August 2021 Edition

Social Innovation Monthly

Save the Date- December 2, 3, and 4, 2021- Virtual

This year’s theme of BootCamp is Transforming Governance: Preparing Your Board for Diversity. Board members and E.D.’s will not want to miss this extraordinary opportunity to change their organizations. BootCamp will be led by an incredible roster of Indigenous, Black, and Muslim experts.

For any non-profit, the Board of Directors plays a critical role in making a powerful and positive impact as it advances an organization’s mission. To fulfill this role, it is imperative that Directors are properly trained in the responsibilities and demands of a governance position. Yet, many Boards often struggle to adequately educate new and existing Directors. Without the right education, resources, and guidance for their Directors, Boards may fall short of reaching their organizational goals.

Sponsorship opportunities exist to ensure the success of this Governance BootCamp. To learn more about sponsorships, contact Cathy Brothers, CEO, Capacity Canada at [email protected]

Governance Excellence Award 2021- Call for Applications

Capacity Canada calls on all charities whose board leaders have graduated from Governance BootCamps since 2016 to apply for the Governance Excellence Award.
The winning organization will be welcomed into Capacity Canada’s Hall of Fame. They will also receive the Excellence in Board Governance Award on December 3, 2021, the opening night of Capacity Canada’s Board Governance BootCamp. The award includes an unrestricted prize of $5,000.

The purpose of the award is to acknowledge and celebrate progress towards excellence in board governance achieved by organizations that have participated in Board Governance BootCamps since 2016. Deadline for Nominations is Friday, November 5, 2021.

Fill out our nomination form:https://capacitycanada.ca/governance-excellence-award/

Social Innovation Award- Call for Nominations

Capacity Canada is committed to raising the profile and quality of social innovation across Canada and influencing the state of the field internationally. One of the many ways we do that is through the Social Innovation Award – applications for which are now open.

The award offers Capacity Canada a unique opportunity to demonstrate its interest in being a national leader in building a culture of social innovation across Canada. It shows Capacity Canada’s commitment to fostering leading-edge activities that are impactful, creative, and hold the potential to demonstrate impact on a large scale.

The award will be presented on the opening night of Capacity Canada’s Board Governance BootCamp on December 3, 2021. Applications are due on October 15, 2021.

Fill out our nomination form: https://capacitycanada.ca/socialinnovationaward/

Finding our way to Capacity

At Capacity Canada, we understand capacity to mean the skills, knowledge, and resources required for leaders, organizations, and the charitable sector to have the ability it needs to solve complex problems.

We are in the midst of a two-year learning project that is piloting and assessing how to measure organizational and charitable sector capacity. Research fellow Dr. Megan Conway in partnership with Dr. Susan Phillips at Carleton University is working to identify, assess and refine capacity measurement frameworks and pilot and test them in three resource-dependent communities across Canada. The intent of this project is to incorporate knowledge about community differences into capacity measurement tools to support different types of communities to better understand capacity development needs and resources. Resource-dependent communities have been selected as they represent rapidly changing communities with complex social, environmental, and health challenges.

Capacity Canada will provide an update on the learnings of the project as it unfolds and intends to pilot the tool in more communities moving forward.

Modern Board- Eleanor Draper is the first participant to score 100%

Capacity Canada is proud to announce that Eleanor Draper, Director of Finance at United Way Waterloo Region Communities, is the first graduate of the Modern Board program to score a 100%.

Eleanor, who believes that serving on a board is both a privilege and a responsibility, chose to enroll in the Modern Board course to gain more insight on board functions.

Modern Board is a board governance micro-credential program offered by Capacity Canada in partnership with Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. The program equips you with the knowledge to modernize your approach and successfully take on the challenges of serving on a non-for-profit board.

This year, 145 participants completed Course 1 – Essentials of Governing and 65 students completed Course 2 – Advanced Board Governance. Applications are currently open for Course 1 – Essentials of Governing.

Read more about Eleanor’s journey here. To learn more about the Modern Board program and to enroll, please visit our website.

CD4SG 2021 Applications are open

Capacity Canada, in partnership with Intertek Catalyst, Conestoga College, Manulife, HIM&HER, and the creative community, will donate design and marketing tools to non-profit organizations across Canada through its yearly event – Creative Day for Social Good (CD4SG).

This year’s event will be hosted on October 21 and October 22, 2021. As last year, all sessions will be held virtually. CD4SG will bring together teams of art directors, writers, account managers, and other creative professionals who will donate their time to guide talented graphic design and public relations students from Conestoga College.

To apply, please visit https://capacitycanada.ca/creativeday/.

The deadline to apply is Monday, August 30, 2021, at Midnight.

Upcoming Workshops

Future-Oriented Governance
- September 16th @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm ET
Collaborative Board Governance
- October 28th @ 7:00 pm- 8:00 pm ET

Donate

Each year, we help non-profits from all across Canada with Board Governance training. We are always grateful for our non-profit partners, community leaders, and their support and even more so now with the ongoing pandemic. Your financial support will help Capacity Canada bring together the ideas, people, and resources that fuel social innovation.