CASE STUDY | Oxford County: Leveraging a Community Sustainability Plan to Tackle Poverty

Case Studies, Poverty Reduction, Cities Reducing Poverty, Sustainability, Poverty Reduction Strategy

On November 22nd, 2017, Oxford County Council approved a Resolution that committed the County of Oxford to achieving Zero Poverty. This resolution connects Oxford County’s sustainability plan to a goal of eliminating poverty in their community and affirms the need for local government support. We encourage communities to consider sustainability plans specifically, as a leverage point for local, community-based poverty reduction priorities.

By Leena Sharma Seth

Leena has been working to empower communities and individuals for over two decades. Passionate about social justice and creating equitable communities, Leena has leveraged this passion in service for organizations that include Global Vision (Kuala Lumpur), Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton, and the Halton Poverty Roundtable. Leena is a trained community mediator and completed a Master's in Conflict Analysis & Management at Royal Roads University in 2012. Leena enjoys designing inclusive processes and facilitating spaces that are conducive to connection, communication, and collective action. She recently completed the Circle Way Practicum, deep training in a body of work that draws on our collective, ancient, and inherent wisdom to gather inclusively. Leena hopes to mainstream “circle” as a collaborative process that teaches organizations and communities to work together more holistically. Leena is a Collective Impact champion, having witnessed its power to accelerate impact in her work at the Halton Poverty Roundtable, and looks forward to supporting communities in Canada to realize their collaborative goals to eliminate poverty in their respective communities.