English – Page 59 – Canadian CED Network

We Are Cities is a campaign engaging citizens and organizations across the country to create a new vision and action plan for how we can build livable cities – exciting and healthy places for all Canadians to live, work and play.

We encourage YOU to get involved

Roundtables are a fun and dynamic way to contribute to the We Are Cities campaign. Get involved with your local roundtable or host your own to connect with others in your community and create a shared vision for what your city needs in order to be a better place to live, work and play.

A roundtable can be at your dinner table, a park bench, a boardroom, or any space that you can gather a group for a conversation.

What does a roundtable look like?

10-30 people
A meeting space
A copy of the roundtable toolkit
Markers, flip chart paper, and post-it notes

Visit wearecities.ca/roundtables to find a roundtable near you or to sign up to host your own

You’ll also find information on previous roundtables. All roundtables must be completed by June 30th.

While you’re at wearecities.ca, take a moment to check out ideas that have been submitted, vote on other peoples’ ideas, and contribute to the online discussion to help inform the action plan.

Credit Union Central of Canada (CUCC) honoured the winners of its annual National Credit Union Awards Program at a gala event on May 6th during its 2015 Canadian Conference for Credit Union Leaders in Banff, AB.

Among the winners were members of the Canadian CED Network Assiniboine Credit Union in Manitoba, Affinity Credit Union in Saskatchewan, and Vancity Credit Union in British Columbia.

Community Economic Development Award

For their dedication to economic equity, and generous sense of community, Affinity Credit Union, is the recipient of the 2015 National Credit Union Community Economic Development Award for their ‘Business-for-Good’ Social Venture Challenge. The Challenge was created to support social enterprises seeking to generate social or environmental change in the community.

National Credit Union Innovation Award

This year’s Innovation Award, which is presented to credit unions that lead the way with innovations that strengthen credit unions and that may have application for the overall credit union system, was presented to Vancity Credit Union for their alternative to payday loans, Vancity Fair & Fast Loan™.

National Credit Union Social Responsibility Award

For their continuing commitment to financial literacy and their ongoing quest for innovative solutions, Assiniboine Credit Union has been presented the 2015 National Credit Union Social Responsibility Award for their Asset Building Program, which helps participants achieve financial stability by providing them with the knowledge, skills, and supports they need to acquire needed assets and plan for the future.

Source: National credit union association honours credit unions and leaders for ingenuity, leadership and innovation

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.

Woman Selling Products in Ndiaye Mekhe, Senegal 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

Right to left: Dale Ward, acting Executive Director Manitoba Cooperative Association, Housing and Community Development Minister Mohinder Saran, and Louis Allain, Executive Director of CDEM at the press release of the co-operative strategy at released the strategy today at the Children of the Earth High School in Winnipeg

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.

Now more than ever, there is a need to test new ideas and find creative solutions that tackle the systemic urban challenges that hinder the ability of our cities to thrive.

Building off of the We Are Cities campaign—a national collaboration focused on sustainable city-building—the We Are Cities: Community Innovation Grant supports projects addressing issues critical to the success of our communities including, but not limited to, mobility, the built and natural environment, citizen engagement, multi-sectorial collaboration, policy design, waste management and energy.

Amounts offered: Grants of $2,000 and $5,000 are available.

The deadline to submit an application for this program is Monday May 25, 2015, 5pm EDT. To apply for this grant, please complete your application online by submitting the application form, and attaching the budget template. Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted.

For full information on eligible projects and expenses, and to learn how to apply, check out the We Are Cities: Community Innovation Grant Guide.

See more info on:

Eligibility
Grant Recipient Responsibilities
How to Apply

If you have questions about submitting an application for this grant opportunity, or would like to discuss the eligibility of your project, please contact:

grants at evergreen.ca
National: 1-888-426-3138 x310
Local: 416-596-1495 x310

This grant opportunity is an initiative of Evergreen CityWorks in partnership with the Montreal Urban Ecology Centre, and with generous support from the Cities for People initiative.

Source: Evergreen CityWorks

Creating Inclusive Employment: The Manitoba Social Enterprise Strategy

May 12, 2015

In February, the Government of Manitoba and CCEDNet launched a social enterprise strategy that built on well-established pillars of social enterprise development and an inclusive engagement process. Join us on May 12th to learn about this strategy, how it was made, its implications, the broader context for social enterprise policy, and what can be learned for your jurisdiction.

This webinar will introduce you to this bold new strategy by:

Examining the Canadian and international landscape of social enterprise strategies and supports and compare Manitoba’s new strategy
Describing how CCEDNet and the provincial government led an inclusive process to ‘co-construct’ the Manitoba Social Enterprise Strategy
Providing highlights of the strategy: strengths and weaknesses or particularities
Sharing lessons and advice for other jurisdictions

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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.

If you’d like to know more about our candidates, watch the recording of the April 30th candidates meeting to hear about their vision and what they’d like to achieve on the Board.

The full list of current Board members can be found here. Current Board members whose term is ending at the 2015 AGM are: Élodie Bedouet, Ryan Gibson, Indu Krishnamurthy and Christine Landry.

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.

The Federal government’s 2015 budget was presented on April 21st. This year, CCEDNet submitted six recommendations to the Federal government’s pre-budget consultations to scale up the impact of successful practices in community economic development and social enterprise.

The budget contains some measures of interest to the CED sector:

Continued focus on social finance, with a commitment to implement a ‘social finance accelerator initiative’ to help develop promising social finance proposals. (p.271 of the PDF budget document)
$35 million to make the Foreign Credential Recognition Loans pilot program permanent, to support internationally trained workers in obtaining Canadian recognition of their credentials (p.165) The pilot program was delivered by a number of CCEDNet members.
Allowing charities to invest in limited partnerships, providing greater flexibility for social impact investments. (p.271)
A national financial literacy strategy that will be released in the next year to engage the private, public and non-profit sectors towards shared financial literacy goals. Canada’s banks have agreed to establish a 5-year Financial Literacy Partnership Fund of $10 million to provide grants to eligible community organizations for projects that improve the financial literacy capabilities of Canadians. (p.251)
$150 million over four years to allow co-operative and non-profit social housing providers to pre-pay long-term and non-renewable mortgages without penalty. (p.278)
Reiteration of a commitment to provide Futurpreneur Canada with $14 million over two years. Futurpreneur Canada (previously the Canadian Youth Business Foundation) is a non-profit organization that helps young entrepreneurs – including social entrepreneurs – access financing and mentorship. (p.131)

CCEDNet would have liked to see more specific measures supporting community economic development, such as a neighbourhood revitalization fund and a CED lens, which were part of the Alternative Federal Budget released in March.

The Canadian Community Economic Development Network looks forward to continuing our work with the federal government to implement enabling policy for innovative local leaders building resilient, inclusive community economies.

Other Budget Responses

LIFT Philanthropy Partners is pleased to announce that it is seeking proposals from Ontario-based social enterprises with an interest in scaling their activities, leading to job creation for Ontarians experiencing barriers to employment.

The call for proposals is part of LIFT’s new initiative, LIFT for Social Enterprise, which is supported in part by the Office for Social Enterprise at Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure through its Social Enterprise Demonstration Fund.

LIFT is a national not-for-profit that takes a venture philanthropy approach to investing in social purpose organizations tackling issues of health, education, skills development and employment. It provides a combination of skills, expertise and resources from its team and a pro bono partner network of experts and businesses to help organizations enhance their capacity, become more measurable and sustainable, and ultimately increase their impact so that they can transform the lives of more Canadians.

Through this call for proposals, LIFT hopes to identify a select number of social enterprises in Ontario – business ventures whose primary purpose is to address a social, environmental or economic issue – and work with them over an 18 month period to identify their vision and goals, assess organizational capacity to achieve those goals, and develop a growth strategy. Capacity-building support and coaching from LIFT and its partners will be specific to the needs and goals of the organizations selected.

Successful proponents will be able to demonstrate the potential for scaling their activities, and how this will lead to job creation for those experiencing barriers to employment.

Interested applicants can learn more and submit proposals online at liftpartners.ca/en/call-for-proposals.

Quotes:

“Through the Social Enterprise Demonstration Fund, we are connecting high-potential social enterprises with the resources they need to grow and create jobs. This not only contributes to a fairer, more prosperous province; it also helps position Ontario as a global impact investment leader.” – Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure

“Employment is one of the fundamental contributors to a person’s long-term health and prosperity. To be able to create more employment opportunities for Ontarians at the same time as we are helping create a stronger social sector is a win-win.” – Bruce Dewar, President and CEO, LIFT Philanthropy Partners

About LIFT Philanthropy Partners

LIFT Philanthropy Partners is pioneering venture philanthropy in Canada – an approach that has proven successful in other parts of the world at addressing longstanding social issues. It leverages financial investments with hands-on management support from its team and pro bono contributions of time and expertise from its partner network to strengthen social purpose organizations and help them have a greater impact on the health and productivity of vulnerable and at-risk Canadians.

Learn more about LIFT:
Visit liftpartners.ca
Join on Facebook
Follow on Twitter
Visit on LinkedIn
Watch on YouTube

For more information, contact:
Lisa Dooling
Director, Communications
LIFT Philanthropy Partners
778-327-5170 (office)
778-840-5170 (cell)
ldooling at liftpartners.ca

Source: LIFT Philanthropy Partners

Strengthening Non-Profits workshops will help you to

Learn skills to make your work more effective
Meet local practitioners with expertise who can support your work
Network with others doing important work

Build and Grow Your Social Enterprise | May 7, 2015

Are you looking to start a social enterprise? Are you working to help start social enterprise? Or are you someone just interested in expanding your knowledge on social enterprise? This interactive session will explore examples of successful social enterprise across Canada and identify some of the nuts and bolts of how to create a business that will not only succeed along conventional lines but will have social impact.

Additionally, you will receive a hard copy of Enterprising Non-Profit’s comprehensive Canadian Guide to Social Enterprise.

Organizations must attend this workshop to be eligible for an enp-mb Social Enterprise Development Grant.

Learn more and register for Build and Grow Your Social Enterprise

Sponsorship Strategies for Today’s Market | May 21, 2015

Let’s face it, funding your organization is becoming more and more of a challenge. Becoming enterprising (see above) is one option to help finance your social mission. Sponsorship is another area non-profits are exploring. But while mainstream businesses are taking corporate social responsibility more seriously, often they are looking for more than just logo recognition.

Chrystal Robert-Macey is an expert in the area of sponsorship. She understands the sponsorship experience from both sides and can help guide you on how to meet the needs and expectations of sponsors while at the same time meeting your needs.

Learn more and register for Sponsorship Strategies for Today’s Market

Tools for Effective Community Engagement | June 4, 2015

So you want to be an organization that is community-led. This means you need to effectively engage the community you are working with. But there are many challenges to community engagement, from increased individualization and isolation to growing diversity and distraction. How can you overcome the barriers to effective engagement, and how do you measure your success?

Join Erin Huck from Health in Common to get hands-on experience with community engagement tools and techniques. Erin has vast and ongoing experience in the field and can help you to develop the strategies you need to collectively build and meet community goals.

Learn more and register for Tools for Effective Community Engagement

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Also this spring!

Planning for Your Organization’s Financial Sustainability Series | May 5 & 19 and June 2 & 16

Begin creating a sound financial plan that will help your organization in the long run. Over four sessions, learn about innovative tools for identifying financial and non-financial resources and for making strategic decisions around priorities and programming. Strengthen your emerging plan through ongoing feedback from peers in the workshop.

This session is great for executive directors, program managers, or others who do financial planning for organizations.

Learn more and register for Planning for Your Organization’s Financial Sustainability

For more information

Contact Nadia Kidwai: n.kidwai at ccednet-rcdec.ca | 204.943.0547

Strengthening Non-Profits workshops are presented by Spark, a pro bono matching service of the Canadian CED Network. Financial support is provided by United Way of Winnipeg.

Congratulations to Lawrence Lazarko, winner of the first-ever Spark Outstanding Pro Bono Consultant Award, a new category at Volunteer Manitoba‘s Annual Volunteer Awards.

Lawrence was nominated by IRCOM (Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba) for IT assistance he provided in 2014 after IRCOM’s long-time IT consultant, Masoud, passed away unexpectedly. “Not only did his passing have an impact on staff,” said Erin Anderson, IRCOM’s Volunteer Manager, “it had a profound impact on our capacity to handle even the simplest of IT concerns. Masoud had been responsible for IRCOM’s IT systems for over 20 years, and… we found ourselves with a very limited understanding of our existing IT network, no idea of what processes to follow and with no staff able to fill the gap.” Over the course of the next few months, Lawrence led a project that helped IRCOM understand their current IT situation and set them up to be able to hire a new IT employee.

“Mr. Lazarko was a truly outstanding volunteer. After hearing of our circumstances, and without hesitation, he stepped forward to assist IRCOM… Without his expertise and generosity it is difficult to say where we would be today.

Carlos and Erin from IRCOM standing beside Lawrence (centre) following a Spark match

“Mr. Lazarko was always extremely sensitive and responsive to the long history Masoud had with our organization prior to his passing and was remarkably patient in the face of our lack of technical knowledge and our unconventional set up. He seemed to immediately understand and appreciate the context we operate in and made recommendations and shared guidance that was realistic and thoughtful.

“Mr. Lazarko is a deeply considerate, thoughtful individual who clearly cares a great deal about improving our community for others. Throughout his placement with us he was consistently grateful for the opportunity to help out and showed a genuine appreciation for the work IRCOM does… He is a very generous individual that is truly a gift to our community.”

Spark is a pro bono matching service of the Canadian CED Network, matching Winnipeg’s community development organizations with professionals volunteering their skills for social good.