IMPACT: Advocating with Empathy
11:55am-1:00 pm EST
Hosts: Al Etmanski & Sean Moore
Advocating with empathy proposes that we stop poisoning the political ecosystem, put aside tactics of blame and criticism and become solution-based advocates. These advocates have two mutually supportive objectives: they propose solutions and at the same time improve governments’ capacity to innovate. Regardless of their political stripe, today’s governments have shorter attention spans and are more risk-averse. It’s no wonder new policy ideas fight for a foothold. If we want government to have empathy for our issues, we must develop empathy for its issues as well.
In Al Etmanski's latest book: IMPACT: Six Patterns to Spread Your Social Innovation, he highlights the story of Marian Tompson, who, in the late 1950s, began challenging doctors, hospitals and baby food giants about their role in fostering negative attitudes about breastfeeding. Marian, along with six other young mothers, ended up launching a movement that introduced the "womanly art of breastfeeding" into the global lexicon. She co-founded and served as the President of La Leche League for twenty-four years, which is now the world's foremost authority on breastfeeding.
Join Al for an intimate conversation with Marian as they explore how thinking and acting like a movement can lead to unexpected and spectacular results.
Register for IMPACT: Advocating with Empathy
Please note that this session is 1 part of a 6 Part Learning Journey Webinar Series for Social Innovators & Community Change Agents with Al Etmanski. Space is limited in all the sessions, and you must register for each session you wish to attend.
About Al Etmanski
Al Etmanski is a community organizer, social entrepreneur and author. He is a founding partner of Social Innovation Generation (SiG) and BC Partners for Social Impact. Previously he co-founded Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN) with his wife Vickie Cammack and Jack Collins. Al is an Ashoka fellow, and a faculty member of John McKnight’s Asset Based Community Development Institute (ABCD).
Al has received numerous awards for his work with people with disabilities, including the Order of Canada (2014), Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2013), and Governor General’s Meritorious Service Medal (2005). He lives with his wife Vickie Cammack – who also received the Order of Canada – just outside of Vancouver and delight in the creative pursuits of their five children.
In his highly praised new book, Impact: Six Patterns To Spread Your Social Innovation, Etmanski provides an inspirational and practical roadmap for others wishing to transform our society. He is a thought-leader, researcher, and storyteller with the rare ability to both inspire audiences and leave them with actionable change strategies.
About Sean Moore
Sean is the Founder and Principal of Advocacy School and one of Canada’s most experienced practitioners, writers and teachers on public-policy advocacy. He has more than 30 years experience in public-policy and advocacy related to local, provincial/state and federal government affairs in Canada and the United States. He is a former Partner and Public-Policy Advisor withe national law firm Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, a former president of what was then then Canada's largest government relations consulting firm and a vice-president of a Washington, DC-based public-policy research and consulting company.
Today, he advises corporations, NGOs and associations on their compliance with federal and provincial "rules" of lobbying and advocacy. He also designs and conducts professional-development training in advocacy for industry and professional associations and NGOs. He has taught graduate courses on public-policy advocacy at Carleton University’s Graduate School of Public Policy and Administration and the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management Executive MBA program. He has been a faculty member of the Maytree Foundation’s Public-Policy Training Institute and is an advocacy mentor to grantees and fellows of a number of Canadian foundations including the Social Innovation Generation (SiG) initiative, a collaboration of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation of Montreal, the MaRS Discovery District of Toronto, the University of Waterloo and the PLAN Institute of Vancouver.
Sean is also the recipient of the 2013 Bissett Distinguished Alumni Award from Carleton University's School of Public Policy & Administration (SPPA).
Marian Tompson is one of the seven Founders of La Leche League International. She has worked to promote breastfeeding for 50 years and served as president of La Leche League for the first 24 years. Marian continues to speak at LLL Conferences around the world. She also currently serves on the International Advisory Council for WABA (World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action).
12pm - 1pm Eastern Time
Sarah Wakefield is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto; she is also the Director of the Health Studies Program in University College. Her research has two main themes: (1) food security policy and practice; and (2) improving neighbourhood health through participatory community development and community-based research. These areas are connected by an overarching interest in understanding how individuals and organizations work together to create just, healthy, and sustainable communities. She works closely with community organizations and health policy actors to enhance the relevance of her research. Her recent work in partnership with the City of Hamilton investigates the planning and implementation of the Neighbourhood Action Strategy, a multi-stakeholder partnership focused on helping residents develop local action plans, and implementing those plans to build healthier neighbourhoods.
Across the country, communities and local governments are leading efforts to ensure that economic development delivers real community benefits like good jobs for local residents, community stability and housing that people can afford, community amenities like grocery stores and health clinics and environmental mitigation. City and county officials and staff and their community partners have pioneered new tools for success. Come learn what strategies are most effective, what pitfalls to avoid and what are the latest success stories.
10:00am to 11:00am Pacific Time
Developmental Evaluation (DE) can be used to evaluate innovative initiatives in complex, dynamic environments, including a range of fields and international settings.
Michael Patton, with more than 45 years experience as an evaluator, is a generalist who uses all kinds of methods, especially mixed methods, and focuses on adapting the design to the situation, intended uses, and intended users to maximize use -- utilization-focused evaluation, the approach he pioneered in the 1970's. He has worked with organizations and programs at the international, national, state, and local levels, and with philanthropic, not-for-profit, private sector, and government programs. He has worked with peoples from many different cultures and perspectives. As a generalist he has worked across the full range of efforts at improving human effectiveness and results, including programs in leadership development, education, human services, the environment, public health, employment, agricultural extension, food systems, human rights, early childhood, arts, criminal justice, anti-poverty programs, transportation, diversity, managing for results, performance indicators, effective governance, and futuring. His recent work has focused on developmental evaluation and principles-driven evaluation, both of which he pioneered, and are based on complexity theory and systems thinking. Michael is also co-author of Getting to Maybe: How the World Is Changed with Frances Westley and Brenda Zimmerman. 
Mark Cabaj is an Associate of Tamarack and Vibrant Communities and President of the company From Here to There. Mark’s current focus is on developing practical ways to assist groups to understand, plan and evaluate policies, programs and initiatives that address complex issues. This includes challenges such as neighbourhood renewal, poverty and homelessness, community safety, educational achievement and health. He is particularly focused on expanding the ideas and practice of developmental evaluation, a new approach to evaluation which emphasizes learning and design thinking in emerging and sometimes fast-moving environments.