Learn more about the committed group of individuals and organizations whose work together provides essential support to Vibrant Communities.
On this page you'll find:
The Vibrant Communities partnership includes communities from across Canada (see list on right), four national project sponsors and a number of corporate and financial partners.
The Pan-Canadian Learning Community (PCLC) is a virtual network of communities from British Columbia to the Maritime provinces. The communities, also known as Trailbuilders, are the living laboratory of Vibrant Communities, where new ideas about poverty reduction are put to the test in an action-learning environment.
In each city, a lead organization - typically a respected and innovative community organization that has convened a roundtable of community, business and government leaders - acts as the primary representative for our Learning Community. They:
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Participate in regular teleconference calls to share experiences, discuss policy issues, interact with resource people and address planning issues
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Participate in communities of practice and tele-learning series to deepen and share their learning
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Help determine and evaluate the activities of the Learning Community
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Work with project evaluators and sponsors to assess overall effectiveness
Vibrant Communities is sponsored and managed
by four organizations highly respected for their work in communities
-- Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement, the Caledon
Institute of Social Policy, The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation,
and Human Resources and Social Development Canada. These four
organizations provide administrative, financial, coordinating
and research support to the members of Vibrant Communities.
You can learn more about the Project Sponsors
and their roles in Vibrant Communities below.
Tamarack -
An Institute for Community Engagement
As a sponsor of Vibrant Communities, Tamarack:
- Leads cross-community learning by facilitating regular
dialogue among community groups
- Provides administrative services, coaching and technical
assistance
- Works with the Learning Community to identify, develop
and share tools and techniques to help them in their work
- Creates and manages a website devoted to sharing resources,
facilitating dialogue, enhancing learning and promoting
the work of Vibrant Communities
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Caledon Institute
of Social Policy
As a sponsor of Vibrant Communities, Caledon:
- Provides support for cross-community learning by facilitating
regular dialogue among community groups on policy issues
- Documents the experience of the Learning Community and
Trail Builders through an annual report
- Oversees the evaluation process and supports external
evaluators
- Conducts policy research and facilitates a policy dialogue
involving the Learning Community and other stakeholders
Sherri Torjman, Vice President of the Caledon
Institute of Social Policy tells us we can reclaim our humanity
by creating vibrant communities.
In this series of clips, Sherri provides
the context for vibrant communities and articulates a vision
for the future and for our communities that recognizes our
values and human rights.
Sherri's paper, Reclaiming
Our Humanity, is available online.
| Why write "Reclaiming
Our Humanity"? |
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| In the 1990s, Canadians
faced major economic upheavals. Here's the economic
context for "Reclaiming Our Humanity." |
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| The social infrastructure
of Canadian society has been dismantled. |
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| We all have a role
to play in rebuilding our communities and reclaiming
our humanity. |
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| Vibrant communities
ensure support, inclusion and learning. |
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| Support is a crucial
ingredient for a vibrant community. |
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| Vibrant communities
are inclusive communities. |
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| Together we can work
to reclaim our humanity. |
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The J.W. McConnell
Family Foundation
As a sponsor of Vibrant Communities, The
J.W. McConnell Family Foundation:
- Develops a national applied dissemination strategy to
promote the work and lessons of Vibrant Communities across
Canada
- Has the final say on all funding decisions
- Hosts a Funders Forum to introduce Vibrant Communities
to other funders who share its goals and have expressed
interest in or support for community-based poverty reduction
Here, Tim Brodhead, President of The J.W.
McConnell Family Foundation, shares his hopes for Vibrant
Communities.
| Hopes for Vibrant Communities. |
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| Challenges facing Vibrant
Communities. |
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Human Resources
and Social Development Canada
As a sponsor of Vibrant Communities, Human
Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC):
- Commits to actively learning from the Vibrant Communities
process by observing how new forms of governance and collaboration
led by communities can advance the well-being of Canadians
- Undertakes to help explain the Vibrant Communities
process within the Government of Canada and make linkages
in support of community development needs where possible
- Helps Vibrant Communities to understand the perspective
of government
- Invests in the advancement of Vibrant Communities'
learning networks through a grant of $2.5 Million over
five years, until 2011
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We thank RBC Financial Group for their significant
contribution to Vibrant Communities. RBC has joined the initiative
as a Corporate Sponsor.
Maytree and the Hamilton Community
Foundation are our first Financial Partners and we thank them
for their investment in poverty reduction.
Thanks to all our partners for their generous
contribution and their commitment to poverty reduction in
Canada!
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We are fortunate to count among our friends
and supporters a number of outstanding leaders who share our
passion for collaboration, community engagement, and poverty
reduction.
Alan Broadbent
Alan Broadbent, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Avana Capital Corporation and Chairman of The Maytree
Foundation and Tamarack, has been one of our supporters since
Vibrant Communities began. Here, you can hear Alan sharing
some of his early hopes for Vibrant Communities and thoughts
on developing a learning network.
| Alan Broadbent on his
hopes for Vibrant Communities. |
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Anne Kubisch
The Aspen Institute has long served as a
source of inspiration to Vibrant Communities as we seek to
create collaborative change. Here, Anne Kubisch, Co-Director
of the Aspen Institute’s Roundtable on Community Change,
shares the first step communities must take when launching
a comprehensive initiative to reduce poverty, much like Vibrant
Communities.
| Anne Kubisch on what
communities need to do first. |
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Frances Westley
Frances Westley, Director, Gaylord Nelson
Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin,
Madison, is a long-time friend of Vibrant Communities. Here,
Frances speaks of the hope she has in the leadership of those
involved in community engagement efforts.
| Frances Westley on
hope and leadership. |
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