Hello there,

On June's All-Convenor Community of Practice call, we recapped Summit for Strength and shared about what we heard from Indigenous leaders at the Summit. We also engaged folks in an activity about hope and inspiration based on wahkotowin: the circular, interconnected nature of relationships, communities, and natural systems. 

We did not record the meeting, but you can access the PowerPoint slides here.

Discussion Highlights

• Summit for Strength was about building solidarity - sharing examples of how "agents of change" at all levels could contribute to collective action. Communities shared examples of how they've been: shifting culture by centering love and care, imagining better ways of doing things, and prioritizing relationships to transform systems.
• In order to end poverty in Canada, we need to address Truth, Reconciliation, and Indigenous-specific poverty. Karen and Michael talked about the importance of rebuilding policies and practices that allow everyone to achieve their full potential, and how the Indigenous process of beginning in ceremony brings us into a place of introspection to really look at what it is we've been asked to do or to address. 
• Relationships are so important to Indigenous ways of being. Relationship-building models like the Giiwe Sharing Circle can help us develop shared understanding.
• Karen emphasized the importance of love and gratitude when working to shift systems, that change requires a deep emotional shift within ourselves and within our culture, so we should use our voices, trust our unique gifts, and see ourselves as the ones that our ancestors have been waiting for.
• Based on wahkotowin (being related, interconnected, and in kinship with one another and with the land), CEP members shared that if they could say anything to the world, they would say: that we are all connected so we should support each other and treat people with kindness and empathy; we should all strive to be excellent to one another; interconnectedness can be hard but it's so important for looking at paths forward; we may all be different but we are all part of a whole; we can also learn from non-humans (stones, trees, animals) about how to get back to a place of balance

Resources

• BLOG | Event Recap: Communities Ending Poverty: Summit for Strength
• LIBRARY | Summit for Strength Resource Library
• BLOG | Local Government Levers: Reconciliation and Poverty Reduction

Upcoming Opportunities

• WEBINAR (public) | Businesses Reducing Poverty | July 19 | 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET | Examine solutions to increase the financial inclusion of the working poor.  
• WEBINAR (private) | Boosting Financial Literacy: from poverty to possibility | July 27 | 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET | Discover how two financial empowerment initiatives are helping individuals living in poverty make sizeable gains. 

Sincerely,

Orpah Cundangan (she/her) 

Learning Lead, Communities Ending Poverty

Vibrant Communities, Tamarack Institute

orpah@tamarackcommunity.ca