The current budgetary climate has seen community organizations across Quebec suffer serious setbacks. This next edition of our participative series Just Talking asks, How can our communities work best together in times of austerity? Between 17:30-20:30 on the 24th of February 2015, participants are invited to the COCo space to share, learn & problem solved issue they have been facing working bigger groups or communities (3680 Jeanne-Mance, suite 470).  A light meal will be served on site and we look forward seeing you!  

Objectives of the session:

1. share knowledge and learn new tools and techniques for more democratic decision-making
2. workshop obstacles previously identified with COCo’s membership

Details:

Date: Tuesday, February 24th, 5:30pm to 8:30pm.
Location: COCo offices, 3680 rue Jeanne-Mance, room #470, H2X 2K5
Near Métro Place des Arts, or along the 80, 435 & 129 bus routes

RSVP to sabrinam@coco-net.org before the 18th of february

Background:

Discussing different points of view and making decisions in any group can be tricky business, especially in community and social justice movements. Creating space for everyone’s opinion to be heard and for all to contribute to collective action is a difficult challenge for facilitators and participants alike. Within coalitions composed of stakeholders from different sectors, with different objectives and varying levels of power and expertise, it can seem almost impossible to create that space.

During our first meeting last May, we had a great first discussion about how better to address power imbalances and make coalitions more democratic. We are excited to open the first of 3 follow-up sessions to anyone with expertise to share!

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12:00PM - 1:00PM Eastern Time

With over 1 million workers in the Ontario nonprofit sector, including contract and part-time, nonprofits play a key role as employers and leaders of social and economic development of communities- including influencing labour market conditions.

Metcalf Foundation Fellow Tom Zizys brings a fresh perspective to labour market issues and the need to shift from the focus on the supply side and what is it that individuals need to get work, to the demand side of how employer practices affect opportunities to access good jobs.

So, how can we collectively build on this to impact labour force trends and good jobs for Ontarians?

Looking at the big picture, the webinar will look at the longer term trends that have profoundly affected Ontario’s labour market, while proposing a number of policy prescriptions to improve employment outcomes for more people.

ONN is pleased to present this webinar as part of a larger discussion on ways to strengthen and support the sector’s labour force. This will no doubt be of interest to both nonprofit employers and organizations across Ontario that support the training and development of people.

Cost:  $30 for ONN Members/ $60 for Nonmembers

Register now

About the presenter

Tom Zizys has worked as a consultant in the public, not-for-profit and international development fields for over 20 years. He has a wide range of experience in numerous subject fields, from social economy to early childhood development, from homelessness to local economic development. For over 15 years he has specialized in employment programs and labour market analysis, particularly for economically marginalized communities. He is an Innovation Fellow of the Metcalf Foundation where his research focus is the changing labour market and the working poor. Internationally he has worked on various poverty reduction projects, and he has carried out assignments in some 20 countries. He has taught public policy, program evaluation, international development and community economic development courses at York and Ryerson universities.

The fact that the economy isn’t working for most of us is finally getting some attention and policy proposals to close loopholes and other stopgap solutions are making the rounds. However, those that study complex systems – natural or human-made – say the same thing: once corrupted, a complex system has an almost impossible time fixing itself. The best way to transition to a truly democratic economy is to find or create safe spaces outside the dominant system where something wholly new can emerge from the ground up. This emergence is BALLE’s theory of change, which has been deeply influenced by the work of Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze.

In this webinar we’ll explore Frieze’s "Two Loops" theory of systems change – in which a new system emerges as the old one is declining – as a framework for a new economy. We’ll discuss where we are in the shift to a new economic model and take a look at the work being done on the ground to fight for rights in the current system while bolstering those who are forging a new path forward.

This webinar will kick off BALLE’s "Year of Illumination" – a monthly series of webinars, videos, articles, and other stories and conversations that will shed light on What Works and help Localist Leaders replicate and build upon proven solutions towards an economy with equity at its core. Join us for this foundational conversation to bring greater context to the role you and your organization play in this process.

Register now

SPEAKERS

Deborah Frieze, Co-Founder, Boston Impact Initiative

James Johnson-Piett, Principal and CEO, Urbane Development

MODERATOR

Christine Ageton, Chief Program Officer, BALLE

11:00am - 12:30pm Pacific Time
Cost: $45

Register to Attend Join acclaimed cultural historian and futurist Riane Eisler for a dynamic dialogue about how you can take a stand for a new story of human possibility and become a leader in the movement to a more peaceful, equitable, and sustainable world.

In this 90-minute live online session, Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice & the Blade and The Real Wealth of Nations, will illuminate the outdated dynamics of gender and power undermining our well‐being and economic prosperity. She’ll answer your questions about what role you can play in the shift to more caring and sustainable social systems that support the relationships that matter most to us all – equitable and empowering relationships with our families, our communities, and our natural environment.

Riane will answer questions including:

• How are outdated systems of gender and power still guiding our economic policies?   
• How can we recognize and change these patterns?
• What would an economy that recognizes the value of the life-sustaining work of care still mainly performed by women look like?
• How would a caring economy put an end to the systematic impoverishment of women and children and generate greater economic prosperity for everyone, not just the 1%?
• What can you do to support these essential changes?

Bring your questions and concerns to this interactive online discussion on Thursday, February 19th from 11:00am – 12:30pm PST. You are invited to submit a question for Riane in advance of the session. You may share a question when you register, or send a question to annamberg.cps at gmail.com no later than February 16th, 2014. Questions will also be taken in real time during the webinar, as time permits.

REGISTER

For more information about Riane Eisler go to www.rianeeisler.com

* Leadership & Learning Program Alumni may attend at a $15 discount. Contact Ann for information and discount code

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Eastern Time

The Mobilizing Local Capacity to End Youth Homelessness Program (MLC) is a national five-year pilot project that supports small and medium-sized communities across Canada to develop plans to prevent, reduce and end youth homelessness. The MLC draws on local resources, energies and capacity to raise awareness of the issues surrounding youth homelessness, and facilitates linkages to foster effective networks and collective action to address the housing and social support needs of youth.  

Kingston, ON and Kamloops, BC were the first two communities selected to participate in the MLC program, led respectively by the United Way of Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington and the City of Kamloops. We will be joined by them both in discussion on the multi-year community-wide processes they underwent that involved solid research, direct involvement of youth and broad community consultations as they bring their community plans to action.

The inaugural community action plans to prevent, reduce and end youth homelessness were launched in the Fall of 2014, and are available at the following links: Youth Out Loud: Taking Action to End Youth Homelessness in KFL&A and A Way Home: A Plan to End Youth Homelessness in Kamloops. Or visit Eva's Initiatives.

The MLC is the result of an exciting partnership between The National Learning Community on Youth Homelessness, Eva’s Initiatives and the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, with generous funding from the Catherine Donnelly Foundation.

Speakers:

Bhavana Varma is the President & CEO of the United Way of Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington.  She joined the United Way in St. Catharines soon after she and her husband moved to Canada. She moved to Kingston in 1999 as the CEO of the local United Way. 

Bhavana works closely with a large team of volunteers and a small staff team on fundraising and community impact.  Working with community partners, Bhavana has developed and led shared community plans for poverty reduction, homelessness and youth homelessness.

Carmin Mazzotta is the Social and Community Development Supervisor for the City of Kamloops. His portfolio involves social planning, community engagement, and capacity building across a range of priority areas; two of these – youth issues, and housing and homelessness – are particularly relevant here.

Carmin works closely with local non-profit organizations, service clubs, community associations, and key stakeholders from the private sector, including land developers, property managers and local businesses, to address social issues and needs in the community through a collaborative, action-oriented approach.

Carmin has been involved in the planning and development of a number of municipal and community-based plans, including A Way Home: A Plan to End Youth Homelessness in Kamloops.

Space is limited. REGISTER NOW!

Please note that, as always, webinars are free for CHRA members. For non-members, the cost is $40 + tax.