Chantal had been working at a Canadian foundation for about a month when she was asked to sit in on a volunteer committee’s grantmaking decision process, where the volunteers reviewed applications that had been shortlisted by staff members. The volunteers “over-scrutinized the applications from Black-led organizations,” Chantal said. “It felt like they were searching for…
This is the first in a series of profiles about past winners – “laureates” – of the Arctic Inspiration Prize. “By the North, for the North,” the prize celebrates and provides seed funding every year to groups working to develop new and creative projects that solve challenges in the North. Northerners helping Northerners is a…
Philanthropy: From Aristotle to Zuckerberg, by Paul Vallely. Bloomsbury Publishing, London; 2020; 756 pp. ISBN HB 978-1-4729-2012-6 If you have been looking for a comprehensive history of the concept and practice of Western philanthropy, you have it now in the form of this lengthy but very readable book by Paul Vallely, a British writer and…
A report published in October found that digital development in Canada is not prioritized by the charitable sector, leaving projects such as rural broadband access and digital literacy “underfunded, piecemeal, ad hoc and unorganized.” The study, titled Unconnected: Funding Shortfalls, Policy Imbalances and How They Are Contributing to Canada’s Digital Underdevelopment, was produced by the…
Selon un nouveau rapport, le développement numérique au Canada ne constitue pas une priorité pour le secteur caritatif et est « sous-financé, fragmentaire, improvisé et désorganisé » — il y a peu de projets, par exemple, dans le domaine de la littératie numérique et de l’accès à large bande en milieu rural. Intitulé Sans connexion : Manque…
A polar vortex settles over the Northwest Territories (NWT), and by one o’clock in the afternoon, the mercury dips to minus 50 degrees Celsius. Glen Abernethy, former MLA for the Great Slave riding and current NWT region manager for the Arctic Inspiration Prize (AIP), worries about his connection. “I’m at a cabin 35 kilometres outside…
For the North and by the North. Six little words that mean so much. Since 2012, when the Arctic Inspiration Prize (AIP) was established, these six words have been its guiding principle. Says Kristina Kane, chief of the Ta’an Kwach’an Council in Whitehorse, the prize is about “honouring champions who use their creativity, innovation, and…
When Annabelle White received a large inheritance 12 years ago, she knew she wanted to give money to environmental causes. Having previously sat on the board of her grandmother’s foundation, she was wary of the complexity and attention that running her own foundation would involve. “When you start a foundation, you get pitched a lot,…
Il y a 12 ans, quand Annabelle White a reçu un important héritage, elle voulait donner cet argent à des causes environnementales. Ayant déjà siégé au CA de la fondation de sa grand-mère, elle craignait la complexité et l’attention qui seraient associées à la direction de sa propre fondation. « Lorsqu’on crée une fondation, dit-elle, on reçoit…
Philanthropic Foundations in Canada Landscapes, Indigenous Perspectives and Pathways to Change, ed. Peter R. Elson, Sylvain A. Lefevre and Jean-Marc Fontan, PhiLab, Canada, 2020, 323 pp. “A gift that does nothing to enhance solidarity is a contradiction.” Mary Douglas in her forward to The Gift, Marcel Mauss[1] Philanthropic Foundations in Canada: Landscapes, Indigenous…