Last week, CCEDNet members gathered online to participate in the annual general meeting (AGM).

This was the first time we have held an entirely virtual AGM.  Our shift to the Canada Non-profit Corporations Act in 2013 meant that we are now legally able to hold a formal member meeting virtually, and we experimented with online participation last year when we had members participate both in person in Winnipeg and virtually.  But we had never done an entirely virtual AGM, with a bilingual webinar platform for moving, seconding and voting on resolutions, an English teleconference room, a French teleconference room, and simultaneous translation between the two.  It was an ambitious idea!

Fortunately, it all came together: the meeting ran smoothly, and feedback was very positive about the level of interaction.  

CCEDNet’s Executive Director, Mike Toye, presented highlights of the last year from our virtual annual report.  The theme of this year’s report is ‘Connecting Communities for Change’, emphasizing the role CCEDNet plays as a network to connect and support community leaders in their efforts to improve lives. 

Members welcomed William (Bill) Ninacs to the Board, and expressed gratitude to outgoing Board members Caroline Lachance and Indu Krishnamurthy, as well as to our Manitoba Regional Director Brendan Reimer, who stepped down last year after 11 years with CCEDNet.  

Many thanks to the members who participated, the staff who organized the logistics, and to CCEDNet’s Board members who guide the Network throughout the year.

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.

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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.

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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.