For the past decade, Right To Play’s Promoting Life Skills in Aboriginal Youth (PLAY) program, which is led by youth mentors, has been working with Indigenous communities to help youth build leadership skills, resilience, and physical and mental health. I work at Right To Play and, since COVID hit, I’ve watched as program managers and…
Most people (in their pre-pandemic travels) would likely pass by at least one place of worship every day. As they did, many probably gave no thought to the building or to religion. “I don’t go there,” they might think, “so what does that place have to do with me?” Some might not even notice the…
La plupart des gens, dans leurs déplacements avant la pandémie, étaient susceptibles de passer devant au moins un lieu de culte chaque jour. Il est probable que, ce faisant, un grand nombre ne se préoccupaient nullement de l’édifice ou de la religion. « Je n’y vais pas, pensaient-ils peut-être, alors en quoi cet endroit me concerne-t-il? »…
Beyond Shelters – Solutions to Homelessness in Canada from the Front Lines, ed. J. Hughes. James Lorimer and Co. Toronto, 2018; 256 pp: ISBN 9781459413559 The collection of essays Beyond Shelters – Solutions to Homelessness in Canada from the Front Lines (edited by James Hughes) highlights the role of homeless shelters and their “collective…
The Goldilocks Challenge: Right-Fit Evidence for the Social Sector, by M.K. Gugerty and D. Karlan. Oxford University Press. New York, 2018; 312 pp: ISBN 9780199366088 Mary Kay Gugerty and Dean Karlan’s The Goldilocks Challenge: Right-Fit Evidence for the Social Sector is a book that all social, public, and impact investing sector stakeholders should read….
Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World, by Anand Giridharadas. Knopf. New York, 2018; 304 pp: ISBN 9780451493248 Juniper Glass: I didn’t think I would like this book. I had a knee jerk reaction to the slickness of both the title and the author’s hairdo.[1] And, I must admit, by how much…
Later this year, Canadians will vote in the 43rd federal election. Many non-profit organizations, networks, and coalitions see elections as a critical opportunity to raise relevant public policy issues. Recently, the rules for charities engaging in public policy have become a prominent source of debate and discussion in government and the sector. As we countdown…
In November 2018, Mowat NFP and the Community Safety Knowledge Alliance hosted Innovation in Evidence, a conference on evidence-informed policymaking. Internationally, evidence institutions like What Works Centres have been transforming how evidence is used in the policymaking process to address “wicked” social problems, ranging from social isolation among seniors to policing interventions for crime reduction….
The internet has changed how we consider information: vast amounts of it are available, information accessibility is amazingly rapid, and digitalized information is immediately ready for machine use (Lenczner, 2012). Companies are directed to view in-house data as critical to achieving “a sustainable competitive advantage” (Niemi, 2013, p.1). The internet and emerging technologies facilitate and…
Cap in Hand: How Charities are Failing the People of Canada and the World, by Gail Picco, Toronto, Civil Sector Press, 2016, ISBN 978-1-927375-41-9 The Canadian charitable sector impacts all of us through the messy business of living and dying in the shifting political, religious, business, family, and social contexts of this 21st century. Any…