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Six ideas on Designing Advisory Councils for the Participation of Experts with Lived/Living Experience

“Lived/living experience” — sound familiar? It’s a word on everyone’s lips, a common word we hear everywhere nowadays. In fact, I have noticed it has become much more common, perhaps even a trend in governments and non-profit organizations to include experts with lived/living experience in their work. So you may wonder — what is so special about these experts with lived/living experience?

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Hamilton's Progress in Poverty Reduction

Once in a while, change is transformative and bold, and happens almost overnight. Take the Ontario Basic Income Pilot project: More than 4,000 people in three Ontario communities were provided with an opportunity to test the idea of whether receiving a guaranteed income could break the cycle of poverty and improve opportunities.

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The Four Phases of Successful Poverty Reduction

As a national network, Cities Reducing Poverty (CRP) now supports more than 70 cities and communities, representing over 250 municipalities, to reduce poverty locally. 

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Yes We Can! Reduce Poverty

Our May Webinar welcomed speakers from the United Way of Central Iowa: OpportUNITY Director Seth Johnson and Dr. Helene Fein, Director of Community Impact Services, along with Stephen Lynn, Coordinator of Social Planning from City of Windsor’s Pathway to Potential. Weaving a story on how they got here and what it means, the speakers shared their data on achievements and discussed how small actions lead collectively to big impacts.

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What if Parishes Got Involved in Poverty Reduction?

David Brooks, a columnist for the New York Times, wrote on the Op-Ed page for Friday, April 5, 2019, “Jesus said the poor will always be among us, but there are a lot of people in Canada testing that proposition. According to recently released data, between 2015 and 2017, Canada reduced its official poverty rate by at least 20 percent.” The effort was not just to move people out of poverty, but to eradicate poverty altogether. It meant asking the question, “What does a vibrant community look like in which everybody’s basic needs are being met.” 

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Shifting the System for Collective Impact

In April, we hosted a webinar with Erika Wiebe and Pam Sveinson of the Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council (WPRC) to share their experience of applying a systems-change model to collective impact work; specifically, in embedding it within their Indigenous Youth Employment (TRC92) action plan and engaging in employer consortiums.

Community consultations in Winnipeg revealed not a lack of desire or will to be part of the solution in increasing Indigenous youth employment opportunities, but a lack of ‘know how’ to effectively do so, particularly within the private sector.

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