The Latest (143)

The Municipal Role in the Living Wage Movement

Posted by Natasha Pei on March 18, 2016

In recent months, the living wage has been capturing the attention of local governments across the nation. Following New Westminster’s lead in 2011, Vancouver committed to a living wage last summer, and now Cambridge, Ontario’s City Council has just become the first in Ontario to make the pledge, with Hamilton and Toronto following close behind in consideration of their own policies. But why, what does the municipality add, what does it mean for living wage advocates, employees, and the community?

Considering Courage

Posted by Liz Weaver on March 11, 2016

I have never thought of myself as courageous. I would use many other words to describe me - thoughtful, reflective, smart, sometimes judgemental but never courageous. That is why the statement...the most courageous thing I have ever done ...is so perplexing.

Innovating Innovation

Posted by Tim Draimin on March 8, 2016

We have reached a watershed moment.

After a century of robust development of technological and business innovation, plus several decades of cracking the code of social innovation, the time has come to create an integrated innovation system.

Trickle-Down Community Engagement

Posted by Mark Holmgren on March 8, 2016

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.”