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Severn Cullis-Suzuki: A Global Voice for Change

Severn Cullis-Suzuki became a catalyst for change and a thought leader at the age of nine when she founded the Environmental Children's Organization which focused on advancing the learning and understanding of children about environmental issues.

That was the beginning of her life's work as an environmental activist and her devotion to ensuring our children are able to live and thrive in a safe, healthy environment. Her passion and interests have included deepening our understanding about humanity's sacred relationship with water, working with the Million Mothers movement to stop the use of nuclear power in Japan, and being an unrelentin

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Five Questions to Mobilize Poverty Reduction

More and more voices are speaking of a movement to end poverty. In Edmonton, where I sit on Mayor Iveson's Task Force to Eliminate Poverty in a Generation, the fostering of a movement is front and centre on the minds around the table. There are nearly 60 communities today that are members of Vibrant Communities Canada – an example of movement building. Last month, our Cities Reducing Poverty Summit was a testimony to this growing movement. It was not only a forum for our political and community leaders;over 20% of the 350 people who attended were either people living with poverty or leaders from grassroots organizations. These were attendees who could not have been there without the support of funders stepped up to ensure their seats at the summit were free.

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Cities Reducing Poverty: When Mayors Lead

The time to act on poverty reduction is here.

The momentum builds this month, as Tamarack Institute, Vibrant Communities Canada and the City of Edmonton come together to organize a milestone gathering to deepen our understanding of poverty as a human rights issue that impacts everyone in our communities.

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Trickle-Down Community Engagement

I have been preparing for the community engagement learning event Tamarack is doing in Ottawa this week, called Community Engagement: The Next Generation. One of the workshops I wanted to do was on engagement of marginalized populations, in particular those living in poverty. My exploration of this topic led me to some provocative writing by Vu Le, who is a writer, speaker, and executive director of Rainier Valley Corps, a capacity building organization with a focus on leveling the playing field for people of colour as well as small, grass roots organizations.

I was particularly drawn to a piece he wrote on his blog about “Trickle-Down Community Engagement,” and his writing became the catalyst for one of the workshops I am doing, aptly called “Avoiding Trickle-Down Community Engagement of the Marginalized.”

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Louie and Bruno: What Would You Do?

I was in a board meeting in the Operation Friendship drop in centre. I was positioned so I could see out of the windows into the courtyard. During the meeting I noticed Louie walking slowly toward the rooming house door. Louie was a short, slender man, about 65 years of age. I turned my attention back to the meeting but it was soon again diverted when I heard a hoarse voice shouting profanity.

Louie had stopped and turned and he was angry, yelling at someone that was out of my line of sight. I stood up as Louie reached into his pocket and pulled out a blade. I said nothing to my colleagues as I headed toward the door. I wasn’t really thinking to be honest.

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An Exploratory Sidetrack While Researching Social Movements

I love what I do.

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