July 2021 Edition

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Social Innovation Monthly

CD4SG 2021 Applications are now 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.

Last year, the event received more than 100 applications, for 17 spots, from non-profits across Canada. Teams of participating students and industry professionals successfully created more than $100,000 worth of pro-bono work to assist selected organizations in furthering their social impact.

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

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

Design for Impact: Moving Forward

Applications for the Designing for Impact program this year were invited in March 2021 from social good organizations based in Canada. The project received more than a dozen inquiries and indications of interest that were followed up by multiple meetings and conversations with several organizations. After careful consideration, the Designing for Impact team selected five non-profit organizations.

The chosen organizations are:

Muslim Association of Canada, Mississauga, Ontario
Wilmot Family Resource Centre, New Hamburg, Ontario
Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids, Calgary, Alberta

Friends of Ruby, Toronto, Ontario
Pier Labs and Feed Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia

In the upcoming months, the Designing for Impact team will work with the five selected organizations to move closer to achieving their set goals and learn about design thinking during the process.

Capacity Canada stands in support of our Indigenous Communities

Capacity Canada is deeply saddened by the discoveries of over 1100 unmarked graves on the sites of three former residential schools. We acknowledge the painful legacy of colonialism that has had a devastating impact on generations of Indigenous communities. We stand in support and solidarity with our Indigenous communities across the country who are suffering unimaginable pain, especially in times of these recent horrific discoveries.

Capacity Canada believes change begins at home. With every step forward, we recognize there’s so much more work that we need to do – to learn, unlearn, and understand. We stand by our commitment to be more diverse and inclusive and continue to work towards achieving it.

If you want to learn more about the legacy of the residential school system and the experiences of survivors and their families, please refer to the national center for truth and reconciliation.

Modern Board- Register Now

Registration for course 1 for Capacity Canada’s Modern Board program is now open. Essentials of Governing is being offered twice, beginning September 7, 2021, and November 1, 2021.

Modern Board, offered in partnership with Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, equips you with the knowledge that allows you to modernize your approach and have a positive impact in your community.

Course 2 of the program, Advanced Board Governance, will be offered in Winter 2022 and registration for this course would open in January 2022.

The program offers a unique and credible, two-course online training module. Board directors are provided with the tools they need to drive their boards. It includes multi-media guidance through video lectures, reading materials, and journaling opportunities to reflect on your personal experience with board roles, responsibilities, and more. The program equips board directors with the credentials they need to demonstrate their abilities to stakeholders in a concrete way. Register today at https://capacitycanada.ca/modernboard/.

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

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.

Capacity Canada has re-designed the program to focus on governance processes, rich interactivity with participants, and relevance of content.

Each session has been designed for:

Ease of application to ensure maximum impact
High interaction in a participatory format
Focus on improved Board performance

We encourage organizations to enroll their Board Chair and CEO/Executive Director (or another senior leader) to ensure maximum benefit and impact. Past participants have included a dynamic mix of large, medium, and small non-profit organizations.

This year our BootCamp will focus on getting ready for diversified and inclusive boards.

Applications for the Manulife Governance Excellence Award will be open soon. You can nominate someone you know that has graduated from our Manulife Governance BootCamp. You may either nominate yourself or be nominated by another organization that has participated in the BootCamp program.

Eligible organizations include those who have participated in our Governance BootCamps since 2016.

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.