The Latest

The Art of Disruption | A Reflection

Last week, Tamarack’s Liz Weaver and Paul Born hosted a webinar on Community Change: The Art of Disruption as part of a Community Change Webinar Series. In this conversation Liz and Paul discussed some emerging ideas and strategies that are disrupting how some communities today are responding to the complex issues that they face.

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Protecting Children: Moving from a Focus on Immediate Needs to Acknowledging Rights

This blog was originally published on the Maytree website on July 7, 2016 and is reposted here with persmission.

Maytree’s human rights approach to poverty reduction connects with my interest and experience working to improve the lives of children, a journey which began while working as a consultant with UNICEF starting in 1999. I quickly learned that children’s issues are not simply a matter of charity or needs, but a matter of justice and fulfillment of human rights.

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Sharing Successes from Yukon (Whitehorse)

This year the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition celebrates the 20th Anniversary of their poverty reduction work in the Yukon territory and in Whitehorse specifically. They've undergone much development and evolution as a group over the years, dependent on the current need and passion expressed by the community. They actively listen to residents, and have taken on the role as a spawning ground for other organizations and projects to take hold (ex. the downtown urban garden society, and the local Habitat for Humanity chapter).

Here, with Bill Thomas, Co-Chair of the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition (YAPC), we take a look at how their values and priorities are bringing local youth to the coalition's advocacy, awareness, and action priorities to reduce poverty and create stronger leaders.
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Flock Together

The Community Change Institute is designed to be a truly transformational learning experience. Each year this gathering draws people together like a magnet from across the continent and around the world. Inspired people, just like you, will gather in Toronto - We welcome you to join us during this exciting week!

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Professional Generosity - Walk the Walk

I see evidence that generosity is the fuel of networks. This means that in order to maintain and grow our networks we need to be able to recognize generosity in action, name it and support it. This week I’ve been wondering about the difference between professional behaviours or professionalism and more significant acts of professional generosity?

I decided to ask around my network of career practitioners to see if there were any common themes.

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We Need Fewer Volunteers and More Community

Recently, I was invited to speak at a conference of not-for-profit organizations on the topic of “How to Recruit More Volunteers.” The conference organizers must have been distressed when I began my remarks by asserting: “What we need is fewer volunteers and more community.” I went on to explain what I see as the difference.

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