Capacity Canada has taken its boot-camp training model out of Ontario for the first time.
It has partnered with FuseSocial, a local agency in Fort McMurray, Alta., to host a board governance boot camp today (Nov. 6) and tomorrow for leaders of the city’s charitable non-profits. The event is sponsored by the Suncor Energy Foundation.
“Capacity is here because in order to have strong charitable non-profits in every community across the country we need courageous and innovative non-profit leaders,’’ said Cathy Brothers, Capacity’s chief executive officer.
Capacity has been running governance boot camps in Waterloo Region, Ont., since 2009. The next one is scheduled Nov. 19-21 in Waterloo.
Drawing board chairs and chief executives, these deep-dive events examine such things as the legal responsibilities of boards, and the separate duties of boards and administrations. Governance experts Don McCreesh and Fred Galloway are among the presenters at the Fort McMurray boot camp, a city of about 76,000 in the oil-sands region of northern Alberta.
Like Capacity, FuseSocial plays a supporting role in the activities of charitable non-profits. It encourages organizations in Fort McMurray to find strength through collaboration. It looks for ways to increase community engagement.
Capacity and FuseSocial are holding the boot camp under the banner of Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo, a brand that organizations in Fort McMurray led under an initiative supported by University of Waterloo.
Capacity Canada may be providing the boot-camp model, but the learning is mutual, Brothers said. One size simply doesn’t fit every situation.
Lynn Randall, a Capacity executive in residence, said culture and context shape the different ways groups across the country deal with many of the same issues. The Fort McMurray boot camp is tailored not so much for the community as by the community.
Randall leads the National Capacity Building Strategy, a project sponsored by the Suncor Energy Foundation (and facilitated by Capacity Canada) to develop innovative, resilient non-profits in communities where Suncor Energy is a major employer.
The boot camp in Fort McMurray is part of that bigger picture. Follow this blog space to find out more through the weekend and keep in touch on twitter @capacitycanada.
