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The road to recovery can be a long one, just ask the people who operate within the social profit sector of Fort McMurray.
More than a year and a half after a devastating wildfire shook that northern Alberta city to its core, numerous organizations continue to rebuild in an effort to ensure the needs of their community are met.
But it hasn’t been an easy task.
“After the wildfire, some people left and did not return and this caused a turnover in our community-based matches,” says Brianne Oke, board chair of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Wood Buffalo, which fosters life-changing relationships to empower and inspire children.
In an effort to help and support Oke, and the leaders of about 20 of the city’s other charitable non-profits, Capacity Canada has once again partnered with FuseSocial, a local agency in Fort McMurray, to host a three-day Board Governance BootCamp.
The event, sponsored by Suncor Energy Foundation, kicked off last night (Oct. 19) with a reception and is being followed by two full days of intense discussions and training surrounding the essentials of board governance, leadership, decision-making, case studies, along with simulated board meetings. Capacity Canada and FuseSocial hosted a similar BootCamp in Fort McMurray in the fall of 2015.
“We’re thrilled to be back in Fort McMurray and to be able to build on a very valuable relationship with FuseSocial that encourages strong non-profit leadership,” says Capacity Canada CEO Cathy Brothers. “We’re also glad to have the chance to connect, and reconnect, with some wonderful organizations who continue to strive to do great work in the face of great adversity.”
Oke, who will be attending the BootCamp, says residents not returning – more than 80,000 were forced to flee the fire – and a downturn in the economy in 2015 have taken a toll on her organization and others.
“Many people left, which meant a decline in volunteers for organizations including board members, and the need for services provided by the social sector within the community has also increased; resources have become strained,” she says, adding after the fire it became difficult to retain staff and restore the office to its pre-fire state.
Bonnah Carey, FuseSocial’s chief social entrepreneur, says many organizations are in a much better place than they were a year ago, however, challenges remain.
“But perhaps we may never get back to the way we were before the fire,” she says, explaining a shift towards automation in the oil industry means a change in the population as residents with new skills move into the region and others leave.
As a result, Carey says her group is seeing more boards with younger executive directors and new members and with that comes a big learning curve.
“That can sometimes challenge the very strength of the organization,” she says. “With a downturn in the economy there are funding challenges and quite often the first thing to go is training. My feeling is training should be a priority.”
This is why Carey is a big supporter of the board governance BootCamp and says the specialized training it will offer over the next two days should be beneficial to the participants.
“I think it advances an organization in a different kind of way. It’s not just about training, but about relationship building,” she says, adding the event will also give the organizations a chance to connect and focus on the community.
Among those facilitators providing their expertise to the group is Fred Galloway, a long-time member of Capacity Canada’s BootCamp faculty. He says the two-day BootCamp is only the first part of the process.
Like all governance BootCamps, which Capacity Canada began offering in the Waterloo Region in 2009, a follow-up meeting will take place several months from now to see how participants have applied what they have learned. This time around, a meeting will take place March 22, 2018.
“We ask them what did you try after that last BootCamp, and why did you select that item or items, and what worked and didn’t,” he says, adding that assessment can help them move forward.
And for the first time, Capacity Canada board members will also be taking part in the BootCamp as well as touring the city and the Suncor oilsands.
“We do a lot of work with the Suncor Foundation and a number of organizations in Fort McMurray, so working with them face to face will be great,” says Joanna Lohrenz, Capacity Canada board chair. “Fort McMurray has seen so much change over the last few years and has shown us how a community can be truly resilient.”
