Localizing prosperity is about building upon existing strengths so that communities can develop from within, maximizing the local economic and social benefits for everyone.

It is based on a virtuous circle of local empowerment, thriving local business and wellbeing (diagram on the right).

Join us on June 4th for a webinar with Karen Leach of Localise West Midlands in the UK to explore the work that she has done to encourage the application of community economic development by businesses and public institutions, to effectively evaluate CED activities and demonstrate impact, and to address prevalent social and economic challenges at local and regional levels.

With their new resource “Localising Prosperity,” Localize West Midlands are clearly and simply outlining the CED approach, sources of inspiration, and guidance for implementation for diverse audiences: public institutions, communities, businesses – anyone interested in making places better and sharing prosperity.

Regsiter now for Clarifying and Simplifying CED to Localize Prosperity

About the Presenter

Karen Leach is Co-ordinator of Localise West Midlands (LWM) in the UK. LWM is a small non-profit think-tank, campaign group and consultancy whose aim is to promote a more localised approach to supply chains, money flow and decision-making in order to form a more just and sustainable economy. Karen’s professional interests are in economic efficiency in terms of sustainability outcomes and in economic awareness and empowerment amongst the general public.

About the Respondent

Stewart Perry is an honorary lifetime member of CCEDNet. He is one of the pioneers of CED in the US and Canada, as both a policy adviser and a designer and manager of CED institutions. Stewart currently specializes in community and development finance as an associate with the Canadian Centre for Community Renewal.

Learn more about Clarifying and Simplifying CED to Localize Prosperity

CCEDNet member David Upton was thrilled at the invitation to present on the opportunities social enterprise has to offer Nova Scotia, as a new effort seeks to change the future course of the economically and demographically challenged province.

Nova Scotia stands at a crossroads, a report on the province released last year identifies. A bright future is not guaranteed and there is a critical need for a collaborative effort to create positive change.

“If Nova Scotia’s economy were performing well today in providing jobs, sustaining communities and supporting high quality public services, the wise advice would be to stay the course and avoid major changes,” the One Nova Scotia (One NS) Report states.

“But this is not our situation, nor does the future outlook promise relief.”

The report identifies some fairly significant economic and demographics issues facing the province. It also lists goals to strive towards to ensure growth and prosperity.

The Nova Scotia Coalition on Building Our New Economy has now been struck by Nova Scotia’s government. The coalition consists of multi-sector, all-party representatives and is intended to generate collective, collaborative action to build a better province. As the One NS report states, “A province-building project is not dependent on government policies or the state of the world economy. It is about us, our courage, our imagination and our determination to do better.”

The coalition has been meeting monthly through 2014 on the various themes of the report, discussing how government, the private and non-profit sectors and others can work together to create the province everyone desires.

The current theme is youth and social entrepreneurship.

A respected and active player in the social enterprise sphere, David presented at the commission’s Nov. 27 meeting, which included the premier and party leaders.

“We’re really encouraged by the willingness (of the commission) to include us in the conversation and now we’re really hopeful that in an expedient way they’re going to respond positively to our reaching out,” David says.

Dr. Gaynor Watson-Creed is a medical officer of health and One NS commissioner. She says she believes the possibilities that social enterprise presents are “huge” for a few reasons.

“The One Nova Scotia Report is first of all a call to action around revitalizing Nova Scotia’s economy and so when we’re talking about that, the social enterprise sector can do a number of things for us,” Gaynor says.

She goes on to note that businesses generate economic productivity, which is an opportunity in and of itself.

“Second, social enterprises are compelling businesses because the product is a social good and so they become an attractant to Nova Scotia for individuals who are looking for that type of opportunity in the workforce.”

Gaynor also notes the draw that social enterprises poses for the province’s young people “who are telling us that they are looking for opportunities to be involved in work that is meaningful and creates good within their communities.”

Finally, as a public health professional, Gaynor sees the opportunity to address complex issues with an “outside-of-the-box” approach through engaging the social enterprise sector.

“The reason I get excited about that is that it creates the opportunity for us to do some fundamentally different things about complex problems that have dogged us for decades in some cases.”

Looking ahead, Gaynor proposes that much of the social enterprise talent in Nova Scotia is hidden. “The critical piece will be to elevate that, showcase it and invite the wisdom that’s there to help us tackle these complex problems that are named in the One NS report,” she says.

“The more we can get Nova Scotians seeing the benefits and the potential of social enterprise, the better the conversations will be, the better the solutions that get generated around them in Nova Scotia.”

David’s report identified six action items that can help advance the social enterprise sector and thereby the province.

“We thought those were all doable requests, places that the government could start to collaborate (within) that, in this severe financial crisis, wouldn’t cause undue stress on the treasury but would in fact help improve the treasury situation as it relates to the social cause,” David says.

The six action items include:

1. Program Access: Ensure social enterprises in Nova Scotia can access provincial government programming now available to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
2. Sector Co-creation: Create a collaborative structure for ongoing co-creation of the sector that draws on the Scottish model of sector development.
3. Buy Social: Become a Buy Social Canada Purchaser to facilitate pan-departmental purchasing from social enterprise in Nova Scotia.
4. Legislation: The Nova Scotia Societies Act as currently written complicates the operations of many social enterprises in Nova Scotia. There is a need to remove the statement, “the Society will not carry on a business, including a non-profit business” and/or to replace it with a more progressive statement that recognizes the social and economic impact of social enterprise activity. There is also a need to finalize the Community Interest Company regulations and ensure they are operational.
5. Sector Building: Collaborate on capacity building and convening the social enterprise sector to support its development and expansion to new geographic areas and new industries.
6. Social Finance Development:
   1. Resolve existing gaps in social innovation and impact investment through the creation of tools such as the Social Impact Fund, patient capital, slow money, and Quebec’s Fiducie du Chantier de l’économie sociale model.
   2. Change the order of security in the provincial loan guarantee program so that government guarantee becomes primary security for non-profit social enterprise and organization assets become second security. There is also a need to expand vendors of this program to better serve rural areas of the province.

This article was originally posted by www.axiomnews.com on December 4, 2014 and appears here with permission.

---

Michelle Strutzenberger brings more than 10 years of experience in writing, social media, curation and digital distribution. Subject areas of interest include creating abundant or deep communities, social-mission business, education that strengthens kids’ sense of hope and possibility and journalism that helps society create its preferred future. She is currently supporting the development of Axiom News podcasts. Contact Michelle at michelle at axiomnews.com.

In April 2015, the Universitas Programme of KIP International School published a special thematic issue of the journal Universitas Forum entitled “Inclusive urban development and poverty reduction: Learning from innovative practice“.

The project was carried out through funding from the International Development Research Centre of Canada, in collaboration with Winnipeg’s International Laboratory on Urban Development and Poverty Reduction, to which CCEDNet – Manitoba collaborates.

Experiences from 12 cities, representing 10 countries and 4 continents, show in the form of articles or videos how community-led projects can reduce poverty effectively.

Whether tackling poverty through improved housing, women’s empowerment or health initiatives, each experience teaches the lesson that poor communities have knowledge around the issues that affect them and can provide valuable and sustainable solutions.

Still, community efforts have little hopes of having long-term effects if governments are left out of the picture. Governments are key partners and their support and engagement should not be neglected at any stage.

Moreover, research appears to be an effective tool in the hands of communities. When partnering with researchers that document and analyze existing processes, communities have been able to leverage their experiences to strengthen their position and achieve further results. That has been the case for the non-profit organization Zimbabwe Parents of Handicapped Children Association, that advocates for more housing for one of the most marginalized people in Harare: single mothers with children with disability. Interviews held to produce the video for the systematization of their experience have served to make local authorities accountable for their pledges to support ZPHCA’s ask, and led to the official allocation of housing stands that will allocate 100 families.

With no doubt, Community Economic Development finds its space in this conversation as well. An article by CCEDNet – Manitoba’s Regional Director Sarah Leeson-Klym and ACU’s Brendan Reimer walks us through the evolutions in CED in Winnipeg, and how community efforts have adapted to and, at the same time, helped shaping this approach in the last twenty years.

An experience from Ngaye Mékhé, Senegal explores the development of an endogenous economic dynamic around leather craftsmanship. Based on the transformation of traditional knowledge into a territorial resource, this has been structured into a local economy, employing people and generating incomes. In acknowledging that globalization threatens this bustling value chain, the research highlights the need to create a strong vocational training sector to promote the leather business and its competitiveness.

This issue of Universitas Forum shows that, in spite of all the challenges, there are successful examples all around the world to improve social and economic outcomes for those living in poverty. While acknowledging that each community knows best what its members need, general lessons from other contexts can still be drawn and can be used to stimulate the on-going conversation on poverty reduction in international forums, such as UN-Habitat’s World Urban Forum 7, where the issue was launched, or the International Exposition held in Milan, Italy, where the issue will be presented in the following months.

---

Mareike Brunelli is a Senior Research Assistant at the Urban and Inner City Studies Department of the University of Winnipeg, and Intern at the Universitas Programme of KIP International School. Originally from Emilia-Romagna, Italy, where she gained her Master’s Degree in International Cooperation and Human Rights Protection at the University of Bologna, Mareike moved to Winnipeg to work on the thematic issue of Universitas Forum on urban development and poverty reduction. Mareike is also working with KIP to present the practices around food security and local development in place in Manitoba at the International Exposition held in Milan in 2015.

This spring CCEDNet – Manitoba members identified poverty reduction, social enterprise and housing as priority areas for the 2015 provincial budget. CCEDNet-Manitoba worked to ensure these and other member priorities would be represented in budget 2015 and we are pleased to report that significant investments have been made. Of note are investments in the areas of poverty reduction and housing with the full implementation of Rent Assist, as well as in social enterprise development with funding for the implementation of the Manitoba Social Enterprise Strategy. Read on for details on these and other announcements related to CCEDNet – Manitoba policy priorities.

1. Poverty Reduction

A. Implement the recommendations in The View from Here 2015: Manitobans Call for a Renewed Poverty Reduction Plan and identify outcome based targets and timelines for measuring results to make ALL Aboard more comprehensive and effective.

Budget 2015 supports at least 16 of the 50 recommendations in The View from Here 2015. Most supportive initiatives are identified in Budget Paper E Reducing Poverty and Promoting Social Inclusion. Make Poverty History Manitoba outlines a quick summary here. The province has still not identified targets and timelines for poverty reduction.

2. Skills, Jobs, and Growing the Economy

A. Allocate at least $250,000 to co-produce the Manitoba Social Enterprise Strategy in full partnership with the social enterprise sector where the mission is job creation and training for people with barriers to employment.

Budget 2015 invests $250,000 annually for the next three years to begin implementation of the Social Enterprise Strategy.

B. Fund the initial set up and operating costs of a community-designed and delivered Labour Market Intermediary in Winnipeg, rural Manitoba, and in the North to improve labour market outcomes for multi-barriered job seekers, with a primary focus on Aboriginal people.

Budget 2015 confirms that the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council on Education, Poverty and Citizenship will be working with community organizations to help move forward an Aboriginal community based Labour Market Intermediary as part of All Aboard the provincial poverty reduction and social inclusion strategy.

C. Allocate $300,000 per community to support the start-up of social enterprises that improve food security on First Nations.

Budget 2015 does not provide new funding for social enterprise start ups on First Nations. It references existing investments in Meechim North Inc., a local food social enterprise operating in Garden Hill First Nation.

3. Housing

A. Increase the housing budget by $30 million to adequately fund existing commitments to increase supply without reducing other important housing initiatives, including supporting and maintaining the existing social housing stock.

Budget 2015 provides an additional allocation of $10 million to the housing budget to fund existing commitments to increase housing supply without reducing other important housing initiatives.

B. Pro-actively work with housing providers and make the necessary investments to ensure that there is no net loss of rent-geared-to-income (RGI) housing units due to expiring federal operating agreements.

Budget 2015 does not specifically reference the Manitoba government’s work that is underway to ensure there is no net loss of RGI housing units due to expiring federal operating agreements.

C. Increase the maximum Rent Assist benefit level to equal 75% of median market rent (MMR).

Budget 2015 provides funding to increase the maximum Rent Assist benefit level to 75% of MMR by December 2015 as called for by Make Poverty History Manitoba – representing the largest increase in benefits for people on EIA in decades. This shelter benefit will be available to eligible low-income Manitobans both on and off Employment and Income Assistance, an innovation that lays a foundation for  building towards a guaranteed annual income.

4. Child Care

A. Create enough new licensed early learning and child care spaces to meet the demand for child care services as determined by the Online Child Care Registry, with priority given to creating child care spaces in lower-income neighbourhoods including in rural and Northern communities. Operating funding should be sufficient to fund a provincial salary scale that is at current market competitive rates and that applies to all child care professionals.

B. Invest in resources and training supports to recruit, train and retain Aboriginal, Francophone and Visible Minority communities to the childcare profession.

Budget 2015 commits to 900 newly funded child care spaces and to support higher wages for the child care workforce. It also supports the Early Learning and Child Care Commission, which will investigate system redesign, including looking at ways to make the early learning and child care system more universally accessible.

5. Community-Led Development

A. Expand the NPO strategy to support additional community-based non-profit organizations that employ a Community Economic Development (CED) model.

B. Work with agencies funded through the NPO strategy to establish a clear process for renewing multi-year funding agreements, which would include providing a year’s notice of renewal decisions to ensure agencies have sufficient time to plan for ongoing operational sustainability.

C. Extend the length of funding agreements from the current three years to a maximum of five years and include cost of living increases on an annual basis.

Budget 2015 expands the NPO Strategy beyond the current 35 organizations to include more provincially-funded non profits – providing multi-year, multi-departmental agreements that allow community agencies to focus more time on serving Manitobans in need, and less time applying and re-applying for funding.

6. Food Security

A. Invest $160,000 annually in a Manitoba food strategy and action plan with implementation oversight by a Food Policy Council composed of relevant stakeholders.

Budget 2015 did not invest in a Manitoba food strategy and action plan. Rather it announces the development of a retail food subsidy to offset the costs of healthy foods in 10 of Manitoba’s most remote communities, including several First Nations communities. It also provides a $200,000 funding increase to new and existing school nutrition programs for children who need it most.

7. Co-operative Development

A. Allocate the required resources to co-produce the second five-year Co-op Visioning Strategy in full partnership with the co-op sector.

Budget 2015 enables the government and the cooperative community to build on strengthening the co-op sector with funding of up to $1 million over the next four years for the second phase of the cooperative community strategy.

The second phase of the Co-op Visioning Strategy will proceed as a partnership between the Province and the co-operative sector to:

• create supportive policy and a financial environment for existing co-operatives and further co-oeprative development,
• improve infrastructure supports and services,
• secure financial and human resources needed to sustain the strategy, and
• engage in awareness building around the values and principles of co-operatives.

Originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press on April 28, 2015

---

Darcy Penner is a Social Enterprise Policy & Program Co-ordinator with the Canadian CED Network. He has been working in community economic development since graduating from the University of Winnipeg with a BA (Honours) degree in Politics. Starting at CCEDNet in 2013, his role has seen him work with member-organizations to pursue a broad policy agenda through workshops, presentations, budget submissions, policy papers and community-organizing, while specializing in supportive social enterprise policy and research – including coordinating the Manitoba Social Enterprise Sector Survey and the Manitoba Social Enterprise Strategy being co-created with the Province of Manitoba. Darcy was also a contributing author to the Alternative Municipal Budget for CCEDNet-Manitoba.

David LePage is a member (and past Chair) of CCEDNet’s Policy Council.  He is a Principal with Accelerating Social Impact CCC, Ltd. (ASI), one of Canada’s first incorporated social purpose hybrid corporations. Through ASI David provides direct support and strategic advice to blended value businesses, social enterprises and social finance developments. He is involved in multiple public policy initiatives and research projects to support the social enterprise ecosystem across Canada. ASI is a partner in launching and building the Buy Social Canada campaign.  He is the former Team Manager of Enterprising Non-Profits, where he led the effort to expand the enp social enterprise development and training model across Canada. He initiated Canada’s first Social Purchasing Portal in 2003.

The 2015 Election for CCEDNet’s Board of Directors is now open and will close on May 11th.

Five candidates are running for four seats on the Board.

Presented below in random order are our five candidates running in the 2015 CCEDNet Board elections.

---

Christine Landry     Winnipeg, Manitoba

Christine Landry has been with Community Futures Manitoba, the association of Manitoba’s 16 Community Futures organizations (CFs), since 2000.

As Project Coordinator, she works with the 16 CF offices to strengthen their capacity to assist rural, northern an Aboriginal communities in strengthening their business sector and build capacity for CED. Christine has been actively involved with CCEDNet, sitting on the annual CED Gathering planning committee since 2004. She was also a member of the planning committee for the 2009 National CCEDNet Conference in Winnipeg.

Christine works with Community Futures offices each year to plan their annual provincial conference, which is promoted to CED service providers across the province. She also handles the association’s marketing and communications activities. Recently she was pleased to be a member of CCEDNet Manitoba’s Interim Governance Committee to develop a model for improving communication and efficiency in the Network.

 

---

William (Bill) Ninacs     Victoriaville, Québec

My background includes management positions in the public and private sectors as well as wide experience in the community sector where I helped support service and advocacy groups, worker and consumer co-operatives, and other social agencies.  I have been active in CED for more than 25 years, notably as Coordinator of the first community development corporation in Québec and as Co-Director of the Canadian CED Network.  For more than 20 years, I have been a researcher in the field and on the subjects of empowerment-based interventions, local community development and the social economy, with publications in English and in French.  I have taught at the School of Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University and in the CED program at Concordia University.  Currently I am also Associate Professor at the Université du Québec en Outaouais. 

 

---

Élodie Bedouet    Thunder Bay, Ontario

Élodie is Executive Director of the Association des francophones du Nord-Ouest de l’Ontario in Thunder Bay.  She has worked in CED with francophone communities in Ontario and the Northwest Territories for several years and has a keen interest in social enterprise.  Following graduate work in political science (specialization in international political economy) at the Université de Montréal, she did research for a UN agency in Chile on economic development and education and worked on youth inclusion projects with new technologies in Morocco.

 

---

Elspeth McKay    Ottawa, Ontario

Elspeth McKay joined the Operation Come Home team in December 2007 with over 25+ years of experience as a senior manager in the not-for-profit sector. Elspeth is a dedicated fundraiser and innovator in CED. She has years of experience in developing programs such as supported employment, education, and social enterprise.  Elspeth has devoted her career to imrproving the lives of the disabled and those that are economically disadvantaged. Working collaboratively with a number of private, public sector and social service partners, she provides leadership and consultation to not-for-profit organizations, as well as the federal and provincial governments.

In CCEDNet, Elspeth was a member of the membership committee.  Elspeth is a member of the Alliance to End Homelessness, Ottawa Youth Justice Network and various local networks and coalitions, including chairing the United Way Turning Lives Around Taskforce. 
 

---

Ryan Gibson    Halifax, Nova Scotia

I am keenly interested how we can better use community economic development to enhance rural and northern regions. Over the past ten years I have been working with voluntary organizations, communities, and government on CED initiatives focused on rural development, philanthropy, governance, and public policy. I am an assistant professor of geography at Saint Mary’s University and the past-president of the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation. I have been actively engaged with CCEDNet through a number of board committees and served on the executive. I would like the opportunity to continue my engagement with the Board of Directors to further advance CCEDNet’s mandate, to enhance CCEDNet’s presence in Atlantic Canada, and strengthen our membership engagement.
 

---

This year, the Board election process is using a more proportional system.  With advice on best practices for civil society organizations from the good folks at Fair Vote Canada, we are using OpenSTV for a ranked choice vote according to the Scottish STV model.  We hope you enjoy this step towards a fairer voting system.

How to Vote

All CCEDNet members in good standing are eligible to vote.  To vote, visit https://ccednet-rcdec.ca/en/boardelections2015 and log into your CCEDNet account. Once you’ve logged in, you’ll see the link for the 2015 Board Elections / Élections 2015 au Conseil d’administration.  If you encounter any issues please contact us at info (at) ccednet-rcdec.ca or call 1-877-202-2268.

Don’t Forget to Register for the AGM

Election results will be announced at CCEDNet’s 2015 Annual General Meeting, which will be held entirely online on May 29th. CCEDNet members who would like to participate must confirm their attendance by registering before May 26.