- Manitoba and Make Poverty History Manitoba
• Introduction to Harm Reduction with Erica McNabb from Manitoba Harm Reduction Network
• Your Impact Has Value: Earn Unrestricted Funds Through Social Enterprise with Matthew Rempel from Strategy Made Simple 
• Cultivating Cultural Competence and Bridging Differences Through Folktales and Storytelling with Robyn Penner Thiessen and Amna Burki from RPT Consulting and StoriesMatter 
• Entrepreneurship Initiatives for Muslim Women with Humaira Jaleel, Amna Iqbal, and Afsheen Siddiqui from Healthy Muslim Families 
• Economic Innovation for Just Transition with Marianne Cerilli (
• Thriving Organizations: Aligning Financial Strength and Community Impact with Kristi Rivait from Scale Collaborative 
• Advocating for Equity: Harnessing GBA Plus to Drive Systemic Change in the Settlement Sector with Dr. Sally Ogoe and Erika Frey Morote from Manitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations
• A Guide to Tax Credits with CED with Philip Mikulec from Peg City Car Co-op 
• People-Powered Cybersecurity: Cultivating a Culture of Digital Security with Hernan Popper from Popp3r Cybersecurity
• Ideal Communities and CED 101 with Brendan Reimer from Assiniboine Credit Union 

Lunch featuring catering from local social enterprises and cooperatives.

Workshops will be participatory, featuring smaller group discussion, direct learning, and participation.
No need to sign up in advance! Workshop descriptions here.

Workshop TWO 

• Organizing and Advocacy: The Right to Housing Coalition Model with Kirsten Bernas and Shauna McKinnon from Right 2 Housing
• Plan, Grow, Sustain Your Social Enterprise Impact with Sabrina Musto from Buy Social Canada 
• Co-ops 101: Exploring Different Kinds of Co-ops with Vera Goussaert, Michelle Kirkbride, and tbc from Manitoba Co-operative Association and NorWest Co-Op Community Health 
• Working Across Differences: Applying a Lived Experience of Disability Analysis to our Work with Melissa Graham, Sheryl Peters, Ella Rockar, and Debby McLeod from Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities 
• Ageism: How to recognize and Confront the Last Acceptable Societal “Ism” with Kathy Majowski from HART/WRHA
• Mental Health Thinking:Leading with People, Creativity, and Well-Being Over Profits with Uyen Pham from ArtBeat Studios 
• What is Social Finance and What it is Not with Carinna D’Abramo Rosales and Peter Cantelon from SEED Winnipeg and Jubilee Fund 
• Issues and Innovation at Construction Social Enterprises with Jonah Pearce from Sixteenth Letter Collaborative 
• Supporting Refugee Claimants: Legal Clinics, Employment and Mental Health Services with Humaira Jaleel, Muhammad Zain Munshi, Omar Fahmawi, and Hani A. Al-Ubeady from Healthy Muslim Families
• The Case for Rural Public Transit in Manitoba with Hannah Muhajarine and Bethany Daman from Manitoba Climate Action Team 
• Harm Reduction Check-In for Community Organizations with Erica McNabb from Manitoba Harm Reduction Network 

Workshops will be participatory, featuring smaller group discussion and participation.
No need to sign up in advance! Workshop descriptions here.

Workshop THREE

• Growing Collective Action Through Our Strategic Plan with Laurie Ringaert from Change Weavers Consulting
• Community in a Changing Climate with Christey Allen, Erika MacPherson, and Matthew Loxley from Prairie Climate Centre 
• Reflections on Transforming the Non-Profit Sector: Building Capacity for AOP in Your Organization with Kelsey Guyot and Cara McCaskill from Heartwood Healing Centre and Erica McNabb from Righting Relations
• Co-Creating with Youth in Supported Employment Programs with Conner Milligan and Kayla Penelton from Fort Whyte Farms
• Winds of Change: Living Strategy with Matthew Rempel from Strategy Made Simple 
• Community Collaboration…Collective Action with Linda Brown, Serena Bittner, and Marg Fraser from Manitoba Association of Senior Communities 
• AI Uses and Ethics for Collective Action with Melissa Chung Mowat and Liz Cron from Blueprint Inc.
• Village Co-Operative’s Laundry Initiative: Community Built Together with Gerry Prymak, Judith Harris, Virginia Hunter, Vivian Spence, and Edda Livingstone from Village Co-operative 
• Using ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) in Community Work with Rebecca Trudeau and Nicole Closs from YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg Mental Health Services
• The Walls to Bridges Program with Chanelle Lajoie from Walls-to-Bridges 
• Renewing Community Development in Manitoba: Alternatives for Inclusive Community Renewal with Jesse Hajer and Holly Scotland from University of Manitoba 

Welcome Smudge with Jolene Wilson
(Happening outside the main entrance doors to St. John’s High School)

The Gathering Opening is a special moment. Imagine over 300 people working to challenge the status quo and build positive alternatives coming together to listen, learn, and share.

The Opening will explore how community collaboration has swept in economic and social transformation.

Stories of how folks have banded together in times of uncertainty to organize toward a collective, holistic vision for change will be shared. Join in an exciting plenary event to spark your imagination and sink deeply into this year’s theme of Anchoring in Community.

Workshops will be participatory, featuring smaller group discussion, more direct learning and participation.
No need to sign up in advance! More information about each workshop is here.

• A Vital Conversation: In our hands- leading change with The Winnipeg Foundation (Theatre)
• Tales Across Borders: Building Bridges to Creative Community Challenges Through InterCultural Storytelling with Cate Friesen, Amna Burki, & Patlee Creary (Room 321)
• Four Directions Teaching with Jolene Wilson (Room 323)
• Igniting Innovation and Collaboration for Food Systems Transformation with Olivia Boyce from Brandon Food Council (Room 325)
• Social Enterprise: Centering Community in the Economy with Niamh O’Sullivan from Buy Social Canada (Room 336)
• Bridging the Divide: Communicating the Climate Crisis in a Polarized World with Manitoba’s Climate Action Team (Room 313)
• Honouring Intersectionality: Supporting and Celebrating DIverse Identities with Bre Calma and Nix Calma from Fieldwork Consultation & Training (Room 320)
• Social Innovation for Social Change with Marianne Cerilli (Room 312)
• Digital Citizenship with Dr. Christy Reed from The Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties (Room 327)
• Climate Safe, Green City: Developing Climate Adaptation Strategies in Winnipeg’s Inner-City Neighbourhoods with The Manitoba Eco-Network (Room 322)
• Anchoring our Work Together: Co-ops 101 with The Manitoba Cooperatives Association (Room 314)
• Community Development 101: An asset-based approach with Julie Chamberlain (Room 326)

Third floor map is available in the printed program and here.

Lunch featuring catering from local social enterprises and cooperatives.

Anchor Together: The Practice of Community Collaboration

The Gathering – Afternoon Session will welcome all participants back together for another collective moment of learning and connecting – plus some fun! Truly collaborating together – working collectively toward social and economic transformation – is a skill and practice that requires our attention and intention. This session will explore our capacity to listen and find the connection points in our solidarity and organizing work, ensuring that our communities continue to work together to be sites of social and economic transformation.

Session facilitators: Anny Chen & Laura Tyler

Workshops will be participatory, featuring smaller group discussion, more direct learning and participation.
No need to sign up in advance! More information about each workshop is here.

• Working with existing infrastructure to increase food security in neighbourhoods with Food & Beverage Manitoba, Fireweed Food Co-op and more (Theatre)
• Creating Inclusive Spaces: Anchoring Community Knowledge of Disabilities and Gifts with The Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities (Room 313)
• Indigenous Resistance and Development: Local History and Lessons for the Future with Kathy Mallett and Dr. Shauna MacKinnon (Room 326)
• The Power of Purpose-led Business with Brendan Reimer, Sarah Duval, and Sanjana Vijayann (Room 314)
• Social Enterprise: Responding to Newcomer Employment Needs with Healthy Muslim Families (Room 312)
• Unpacking Microaggressions: Building Inclusive Spaces with Robyn Penner Thiessen and Amna Burki (Room 320)
• A Tool for Social Change: Social Finance for Community Building with Mike Toye and Sarah Leeson-Klym (CCEDNet) (Room 327)
• Rural Opportunities via Cooperative and Social Enterprises with Wendy Peterson from Community Futures Westman (Room 325)
• Healing and Empowerment Through Creative Endeavours with Uyen Pham from Artbeat Studios (Room 321)
• Small Places Rock – 10 Ways CED Differs in Small Population Communities with Lorri Matthewson from Matthewson & Co. (Room 322)
• Gathering Games with Kelsey Guyot from Heartwood Healing Centre (Meet in Main Gym)

Welcome Smudge led by Jolene Wilson

Throughout the last two years, community building efforts have been challenged, pushed to extremes, and change has been happening at a rapid rate. For people working to improve our communities and tackle complex problems, our shared purpose and vision is a source of hope. There is joy in connection, in participating in movements, in mutual care, and in seeing transformation.

The Gathering opening will serve as the first time in three years that attendees will be together in person, seeing sector colleagues and friends for the first time since the pandemic. We hope to capture this feeling of reunion, fun, and anticipation and use it to further explore the theme of joy in our work.

Two timeslots with 10+ choices in each! Workshops will be participatory, featuring smaller group discussion, more direct learning and participation.

• Tapping Into Resiliency Through Storytelling: Communities4Families
• Buy with Impact to Move from Transaction to Community Transformation Buy Social Canada
• The MRA Legacy: Building Up People and Communities: Manitoba Research Alliance
• Entrepreneurial workshops and mentorship for newcomer women: Healthy Muslim Families
• The joy of claiming and naming value: T. Jonah Pearce
• Ideal Communities and CED 101: Brendan Reimer
• Presenting Value (Talk about your impact, not your to-do list): Strategy Made Simple
• Reporting Matters: Data Visualization and Plain Language: Leading4Impact
• Non-Traditional Finance for Non-Profits: Jubilee Fund
• Co-ops 101: Manitoba Co-op Association
• Nurture Joy at Work Through Mindfulness: Kerri Twigg

More Workshop Details here!

Lunch featuring catering from local social enterprises and cooperatives.

It’s the 20th anniversary of the Gathering! We want to celebrate this milestone with an after lunch event that combines the feeling of togetherness and fun with a little bit of learning. We continue to explore the theme of joy through art and hands on activities in this hour.

Two timeslots with 10+ choices in each! Workshops will be participatory, featuring smaller group discussion, more direct learning and participation.

More Workshop Details here!

The Gathering Opening is an invitation to continue untangling our roots, together. The pandemic has unearthed the inequities in our society like never before. Calls for systemic change are loud and clear. Community builders have stepped up to meet the needs of our communities like never before.

We also know you are seeking to change and upend systems toward a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable future.

What is the role of community organizations, community organizers, community builders, and community developers in supporting communities, building fairer local economies, and addressing inequities? How do we challenge systemic oppressions in our work and systems to build an inclusive community?

The Gathering Opening turns our collective attention and thought to these questions and to the role of community in systems change.

Elder Mae Louise Campbell, from the Ojibwa-Saulteaux Metis Nation, a mother and grandmother, will welcome us, begin the Gathering in a good way, and open our minds and hearts to this conversation with reflections on this year’s theme.

Keynote speaker Kai Cheng Thom, writer, performer, cultural worker & speaker, will bring us deep into this conversation with a keynote on ‘Tokenization to Transformation’. While social movements have increasingly become led by non-profit organizations, we know these organizations are regulated and constrained by their reliance on government and private funding. Kai Cheng Thom will reflect on over a decade of working both within and outside of non-profit movements to share their limitations and how to channel energy into grassroots community networks for change.

The Gathering Opening is also your guide to the rest of the three day event. Come get important information to make the best of your experience for the next three days.

Explore how container farming empowers your community to create a reliable supply of fresh, nutritious food and make an impact year-round. You’ll also hear examples of leaders in Manitoba using container farms to grow the economic and educational opportunities in their communities. This session will be hosted by Branavan Tharmarajah, lead project consultant with Growcer, who has helped more than 35 communities across Canada grow locally year-round.

Immigration Partnership Winnipeg has created an Indigenous Orientation Tool Kit to provide Newcomers with information on Indigenous Peoples. It is a beneficial tool for community-based organizations to help educate people on misconceptions and negative stereotypes of Indigenous Peoples.

“It’s simple, I’m here to make you dance, feel good or both.”

That’s how Zuki describes his purpose as a DJ. With his eclectic musical taste inspired by his travels, you’re guaranteed to go on a musical journey and ultimately be left wondering how you ended up on the dance floor. Growing up to his Mother’s 70’s funk essentials box set and his Dad’s Fela Kuti tapes playing in the household, his range of musical influence is wide. Zuki can take the hypnotizing drums of South African house, saxophone samples from afrobeat hits and blend them effortlessly with your favourite rhythm, funk and hip-hop tunes.

As farmers and settlers on Turtle Island, we have been asking ourselves how we may meaningfully participate in reconciliation with the original peoples of this land. Recent developments such as the Saskatchewan Treaty Land Sharing Network shows ways in which farmers and landholders have begun the work of honouring the Treaties. Join this conversation with the National Farmers Union and Indigenous collaborators about farmer and settler reconciliation in Manitoba.

As the SK Treaty Land Sharing Network describes: “As part of these sacred commitments to live together in peace, take care of shared lands, and ensure one another’s wellbeing, Indigenous people were guaranteed that their way of life would be protected – that they would be able to move freely throughout their territories and continue to relate to the land through their own laws, practices, and protocols. The need to honour Treaty responsibilities is more critical than ever.”

We co-create all the time. In our organizations, we co-create events, programs, policies, and more. We even co-create with our families – shared meals, parties, and working through conflict. But what does co-creation in the Community Development sector look like with actors we don’t often work alongside – government and the private sector?

Co-creation is the practice of bringing multiple stakeholders together to develop policy, programming, and practice that will impact the community in question from beginning to end. This is in contrast to top-down methods of developing policy without the community most impacted. In order to address complex challenges like poverty, we need many stakeholders, perspectives and skill-sets around the table. When the government and the private sector co-creates with CED organizations, the impact and value of policy and programs can increase and deepen.

We can get closer to ending poverty by working together. So what does the experience of atypical cooperation toward addressing poverty look like? Join participants sharing their experiences co-creating between CED organizations, government, and the private sector, and the lessons all community builders need to hear.

The social impacts of climate change are dynamic, deeply complex, and pose largely unfamiliar challenges. We already see impacts of climate change in our communities, health, and wellbeing; yet the full extent of its impact is still unknown.

This session will explore these social impacts through a lens of climate justice. Some of the specific ways we can build climate resilient communities in Manitoba will then be discussed. The best way to deal with your climate grief is to take action and this is a great opportunity to do just that and to make an impact. The workshop will then explore solutions to climate change—opportunities to lower carbon emissions and build community resilience to climate impacts while centring justice and equity.

Participants’ input from this workshop will be included in the next version of the Road to Resilience. Participants should come away from this workshop with greater knowledge of and hope for what’s possible in Manitoba.

Please note that the workshop Human Impacts of Climate Change in Manitoba and Beyond will start immediately after the morning smudge.

Our organizations are designed to be ‘good’ and do ‘good’ things yet, like everything, they exist in an environment shaped by systemic racism and colonization. Let’s talk about what can support our organization’s capacity to operate from an anti-racist approach.

The First Nations Waste Minimization team works in collaboration with First Nation communities in waste diversion efforts through assisting with landfill training, recycling operations, waste reduction toolkits, funding support and development, and connecting them with producer responsibility organizations. The First Nations currently involved include: Buffalo Point, Fisher River, Peguis, Pine Creek, Little Saskatchewan, and Wasagamack. The team promotes environmental education using the 7 sacred teachings with First Nations schools through teacher conferences, in-person/virtual classroom presentations, online webinars, waste reduction activity books, and other types of community engagement. The team has presented at over 30 First Nations around Manitoba, with 6 community events featuring a 4Rs bingo game, landfill presentation and a feast. As a result, First Nation communities are mobilized to act on and address climate change, work in broader systems, and combat environmental racism.

Learn about a participatory action research project Reweaving Support – A Feminist Social Safety Net for Manitoba then get involved in one of five area; childcare, transforming CFS, income supports, housing security, or ending gender-based violence for this 3 year social change project. The workshop will explore applying CD/CED and GBA+ or intersectional feminism to governance systems and our social safety net – social programs. It will expand our understanding of systems thinking and systems change as transforming corporate and charity models to CD models; from oppression to collaboration and partnership. This is a hands on interactive workshop that will link new approaches to policy advocacy with lived experience, and creative community action.

What do social finance and investment readiness mean in Manitoba? With Federal programs such as the Investment Readiness Program and the forthcoming Social Finance Fund, what can community-based organizations in Manitoba be doing to prepare themselves for these opportunities? How can financing and investment be used to deepen the impact of our work?

Hear from practitioners in different places throughout the social finance ecosystem in Manitoba and beyond on what investment readiness means to them, and what the future of social finance holds for community-based organizations in Manitoba.

Our communities have power. But that power can only achieve the change we want to see in our province if we are organized. In community building work, we are called to lead by advocating toward positive changes in government policy or working together to stop something harmful. We need to understand public policy and how it impacts our systems and communities. Plus, we need to know how to organize, whether it’s finding a common agenda, coalition building, leading an advocacy campaign, or working with government. These are essential elements to achieve our economic, social, and environmental vision for Manitoba. This is an introductory learning opportunity to learn about why organizing to change policy matters, and how we advocate for change.

A lot has changed in the last few years. What are some research questions or collections of information and data that could support our quest for a more equitable province, in part through poverty reduction?

The Manitoba Research Alliance (MRA) is a group of academic researchers, students, and community partners producing community-based research. The MRA, hosted by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Manitoba, has held 4 successful Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grants. With the current grant entitled Community-Driven Solutions to Poverty: Challenges and Possibilities, the MRA is supporting community-based research projects in four research streams: 1) Community Economic Development (CED); 2: Housing; 3) Education, Employment and Social Inclusion; 4) Justice, Safety and Security.

The Gathering Closing will be a chance to reflect on the learnings, teachings, and conversations of the past three days, particularly as we collectively ruminate on the theme Untangling our Roots: The Role of Community in Systems Change.

The Gathering Closing will also set the stage for an exciting last day exploring how we can take action and strengthen our collaborative work. Practical ideas and wisdom will be shared about how we can continue to build our community networks toward systems change.

Elder Mae Louise Campbell, from the Ojibwa-Saulteaux Metis Nation, a mother and grandmother, will welcome us to the Gathering’s final day, reflect on the three days learning and connecting together, and provide comments on moving forward.

Gathering Closing keynote Béatrice Alain, Executive Director, Chantier de l’économie sociale, will share lessons from Quebec’s social and solidarity economy network in a fireside chat with CCEDNet Regional Networks Director Sarah Leeson-Klym. Chantier’s vision is for a plural economy that produces benefits for the community and protects the common good and communities’ needs and aspirations. Chantier promotes the social economy as an integral part of Quebec’s economy. This contributes to democratization of the economy and an emergence of a development model based on the values of solidarity, equity, and transparency.

There are so many lessons from Chantier’s groundbreaking work in Quebec that will help strengthen our community building work here in Manitoba. Join Béatrice and Sarah for this important conversation about systems change action.

Increasingly, organizations are defining their theory of change to better understand and articulate their own approach to effecting change in their communities. While every organization has its unique mission, vision and values, examining and defining the social, economic and political conditions that either enable or impede their goals is a valuable exercise.

But did you know we can use the same process of defining a theory of change not just for an individual organization, but for a whole movement?

This session will look at how multiple organizations who are working collaboratively towards a common goal can develop a theory of change that will clarify their individual roles, eliminate overlap of work and activities, and ultimately strengthen their collective efforts.

The Sunshine Bunch is a group, made up of drag performers who were/are participants who were are a part of the Sunshine House drop in group “Like That.” The Group is weird, talented, funny and a full on wonderful group. When performing, each entertainer will bring you a darn good show!

The performers are:
Miss Assuma Gender
Purple Haze
Feather Talia

We’re all deeply missing connection. While in the depths of Code Red, the need for collaboration in our communities is more urgent than ever.

At the same time, many of our communities are deeply practiced in resilience, solidarity, community building, and change through times of crisis.

Through the pandemic, we know you’re asking big questions: how to continue serving our communities when the reality of our work is constantly changing? How do we continue to weave our movements, and fight for a more equitable future on the many crises existing pre-pandemic? How do we envision a future when the present itself is overwhelming? Where does our economy and society go from here?

The Opening Plenary will ground us in considering these questions as we look ahead to a week of virtual programming. Traditional Indigenous ceremony and teachings will guide our opening, followed by words of wisdom in exploring the theme of Community Building in Times of Crisis & Change from keynote speaker Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair.

The ongoing Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has ignited wide-spread conversations worldwide about racism, equity, and inclusion. Winnipeg saw likely the largest march and direct action since the 1919 General Strike on June 5, 2020 in support of BLM and police defunding. Many organizations and businesses shared information via social media platforms and launched solidarity statements with the BLM movement. The purpose of this session is to explore what community builders and organizations are doing (and can do) toward anti-racism internally and in community. What are strong examples of anti-racist practice and action that organizations have undertaken? What call ins/call outs are necessary to strengthen equity and inclusion in our movements and sector to help build the future we want?

Best laid plans often go awry – including program evaluations in the time of COVID-19. As organizations shift or suspend programming, we have to adapt evaluation frameworks and methods, reconsider how we engage evaluation stakeholders, and be able to talk about the changes we’ve made to programs.

Start your Gathering morning off in a good way. Join Jolene Wilson, Restoring the Balance Coordinator at West Central Women’s Resource Centre, for a morning virtual smudge on Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday.

Across Manitoba and further, government has started to interact with community builders to fund and finance your essential work in different ways. In this session, current trends in funding and financing will be unpacked and explored. This will be an opportunity for community builders to connect over some important questions such as: What arrangements with service providers or community-based organizations has the province made to do this work? What learnings can peers share to support each other? What cautions must be noted and shared?

The pandemic has exacerbated existing rates of food insecurity across Manitoba. Government and community responses have largely focused on emergency food relief. However, this problem of insufficient and inadequate food is not about a lack of food but rather a problem of inequitable economic access. Let’s seize this moment of transition and temporary income support programs to advocate for long term systemic change – to reduce food insecurity beyond the pandemic.

How do we work together to advocate for the province we want? Finding a common agenda, coalition building, and working with government are all essential parts of our efforts to achieve our economic, social, and environmental vision for Manitoba. This is an introductory learning opportunity to learn the ins and outs of policy, why it matters, and how to advocate for change.

Bring the beverage of your choice and your best-worst program or project tales. This work isn’t easy. We often have big ideas, take big risks, and they don’t always work out. This is a chance to trade battle tales and lessons learned with some of the people you met along the way.

Start your Gathering morning off in a good way. Join Jolene Wilson, Restoring the Balance Coordinator at West Central Women’s Resource Centre, for a morning virtual smudge on Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday.

Community economic development is often explained through the concept of the ‘leaky bucket economy’ — where wealth and resources are pouring through holes and cracks created by economic ownership far from communities, leaving many people and helpful organizations without everything they need. Finance is a really leaky bucket. And, the financial system including banks, investments, pensions & savings funds, philanthropic funds, and other tools can be contributors to inequality and discrimination. Social finance has recently taken center stage as an innovative way of tackling these challenges. But this conversation can get stuck on particular models, like social impact bonds. It often feels really remote and complicated or just impossible to engage in when we’re so busy working in community. This session is an opportunity to join folks involved in social finance and the federal Investment Readiness Program from various perspectives. We’ll explore the potential and pitfalls for big change if we can plug this leaky bucket with community-owned models and bold social finance ideas to pour finance back into our communities.

Calls to fund community-led safety solutions have been loud this year. There are strong examples of safety initiatives based in anti-oppression, equity, and CED in our community. This facilitated dialogue and training session will look at what community-based organizations have done to prioritize safety for community members and staff.

This session will help link big conversations about a Green New Deal, a Just Transition, and Climate Justice, with community work. How does your work relate to big change needed to address climate change? How can community-based organizations and the climate movement work together? How to support and implement practical solutions in the here-and-now while also working for large-scale policy change?

The past year has been hard. Sometimes the thing you need to put a smile on your face is to hear someone say “Hey, You’re Doing Great”. And, sometimes the thing to turn that smile into a grin is to hear about all the great things going on in our communities over and over. This session will help you catch up on all those connecting times you missed at events and meetings over the past few months, focusing on the stories of hope, resilience, and innovation through crisis. Come to casually connect with others working to strengthen our communities, share stories, and see how you might get involved.

Start your Gathering morning off in a good way. Join Jolene Wilson, Restoring the Balance Coordinator at West Central Women’s Resource Centre, for a morning virtual smudge on Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday.

Drawing on current examples in our community and across the country, this session examines the role of online campaigning and digital organizing in effective change-making initiatives. It presents tools and approaches for engaging and mobilizing people around political issues and movements. Participants will develop their understanding of the principles and best practices that lead to effective online organizing and the incorporation of digital components into broader grassroots and community efforts.

Through the past four days, community builders have come together, strengthening solidarity and belonging. Gathering learning and connecting sessions have helped deepen our ability to work collaboratively and sharpened our understanding of challenges, priorities, and vision for our community building work.

While 2021 will be challenging for our movements, both the need and opportunity for the work and the vision of community builders will be huge. The pandemic has exposed the deep inequities of our economy and society while giving urgency to the need to continue our work building local economies that strengthen communities and benefit everyone. Now is the time to make sure our movements are collaborating and working together.

During the Closing Plenary and final Connecting Session of the Gathering, we’ll hear reflections from community leaders and give space to individual reflection on learning from the past four days. We’ll look collectively ahead to 2021 while weaving people, ideas, and action together to continue to build community power into the next year.