FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WATERLOO REGION, Ont. July, 23, 2014: An organization that borrows tech-sector ideas to improve other charitable non-profits is extending its reach beyond Waterloo Region.
Capacity Waterloo Region recently renamed itself Capacity Canada to reflect growing demand for its services from other parts of the country. The five-year-old agency offers guidance on board governance, arranges mentoring for executive directors in the charitable non-profit sector, and helps fill volunteer vacancies on non-profit boards.
“The success we’ve had building stronger non-profit organizations in our region has been noticed and admired elsewhere,” says Cathy Brothers, Capacity Canada’s executive-director-in-residence. “There is just as much need for smart, strategic leadership in the non-profit sector as there is in the for-profit sector.
The community members who founded Capacity Waterloo Region in 2009 took their cue from Communitech, a local support centre for startups and established technology companies. Executives in the non-profit sector had expressed an interest in the kind of mentoring and peer-to-peer networking that Communitech builds among tech leaders.
Tim Jackson, senior adviser – capital solutions at the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing, is one of Capacity’s founders.
More than 2,000 Board Leaders and Executive Directors/CEOs have attended Capacity’s Manulife Board Governance Boot Camp and other training sessions. MatchBoard, a Manulife-Capacity partnership, has prepared about 70 Manulife staff in the region for volunteer roles on the boards of non-profits.
MatchBoard moved outside the region for the first time in June, launching a pilot program for staff at Manulife’s headquarters in Toronto.
In addition, Capacity:
- Advises on evaluation methods to improve the services and operations of agencies;
- Offers peer-to-peer networking for non-profit leaders;
- Helps non-profits raise their profile through text and video storytelling;
- Provides innovative educational events on a broad range of topics that stimulate social change.
Capacity’s board of directors approved the name change at the organization’s annual meeting in June.
“Capacity is heading upward and outward,” says chair Steve Farlow. “We have ideas to share. And from the relationships we build, we’ll come back with new ways of filling needs and meeting challenges.”
For more information, contact:
Cathy Brothers, CEO
Capacity Canada
Office: 519-513-2606 x1 Mobile: 226-808-7220 Toll Free: 866-317-1992 x1
[email protected]
Capacity Canada brings together the ideas, people and resources that drive social change. Our vision is to change lives through courageous community organizations. We are accomplishing this by providing non-profit leaders new resources and professional support that enhances leadership skills, stimulates cross-sector collaboration, promotes knowledge sharing, and encourages social innovation.
