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💥The Community Leadership Program (CLP) is back, and we’re pleased to announce registration is now open!💥

Our Community Leadership Programs help mid and senior level managers and leaders explore approaches and strategies to move forward in their leadership with intention and purpose and to build organizational strength and resilience. Level up your leadership and register today!

Learn more about the 2-day Navigating Change for Leaders Program and register

Fall course dates: Module 1: October 12, 2023 / Module 2: October 26, 2023

Navigating Change for Leaders is a two-day course for leaders who are handling changes within their organization. As a participant, you’ll arrive with a change management issue in hand, and then develop an action plan around it. Upon completing the course, you’ll feel confident in your ability to support your team and energize your stakeholders as you achieve your vision for change.

“I highly recommend Navigating Change for Leaders] to anyone planning or experiencing change in their organization! The ability to work on your real life change scenario throughout the two days means it’s a very productive time. The variety of participants and how they approach each segment allows you to see how the principles can be applied in different settings. My immediate needs were met and I came away just bubbling with ideas and a fresh energy for my project after these two days.”
–Dorothy Franklin, Strategic Planning for Not-for-Profits |Navigating Change for Leaders program participant

This was the most effective professional development experience I’ve had as a nonprofit leader. The workshop made me feel less alone in my change management frustrations and gave me just the boost of confidence and planning I needed to face change head on. The tangible nature of the course ensured I could almost immediately put what I was learning into practice in my work life. The workshop was absolutely worth the time investment. I reflect back on the content often and would absolutely recommend this experience to anyone.
-Testimonial from past participant

Register Here for the 2-day Program: October 12, 2023 / October 26, 2023

Learn more about the 6-day Leadership Intensive Program and register

Fall course dates: Bi-weekly, every Thursday beginning October 5, 2023 and ending December 14, 2023

Leadership Intensive is a six-day course in which learners explore three vital areas of leadership: self-leadership, leading and understanding others, and leading within an organization. The course is built around popular education principles, blending lessons on impactful management frameworks with supportive exercises for doing deep personal work.

“I loved the variety of learning strategies and the scope of practical tools offered. I really appreciated having participants from different sectors (all within the social impact family) from across Canada. I loved the combination of plenary and small group work, very impactful!”

“I have a new understanding of my role as a leader among leaders in my organization,. I’ve been empowered to see different ways in which I can improve as a leader and become a better supporter to the people I lead, and have also been edified to see there are things that I’m already doing alright at!”

“It has been awhile since reflecting on my leadership and at this stage of my career it was helpful to reflect on this through a series of tools. I feel I have clarity on how I want to lead in the next phase of my career.”
-Testimonials from past Leadership Intensive program participants

Register Here for the 6-day Program: Bi-weekly, every Thursday beginning October 5, 2023 and ending December 14, 2023

Sounds great, but is it the right fit for me?! Or simply want an energizing refresher on leadership? Register for a FREE Intro Session to sample our Community Leadership Programs!

Are you interested in further developing your leadership skills but wondering if the strategies and frameworks used in our Community Leadership Programs are the right fit for what you and your organization need? Join colleagues for an engaging and energizing 2.5 hours to discuss and explore approaches, strategies and ideas that build leadership resilience and help you navigate organizational change. Check out our free Leading Through Change intro workshops on September 12th and 19th to experience a sample of these strategies and learn more about the CLP programs.

Register here for Intro session on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 1:00pm – 3:30pm Eastern Time

Register here for Intro session Tuesday, September 19, 2023 10:30am – 1:00pm Eastern Time

More Questions?

If a group of leaders from your organization are interested in CLP, we can tailor the program to your organizational context and learning needs. Contact Adriana Zylinksi for more information or visit our CLP page.

Last year, on International Youth Day (August 12), the United Nations asserted that climate change demands intergenerational solidarity:

“Youth [are] on the frontline when it comes to facing the impacts of the climate change challenges in the long-term,” said Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change. “The young generation is a generation that has grown up with climate change and which is rightly demanding intergenerational solidarity and inclusion of their asks in policymaking.”

Young people have their whole lives ahead of them on a planet in crisis, and it is absolutely true that climate policy must center their needs, demands, and dreams.

However, young people aren’t the only ones in need of intergenerational solidarity, both now and in the future. Seniors, for example, are especially vulnerable to the cascading health and economic risks related to environmental crisis. Moreover, under interlocking systems of oppression such as colonialism, racism, ableism, and classism, people of all ages are at risk.

Effective intergenerational solidarity requires us to understand that the frontlines of climate change are expansive – and, as the crisis intensifies, that they’re also expanding. The scope of the problem can feel destabilizing, but it also presents a vital opportunity to build a bigger ‘we.’ If we all are affected by the climate crisis, then we all have a material interest in taking meaningful, sustained collective action.

To build a “we” that includes people of all ages, young people need to recognize that their needs, demands, and dreams are bound up with those of their elders, and vice versa. Fortunately, community economies provide a supportive site for nurturing such solidarity.

Consider Climate Action Team (CAT), a coalition of Manitoba-based organizations (several of them CCEDNet members). CAT has published Manitoba’s Road to Resilience, a series of reports that outline an achievable and concrete pathway to a climate resilient future, while considering human and economic impacts. Many CED principles and practices are foundational to the pathway, such as social procurement, a just transition for workers, and local food sovereignty, among others.

In order to push policymakers to implement the Road to Resilience plan, CAT launched Consider Climate, MB earlier this summer. This grassroots, non-partisan campaign is already generating significant traction, and according to CAT’s Bethany Daman, intergenerational solidarity is one of the keys to its early success.

Bethany says, “At our campaign launch this July, attendees ranged from elementary school age to seniors – all concerned about climate change. We had four speakers who shared why they believe climate action is so important: a youth, a soon-to-be parent, a grandparent, and a retired nurse. Each person’s story was able to connect and resonate with people differently, and the feedback we received about the intentional intergenerational involvement was that it really helped people feel connected. There was less ‘oh, this movement isn’t for me,’ but rather ‘I see that other people like me are involved, there must be a space for me too.’

Volunteer submissions have been coming in almost daily from people across generations who want to get involved in the Consider Climate campaign because they recognize that climate change is something that’s not only affecting them, but also something that’s affecting future generations they care about deeply. Grandparents are constantly sharing with us that they’re getting involved because they’re concerned about their grandchildren’s future.

We’re already seeing the impacts of this intergenerational involvement, the Consider Climate campaign is by-far the most impactful campaign we’ve ever worked on – and it’s only just begun.”

Read the full interview with Bethany below.

Intergenerational-Climate-Action-Climate-Action-Team Download

Are you fostering intergenerational solidarity in your community? If so, email with any advice, ideas, or questions you’d like to share with the CED sector. We’ll gather these contributions and share them via our social media channels.

Ben Losman

Ben manages communications for CCEDNet. He has also helped implement and manage projects such as CreateAction and Community Leadership Program.

Prior to joining CCEDNet, Ben did communications and programming for a number of social purpose organizations across the U.S., Canada, and India. His professional perspective is shaped by his studies in social justice education and his experiences in the world of anti-colonial activism and popular education.

Ben’s ideal community is built around the principles of Indigenous sovereignty, ecological justice, prison abolition, free and wonderful public transit, and abundant access to great local food.

Outside of work, Ben loves exploring the world with his kids, participating in movements for love and justice, and reading.

The Canadian Community Economic Development Network has embarked on a new project called “Community Action for Workforce Development,” an initiative funded by the Government of Canada through the Community Workforce Development Program.

This project seeks to pilot intersectional, community-led workforce planning models in three rural communities across Canada that support economic diversification strategies that take action on climate change and contribute to clean growth. These communities are Arnprior (ON), Slave Lake (AB) and Golden (BC).

In each community, the process engages small and medium enterprises from a range of industries and sectors as well as relevant community-based organisations and public agencies in community workforce planning, training and work placements in order to provide upskilling and reskilling training, wrap-around supports and work placements.

CCEDNet is working with the following project partners:

Factor 5 Group (Factor 5): Factor 5 is leading direct community engagement and is the point of contact for municipal and business partners who wish to be involved in the project.
Community Data Program (CDP): CDP is preparing a rural community workforce development data portal for all municipalities across Canada to provide secondary data that can support these communities in developing their own workforce development plans and enacting a similar project.

Please click here to learn more about the project and ways to get involved!

Community Action for Workforce Development Download

The Community Leadership Program (CLP) is back, and we’re pleased to announce our open enrollment course line-up for Fall 2023!

What is the Community Leadership Program?

CLP offers learning experiences for passionate leaders who seek to move forward in their leadership journeys with intention and purpose. Through interactive instruction, collaboration with peers, and embodied self-reflection, participants learn, connect, and grow.

Sounds great! How can I get a better sense of the CLP experience?

Attend a Leading Through Change Workshop! These FREE virtual sessions provide a meaningful glimpse into the CLP experience. Meet our team, engage in collaborative learning, and connect with other leaders from across Canada.

Loved the intro workshops. So, what full courses does CLP offer?

Fall course dates: Module 1: October 12, 2023 / Module 2: October 26, 2023

Fall course dates: Bi-weekly, every Thursday beginning October 5, 2023 and ending December 14, 2023

What does “open enrollment” mean?

Our open enrollment courses are open to anyone seeking to support their current management and leadership approach. Attend one of these courses and you’ll be part of a diverse group of learners who bring a wealth of perspectives and experiences to the table. Not only does this enhance the learning experience, it also expands your professional networks.

All open enrollment courses are delivered via Zoom.

Open enrollment is not the only option. If a group of leaders from your organization are interested in CLP, we can tailor the program to your organizational context and learning needs. Contact Adriana Zylinksi for more information.

When does registration open for the full courses?

✳️ September 6th. Worried you’ll forget? Fill out this form and we’ll send you a personalized reminder. ✳️

Want to know more? Visit our CLP page or contact Adriana Zylinski for more information.

Our CCEDNet team attended the Social Finance Forum on June 15, 2023 both virtually and hybrid with some of our Investment Readiness Program (IRP) team attending in-person events in Toronto. We listened and shared much with others in the social finance ecosystem as we attended panel discussions, networked and participated in Braindate small group sessions.

Something that became more and more evident over the course of the 2-day event was that there are an overwhelming amount of questions about the Social Finance Fund which launched in May 2023 and how to navigate the social finance field more broadly. We’ve also noticed this dynamic when asked to present about the IRP, Social Finance Fund, and social finance at conferences, webinars, or guest lectures. Not to mention, as hosts of the IRP website irp-ppi.ca, many of the same questions also come to us through the ‘help desk’ on that site.

Part of the issue is that the social finance ecosystem is being built, and some questions will be answered as the new Wholesalers get established. But a major barrier is the jargon and an understanding of the concept and practice itself.

Some of the questions we were hearing were sentiments of:

How does a Social Purpose Organization (SPO) apply to the Social Finance Fund? When do we learn more about this?
How are the Investment Readiness Program and Social Finance Fund related? What does it mean to be ‘investment ready’?
We hear that the Social Finance ecosystem wants to ‘shift power’ but what does this really look like?
How is the Social Finance Fund and the Social Finance sector different if we are only talking about how change is needed in order to better support underfunded, equity-denied Social Purpose Organizations instead of having concrete steps and plans in place?
How are we reaching SPOs effectively and ensuring that this Social Finance sector support and Social Finance Fund money is actually getting to where it needs to go in order to affect change?

There is clearly a need for conveners and ecosystem builders in the field to offer clearer and more accessible information so that the greater audience of Social Purpose Organizations (SPOs) which this social finance movement aims to reach and support in more tangible, fulsome ways than traditional financial systems, can be meaningfully engaged in the growing social finance marketplace in Canada.

So, as we reflect on these recent observations, we are taking steps towards a hub of information built by and for the ‘demand-side’ of this social finance ecosystem – the grassroots organizations, Social Purpose Organizations, co-operatives, social enterprises, ecosystem builders, and their direct supporters who are figuring out where they fit in this field. To start, we are seeking input from you to inform our work and make sure we’re understanding the problem fully. Some organizations perhaps may think they might be part of this SF ecosystem and are not sure or would like to be considered part of it – we need to hear from you too!

Fill out our questionnaire here. Your contact information will remain private, we do not share this with anyone, and you have the option of remaining anonymous should you wish.

We hope this feedback will ensure we build a digital resource and tools that helps us all navigate the social finance ecosystem in a clear, efficient manner. This is an emergent project we are embarking upon with guidance from the demand-side community, made for these communities to develop tools for way-finding and connecting to make deeper impacts for everyone in the social finance ecosystem.

To connect further about this project, contact Susanna Redekop, Engagement Manager for the Investment Readiness Program: .

Sincerely,

IRP Team

Part of the Regional & Strategic Initiatives strategy at the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet)

Susanna Redekop

Susanna Redekop is the Engagement Manager for the Investment Readiness Program (IRP), part of the Regional Initiatives team at CCEDNet. As part of the Investment Readiness Program team, Susanna builds and maintains relationships and communications between the various partner organizations involved in delivering and supporting the IRP to ultimately support a stronger Social Finance / Social Innovation ecosystem for Social Purpose Organizations (SPOs) and communities across Canada.

On June 20, 2023, at the invitation of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) convened Investment Readiness Program (IRP) partners and social purpose organizations to take Government of Canada senior officials on a virtual tour of Investment Readiness Program (IRP)-funded social innovation and social finance initiatives across Canada.

The following report provides more information about the tour, and features the presentations from the four host organizations.

SISF-Tour-for-ADMs-June-2023-English-Final-Links Download

CCEDNet Manitoba is looking for proposals for programming for the Gathering on October 20, 2023!

The Gathering is a day filled with hope to anchor you to others working to challenge the status quo and build positive alternatives. We are looking for workshops, panels, and presentations for facilitating connecting opportunities between participants, and for fun & engaging ways for the community to connect.

Read the Call for Programming Proposals for more information and submit your ideas online!

The deadline for submissions has been extended to August 18, 2023.

We are pleased to announce our new project partners as part of the Regional Initiatives Program, an ecosystem building initiative funded by the Government of Canada’s Investment Readiness Program (IRP).

Following an open call for proposals, the following projects were carefully selected from 117 applications due to their innovative work in the CED / social innovation ecosystem in Canada. The volume of applications highlights how strategic ecosystem development at local and provincial/territorial levels is an ongoing need across the country. The criteria from which these initiatives were assessed considered how the project would contribute to building stronger ecosystems of support in their respective regions, and whether their planned approach operated in intersectional, intersectoral, and collaborative ways.

Congratulations to the following initiatives:

CDEC de Trois-Rivières in collaboration with CDEC’s across Quebec

Region: Quebec
Project: CDEC de Trois-Rivières in collaboration with CDEC’s across Quebec aim to review and adapt their organizational models and approaches to better meet community needs in their regional ecosystems and foster long term sustainability as part of Québec’s social economy ecosystem. In the process, they will document the past and current models of Quebec’s CDECs, including lessons learned and the changing context of regional development in Quebec. This project will highlight the distinctive characteristics of Quebec’s CDECs and the expertise built up over more than thirty years.

Common Good Solutions

Region: Atlantic Canada (pan-provincial)
Project: Common Good Solutions will host a collaborative, multi-stakeholder engagement summit on social innovation and social finance in Atlantic Canada. The goal is to bring together various stakeholders from the region to strengthen the Atlantic’s social impact ecosystem and build a strong impact network. This project is focused on connecting stakeholders, relationship building, knowledge sharing, and highlighting emerging initiatives from across the region to shape shared and strategic commitments in Atlantic Canada and to set a policy and advocacy agenda that will inform the direction of future ecosystem development.

Memorial University’s Centre for Social Enterprise (CSE)

in collaboration with the Community Sector Council of Newfoundland and Labrador (CSCNL), Propel Impact, and the Community Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (CFNL).

Region: Newfoundland and Labrador
Project: The Centre for Social Enterprise aims to quantify the size and stage of the social enterprise ecosystem in Newfoundland and Labrador in order to understand the potential demand for an impact investing fund in the province. The secondary objective is to educate social entrepreneurs, small business owners, and non-profit, charity, & co-operative leaders about the power and potential of social finance to help them stabilize and grow their operations.

Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN)

Region: Ontario
Project: ONN’s Community Wealth Building project aims to build, strengthen and sustain Ontario’s broad social economy ecosystem across sectors. Through knowledge mobilization activities and convenings, ONN’s project will connect existing and new organizations in the social economy ecosystem, facilitate networking opportunities, and increase awareness of community economic development among key stakeholders. In addition, with the input from convening participants, ONN’s project will help identify the infrastructure and support needed in Ontario for future social economy ecosystem building in Ontario.

Purppl CCC in collaboration with SCALE and Vancity

Region: British Columbia
Project: BC Social Enterprise CED Convenings – Purppl Community Contribution Company (CCC), Scale Collaborative, and Vancity Community Foundation will convene four gatherings to help connect local social enterprise networks, enable networks to learn with and from each other, and raise awareness of social entrepreneurship as a means of CED. There are two primary activities that anchor this initiative: 1) Social Enterprise Conversations which are grassroots convenings about social enterprise leadership and the challenges and innovation required to acquire, operate and expand a social enterprise and impact strategy. 2) Connect Money Impact (CMI) bringing together social entrepreneurs, impact investors and ecosystem builders for a day of inspiration, learning, and connection.

Saskatchewan Economic Development Alliance (SEDA) in collaboration with Saskatchewan Social Enterprise Hub

Region: Saskatchewan
Project: This project will conduct a province-wide Social Enterprise Needs Assessment & Ecosystem Engagement, supporting the strategic goals of the newly formed Saskatchewan’s Social Enterprise Hub to 1) expand awareness for social enterprise (SE) as an inclusive business model that transcends the public, private and non-profit sectors and 2) increase the capacity of the provincial ecosystem to support retention and growth of SE.

We look forward building strategic regional ecosystem capacity with the above listed initiatives in 2023-2024!

____

Funding Source: This opportunity is supported by the federal Investment Readiness Program.

CCEDNet Manitoba recently relaunched the Financial Sustainability Series. This series defines financial sustainability for non-profits and explores resources and strategies for improving it. Ten member organizations participated in this four session series.

In this article, facilitator Brendan Reimer shares seven key factors in mobilizing resources for mission success. Read more here.

2023 Financial Sustainability Series participants

A version of this post appeared originally on the RIPESS website

The Global Social and Solidarity Economy Forum (GSEF) is a key international gathering for all stakeholders of the Social Solidarity Economy, which aims to share practices and visions that will help build a more inclusive and egalitarian world through sustainable economic development.

The 6th edition of GSEF took place in Dakar, Senegal from May 1 to 6 2023, with the theme “Transition from informal economies to collective and sustainable economies for our territories.” It brought together elected officials and leaders from around the world, international experts, representatives of development agencies and actors involved in the SSE to propose concrete actions for tomorrow.

One of the Forum’s co-organizers was RIPESS, a global network of continental networks committed to the promotion of Social Solidarity Economy. CCEDNet is a member of RIPESS North America.

Participants in the Forum worked together to produce two critical documents: the GSEF 2023 Declaration in Dakar and the Call from the Youth. Both documents affirm the strength of the social and solidarity economy as a model to address contemporary crises and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals; each document provides a set of calls to action that can help facilitate “ecological, social and economic transformation[s].”

You can read both documents below.

The GSEF 2023 Declaration

GSEF-2023-Dakar-Declaration Download

Call from the Youth

GSEF-2023-Call-from-the-Youth Download

Check out the Manitoba region newsletter for July 2023 here.

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