2016/2017ANNUAL REPORT
CONTENTS Director’s Report: From Social Business to Changemaker Campus...............................................................2 MRU: Changemaker Campus .........................................................................................................................4 Vivacity ...........................................................................................................................................................5 Oxford Global Challenge ................................................................................................................................6 Campus Transformation Challenge ................................................................................................................7 Other Student Challenges, Sponsorship and Prizes .......................................................................................7 Trico Changemakers Studio ...........................................................................................................................8 Social Innovation Education ..........................................................................................................................9 Community Economic Development .......................................................................................................... 11 Philanthropy and Community Investment …………………………………………………………….. ............................... 12 Civil Society and the Public Realm .............................................................................................................. 14 New Conversations …………………………………………………………….. ................................................................... 16 The Team ..................................................................................................................................................... 17 Knowledge Dissemination, Team Learning and Community Involvement ................................................. 18 Budget Summary ......................................................................................................................................... 14 Icon and Photo Credits ................................................................................................................................ 18 APPENDIX: MRU Changemaker Roadmap .................................................................................................. 14
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DIRECTOR’S REPORT: FROM SOCIAL BUSINESS TO CHANGEMAKER CAMPUS The Institute’s for Community Prosperity’s commitment is to ensure that students and citizens have access to learning opportunities and research that will help them lead transformative change in their communities. The Institute reports through the Office of Research, Scholarship and Community Engagement, and is financed exclusively from community-raised philanthropic and earned revenue. This past year saw the Institute assert itself as a campus-wide Institute, a direction that we look forward to extending and expanding in the coming year. Although it began its life as the Institute for Nonprofit Studies, a moniker and mandate that fit nicely within the frame of business education, we adopted the new name and focus in 2015. The Institute’s success is now bound to MRU’s success as a whole. We want to make sure that we are supporting the entire MRU community in creating an exceptional student experience, facilitating community engagement, citizenship-focused learning, and applied scholarship and research. Some ways in which we have contributed to the broader MRU community over the past year: • Supporting a campus-wide Changemaker Council, outreach and engagement activities, including leadership towards MRU’s recognition as an AshokaU Changemaker Campus; • Hosting challenges for students enrolled in any program on campus, at three scales: o Campus-focused, through the Campus Transformation Challenge; o Calgary-focused, through the Vivacity 24-hour Challenge (also involving students from 5 other post-secondary institutions); and o Regional, national and international, through the Oxford Global Challenge. • Supporting new course development within General Education (financially in 2017, and set to develop a new course offering for Winter, 2018), and embarking on a new course-related partnership with the Department of Social Work; • Delivering a workshop on community engagement with all staff within Student Affairs and Campus Life (SACL); • Delivering the keynote address at the 2017 MRFA Retreat in Kananaskis; and • Actively participating in Research and Scholarship Days, hosting a major campus-wide event. The Institute benefits from an extraordinarily talented and dedicated team, including staff members Anna Johnson (Community Engagement Coordinator) and Tracy Pfeifer (Administrative Assistant), Senior Research Fellow Peter Elson, Social Innovation Animator Alix Linaker, Changemakersin-Residence Jill Andres, Lena Soots, Walter Hossli and Pat Letizia, and student employees Joel DeWiel, Tash Calf Robe and Brian Manolo. This past year, we have bid Pat Letizia a fond farewell, and will be wishing Joel and Alix all the best, as they pursue law school and graduate studies, respectively. 2|Page
I want to acknowledge congratulate all members of the MRU community – students, staff, faculty, administration and alumni – who contribute making this unique place an authentic Changemaker Campus. I also want to single out the incredible work of Jill Andres and Joel DeWiel, as well as the efforts and leadership of Michael Quinn, Elizabeth Evans, John Fischer and Wendelin Fraser, who have been phenomenal champions for the Changemaker Campus concept. As outlined in last year’s report under the heading “What is Community Prosperity?” Community prosperity not only refers to quality of life and to mutually-supporting, culturally thriving, civically healthy, and ecologically sustainable communities. It must deeply embed the challenges and opportunities posed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and it must be an integral part of our narrative, practice and commitment. This year’s report outlines how these many aspects of community prosperity are introduced and actioned in the post-secondary context, and in the service of helping make the student experience at MRU exceptional and extraordinary.
James Stauch, Director, Institute for Community Prosperity
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MRU: CHANGEMAKER CAMPUS In June of 2017, MRU became Alberta’s first campus, and the fourth in Canada, to receive accreditation as an AshokaU Changemaker Campus. There are 40 such campuses globally. A Changemaker Campus operates in socially and environmentally conscious ways to address local and global challenges. The designation recognizes investment in the continuous development of individuals (students, faculty, staff and others) who see the value of higher education in making the world a better place. This journey began with a trip that the Institute for Community Prosperity made to an Ashoka U Exchange in 2014 in Rhode Island. At this exchange, participants come together to share how they equip aspiring changemakers – through their classrooms, co-curricular programs, departments, institutions, communities and beyond – to catalyze long-term, meaningful change and social impact. We were introduced to the Changemaker Campus concept through that event, and from our colleagues at Ryerson University, Canada’s first such campus. In the three years since then, we have worked as a backbone organization on campus to undertake the following initiatives: • • • •
With support from the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation’s RECODE program, we created a “Changemaker in Residence” position. Jill Andres (pictured in watermark) was hired to serve in this role, and to champion a culture of, and commitment to, changemaking across campus. A Changemaker Campus Roadmap was created, through a series of workshops and an open house with students, staff and faculty from across campus. Changemaking has more recently been embedded in certain operational and strategic initiatives on campus, including the Academic Plan. A 20+ member campus-wide Changemaker Council has been convened, and President Docherty has created a half-time Academic Director position for changemaking, to begin this coming winter. With financial support from the Calgary Foundation, we successfully pursued external validation and formal designation as a Changemaker Campus through AshokaU.
A key component of the roadmap, recognized by the accreditation team and review panel, was developing “an increased understanding of Indigenous cultures and histories (that) leads to relevant and responsive programming to address the needs, issues and interests of Indigenous communities.” On July 24, 2017, Elder Miiksika'am blessed the Changemaker Campus Roadmap, an artifact that represents a component of Mount Royal’s growing knowledge bundle. Frank and Darcy Turning Robe of the Siksika Nation were invited to sing a traditional song to initiate the University’s journey as a Changemaker Campus, as well as a victory song. As next steps, a number of faculty are engaging in professional development opportunities related to changemaking, and new student orientation will embed changemaking activities in welcoming students to MRU. In April 2018, MRU will walk the stage at Babson College in Boston to be honoured as one of the newest Changemaker Campuses. MRU faculty, administration students and other members of our community are encouraged to attend and help celebrate. 4|Page
VIVACITY is a collaboration between seven post-secondary institutions and a community partner, which this past year was Calgary Economic Development (CED). Vivacity deepens student engagement in urban issues and empowers young people to lead an active civic life. It engages interdisciplinary teams of students in the re-imagining, design and activation of underutilized and vacant spaces in the city. The Institute serves as the backbone host organization for the initiative, also taking the lead on the co-curricular and community engagement components. Changemaker in Residence Lena Soots is the Director of Vivacity. Faculty members Patti Derbyshire and Catherine Pearl, ICP Team members James Stauch and Anna Johnson and the boutique in-house design firm Design4Change are also part of the Vivacity Team. Vivacity involves three main components: 24 Hour Challenge. Students from different disciplines and institutions came together in mixed teams in mid-November, focusing on a specific site in the downtown core. They had 24 hours (staying on campus overnight) to come up with a proposal and design concept for that site. The proposals were then judged by a panel of experts, community partners and stakeholders. Credit Coursework. The course Social Innovation 4401: Civic Innovation served as a 3-credit course container. It was co-designed and taught by Lena Soots and Catherine Pearl, involving over 20 guest speakers, mentors and judges. Students from U of C and Ambrose University also took part in the course, obtaining equivalent course credit from their home institution. Taking place over the Winter 2017 semester, and physically based in an under-renovation office building at 150 9th Avenue. Three floors of this building was donated by Aspen Properties for use through the Winter semester, for students to explore, research, test, and prototype new uses for vacant office space in the city’s downtown core. Community Dialogues and Showcase. Two conversations between students and community members took place in January (at Festival Hall in Inglewood) and March (at Decidedly Jazz Danceworks’ new studio). Students from the course Social Innovation 3201: Facilitating Social Innovation, field tested their facilitation and deliberative dialogue skills though this process. Students then showcased their Civic Innovation coursework to the partners, funders, media, local government officials and other community members on April 12. The Vivacity challenge in 2016/2017 was framed around two questions, which students in Social Innovation 3305: “Agents of Change” undertook background research to help frame: 1. How do we retain our city’s young and upcoming talent? 2. How can we reimagine our downtown core and creatively repurpose vacant office buildings? We obtained grants from the Alberta Real Estate Foundation, the McConnell Foundation’s Civic Innovation Award and the Westman Foundation, totalling $55,000. In addition to the office space Aspen Properties contributed in-kind mentorship and professional support, as did many other professionals. This coming year, we are partnering with the City of Calgary’s new innovation lab, CivicInnovationYYC, on the theme and challenge. Visit vivacityyyc.com for more information. 5|Page
OXFORD GLOBAL CHALLENGE The Global Challenge, hosted by the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepeneurship at Oxford University, requires students to showcase their understanding of system-level social and environmental challenges. Unlike a pitch competition, students in the Global Challenge are evaluated based not on a ‘solution’ to a problem, but rather on the depth of understanding of the problem, as well as the nature, diversity, efficacy and relationships of current interventions (whether by governments, NGOs, social movements or the marketplace). The Challenge is also open to students of all levels, programs and disciplines. MRU’s participation in the Global Challenge was co-hosted by the Institute for Community Prosperity and the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Directors Ray DePaul and James Stauch co-taught a Special Topics course in the Winter semester as a support the Challenge – Social Innovation 3730 Mapping the Problem: Thinking Systemically about Social and Environmental Challenges.
While twelve MRU student teams initially registered, six ultimately completed the challenge, covering issues ranging from eating disorders, global e-waste, advocacy for victims of child abuse, and disability education in Alberta, to feminine hygiene in East Africa. Competing students were enrolled in Arts, Business, Communications, Nursing, and Science. The winner of the MRU challenge was Braden Etzerza, a second year Bachelor of Science - Environmental Science student. Braden’s examination of the system giving rise to Indigenous food insecurity on the BC Coast, focusing on his home region of the coastal Tsimshian communities, also earned him one of two top placements at the Canadian finals, and a trip to Oxford to compete globally. At Oxford, Braden placed in the top six of twenty-two competitors there (while Simon Fraser University’s team was the first to unseat Oxford for the top prize). Institute Director James Stauch accompanied Braden as his advisor at the global finals. Many faculty also helped Braden and the other Global Challenge students effectively research and communicate their challenge topic. Thanks in particular to Kelsey McColgan, Ben Kunz, Ruth Murdoch, Katharine McGowan, Elizabeth Evans, Michael Quinn and Jill Andres for their advice and support to students. Students also presented on their challenge as part of MRU Research and Scholarship Days. The event began with a talk from Stephen Huddart, President and CEO of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, speaking about their transformational vision for higher education in Canada. Mr. Huddart remarked afterward how astounded he was at the high quality of MRU presentations, bettering most graduate-level presentations and pitches he has been privy too. MRU will be partipating this year again. The competition has been retitled “Map the System Challenge.” 6|Page
CAMPUS TRANSFORMATION CHALLENGE In its third year, Campus Transformation Challenge is MRU’s annual student social innovation tournament, with interdisciplinary teams of students working on ideas to enhance campus culture, wellbeing, space and sustainability. It is co-sponsored by the Institute for Community Prosperity, Institute for Environmental Sustainability, and the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, with additional support from Facilities Management. Participating students work alongside mentors to identify challenges within the Mount Royal University community and campus, and then create solutions to those challenges. This year’s challenge was researched, framed, marketed, organized and managed by students in Dr. Katharine McGowan’s Social Innovation 3305 class: “Agents of Social Change.” Tim Kruchkowski and Derek DiMarzo, two Environmental Science students, won first prize in the 2017 Challenge for their project to reduce MRU’s ecological footprint by addressing road snow melt piles through a campus wetland. The students have engaged in consultation with Mount Royal Facilities and the Mount Royal University Sustainability Committee, and are currently completing their feasibility analysis and space design.
OTHER STUDENT CHALLENGES, SPONSORSHIP AND PRIZES Developed and delivered by the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the JMH Venture LaunchPad was created to help MRU's most entrepreneurial students launch their own ventures. Each of the past 3 years, the Institute for Community Prosperity has provided a cash award to the venture with the strongest social change component. Congratulations to the 2017 winner, Solidariteas, a tea company helping to bring awareness and support to violence prevention and healing programs for women. Alexandra Daignault and Anna Johnson, the founders, were also selected as one of the top new social enterprises internationally in the HEC Social Business Competition in Montreal. Alexandra also has a summer internship at the Trico Foundation to help develop the business. The Institute supported two Indigenous students’ travel costs to take part in the MRU X Paris Spring Study Exchange, which is connected to Otahpiaaki: Indigenous Fashion Week, 2017. The Director of the Institute continues to serve on the Business Advisory Board of Enactus MRU, and Institute personnel serve as mentors and informal advisors to Enactus.
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TRICO CHANGEMAKERS STUDIO A major multi-year collaboration with the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, we are thrilled to announce that 2018 will see us open and jointly host the Trico Changemakers Studio. The Trico Changemakers Studio is a 4,800 square foot vibrant co-working and learning space that will bring together community members and students, working alongside each other, to collaborate on new, innovative ideas that address social or environmental challenges in our city, country and world. The Studio will serve as an incubator where students and like-minded community members can brainstorm, create, and implement new ideas, anchored in the three core values of the studio: Community, learning and innovation. “A place where community, learning, and innovation converge, turning ripples of possibility into waves of change.”
Mentored by social entrepreneurs and community leaders, the Studio will help students in all faculties at MRU launch their careers as changemakers. For new social ventures, it will provide a supportive but critical learning environment, testing and prototyping new ways to address social and environmental challenges. For established community organizations and networks, the Studio will help them collaborate in a social R&D setting, upping everyone’s game and innovating to tackle complex challenges.
Programming in the studio recognizes that addressing complex social, economic, and environmental challenges requires a holistic approach and necessarily involves a wide range of actors, skills. Programming will be structured under three main integrated clusters: Ways of Being, Ways of Knowing and Ways of Doing. The Trico Changemaker Studio is made possible by a generous donation by the Trico Foundation, a sponsorship by Trico Homes, and a grant from the Government of Canada’s Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund. A full time Director of the Studio will be hired by September, with partnership and member development, and student residency requirements established through the winter. Some Studio programming will commence before the space opens officially opens by spring 2018.
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SOCIAL INNOVATION EDUCATION Supported through the J.W. McConnell’s RECODE program, the Institute has made significant investments in building the social innovation learning infrastructure at MRU, and in playing a leadership role in social innovation education locally, provincially and nationally. As described in last year’s Annual Report, and with Patti Derbyshire’s leadership as Chair of Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Social Innovation, undergraduate credit programming in social innovation has taken the form of a renovated 6-course Social Innovation Minor, available to students in all degree programs on campus, and has recently launched a 9-course Concentration in Social Innovation for General Management Majors pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration. The Institute continues to partner with credit programming in Social Innovation in a number of ways, this past year co-teaching a Special Topics course, guest lecturing, and helping sponsor class showcases and in-class challenges. Ironically, the students at MRU who are least able to access Social Innovation courses are Social Work students, simply because it is a Diploma rather than Degree program. Jill Andres and James Stauch will be working with the Chair of Social Work, Dr. Yasmin Dean, and her Department colleagues to help them build curricular and credit links to Social Innovation, and to help advocate for the creation of a Social Work Degree program that would incorporate significant components of Social Innovation content and pedagogy. This may include the development of a new field school opportunity in Southeast Asia. Locally, the Institute – alongside a number of faculty - continues to be involved in the Social Innovators of Calgary (or SINC) Network, having also hosted the June, 2017 gathering on campus. The Network links practitioners and capacity-builders (educational institutions, funders, intermediary organizations) through periodic conversations and local learning journeys.
Extension Certificate in Social Innovation What happens when two universities join forces with the community to co-create a program designed not only to build knowledge and skills, but also a province-wide network of social innovators? We are starting to discover the answer to this, with the launch of a 4-course, 60-hour program this past winter. Created under the leadership of Jill Andres, this new Extension Certificate in Social Innovation is offered jointly through the Faculty of Continuing Education and Extension at MRU and the School of Continuing Education at MacEwan University. This program is designed to respond to the question, “How can we do better at solving complex social and environmental problems?” and provides those working to address these challenges with an opportunity to deepen their knowledge and skill set in social innovation and changemaking. The unique Edmonton-Calgary partnership and the blended learning format (face-to-face and online coursework) also supports the development of an Alberta-wide network of practitioners from all sectors, enhancing our province’s social innovation ecosystem. The four new courses in the program were designed by field experts Mark Cabaj, Melissa Innes, Ben Weinlick, Aleeya Velji, Kate Letizia, Jill Andres and Pieter de Vos. James Stauch and Jill Andres co-taught the inaugural intro course at MacEwan and MRU respectively. Because of this provincial connectorship role, the Institute is in discussions to potentially serve as the host of a province-wide initiative to link social innovation educators and practitioners, currently under the banner of the program ABSI Connect. 9|Page
MRU is taking a major leadership role in hosting Canada’s first national conference on social innovation education in July of 2018. Dr. Catherine Pearl is taking the lead role on this effort, but the Institute will be committing considerable in-kind and financial resources to the initiative. This follows from other nationwide involvements: • Institute Director James Stauch facilitated a national roundtable conversation in Ottawa cohosted by SiG (Social Innovation Generation) and SSHRC with philanthropic foundations, public grantmakers and intermediaries, on the topic developing a more strategic and concerted approach to supporting "R&D for social impact" in Canada. Geoff Mulgan CEO of Nesta in the UK was there to incite and inspire. Nesta is the world’s leading think tank on social innovation, and a leading producer of applied research and educational materials relating to social R&D. • James Stauch and Jill Andres participated in an August, 2017 retreat on Wasan Island in Ontario’s Muskoka country about the future of the McConnell Foundation’s RECODE program. A handful of other Canadian institutions were also present, including the other three Ashoka campuses. • Dr. Michael Quinn, Dr. Elizabeth Evans, James Stauch, Jill Andres, Anna Johnson and Joel DeWiel attended the AshokaU Exchange in Miami, Florida, which included a “Canada Day” with Canadian attendees of the larger conference, focused on the connection between reconciliation and social innovation education. • President David Docherty was invited by Simon Fraser University and the McConnell Foundation to take part in a national roundtable relating to universities serving as platforms for social and community infrastructure. Dr. Elizabeth Evans will be attending this year’s Wasan Island retreat on behalf of MRU to further this national conversation. • James Stauch is serving on an advisory committee regarding a developmental evaluation of LabWISE, a national social innovation lab training program.
In September, the Institute is co-hosting, with RECODE, a speaking event and workshop for social innovation educators with Daniela Papi-Thornton, former Director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University, and founder of the Global Challenge.
PUBLICATION (Presented at the ISIRC 2016 Conference, Glasgow Caledonian University, August 2016) Leadership for Social Innovation: Results of a Pan‐Canadian Study on Leadership Learning for Social Change Author: James Stauch (2016) This paper summarizes the results of a year‐long inquiry into the landscape of leadership learning in Canada, with a focus on the social innovation milieu. A wide array of leadership programs were examined across Canada, each focusing on the fostering of individual leadership skill sets within a context of civic engagement, community development, public policy, social responsibility and/or sustainability, and social innovation. Social innovation leadership relies on systems thinking and an understanding of complexity as cornerstones for pursuing transformational change.
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COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT With the faltering petroleum base of Alberta’s economy, this past year has seen a dramatic spike in local activity and interest around the topic of “community economic development”, or “CED”, which supports locally-rooted, citizen-driven alternatives to the standard economic development model. Changemaker in Residence Walter Hossli, who founded Momentum, Calgary’s best-known CED organization brings significant experience, wisdom and knowledge to the Institute, helping position MRU as a logical partner on many CED-related learning initiatives. Walter’s position is a generous in-kind contribution from Momentum to MRU. The Institute is partnering with a number of organizations, led by Thrive, Calgary’s CED convener and capacity builder, and the Canadian CED Network (CCEDNet), to host ECONOUS 2017. ECONOUS is the first national conference on community economic development ever to take place in Calgary. The Conference, which runs Sept. 13-15, is co-hosted also by Calgary Economic Development, the Calgary Regional Partnership and Respect for Earth and All Peoples (REAP) Business Association. Funding for the conference has been secured from ATB Financial, the United Way, Trico Charitable Foundation, the Calgary Foundation, the Government of Alberta, Hotel Arts and many other sponsors. The Institute is the official host, with Director James Stauch serving as Master of Ceremonies of the second evening of the conference, which includes the awarding of the national Social Enterprize from the Trico Foundation. Just prior to ECONOUS, the Institute is hosting a workshop, entitled Reconciliation and the Solutions Economy, for practitioners and MRU students Sept. 11-13, 2017. The workshop will be delivered by Winnipeg-based social entrepreneur and Ashoka Fellow Shaun Loney, based on his recent book An Army of Problem Solvers, which is proving to be an indispensable text for Canadian CED practitioners. The Institute is working with Thrive and the Faculty of Continuing Education and Extension at MRU, as well as MacEwan University, to develop a series of course modules on CED, community finance, social business models and social procurement. We anticipate these modules being offered both online and in-person through the Trico Changemakers Studio and MacEwan’s social innovation hub, also opening this coming year. The Institute is also working with the Alberta Community and Cooperative Association (ACCA) to develop a proposal for a Certificate program and other learning supports at MRU in the study and management of cooperative enterprises. We are working with University Advancement to pursue sponsorship opportunities from cooperatives and credit unions.
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PHILANTHROPY AND COMMUNITY INVESTMENT The Institute is interested in enhancing our collective understanding of how philanthropic and private sector institutions invest effectively in community. Grantmaking Foundations in Canada The Institute is in the final year of a partnership with the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Philanthropic Foundations Canada, Community Foundations Canada and the Ontario Trillium Foundation on a 3-year SSHRC-supported project looking at the role of grantmaking foundations in Canada. Of four research clusters, Peter Elson is co-chairing the cluster on the policy, legal and regulatory milieu (he also serves as the co-lead researcher on the research partnership more broadly, alongside Jean-Marc Fontan from UQAM). James and Peter have also co-authored a contribution on Canada to an upcoming international series led by Dr. Helmut Anheier on grantmaking foundations, to be published in American Behavioural Scientist. Corporate Community Investment The Institute continues to work with the Faculty of Continuing Education and Extension to advise on the delivery of the Certificate of Extension for Community Investment Professionals program, unveiled in 2015, and the first of its kind in Canada. The program, designed for professionals working in private industry who have responsibilities for investing the company’s financial and human resources to address social issues, environmental sustainability and cultural vitality has helped create an appetite for additional offerings and materials. MRUs delivery of the program has led to us taking part in a national ‘canopy’ group convened by Volunteer Canada around corporate investment through voluntarism. We are undertaking an applied research partnership with the Conference Board of Canada to jointly produce a publication entitled Corporate Community Investment. A Profile of the Profession in Canada, set for release later this year. The publication provide a context for additional field-building efforts in corporate community investment. We are exploring additional opportunities related to the very embryonic realm of corporate social innovation, potentially utilizing the Trico Changemakers Studio as a hub for this work.
PUBLICATION (Report, Commissioned by The Calgary Foundation) Into the Unknown: 2017 Environmental Scan Author: Institute for Community Prosperity (2017) This is the second scan of major current socio-economic trends and developments, at local, provincial, national and international scales, relevant to the work of The Calgary Foundation (TCF), the first having been published in 2015.
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PUBLICATION (Academic Journal Article) System Change Agents: A Profile of policy-focused grantmaking foundation engagement in public policy. Authors: Peter Elson and Sarah hall (2016) This article, published in the Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research, Vol 7 (2) pp. 5778, profiles research created under the auspices of the Montreal Research Laboratory on Canadian Philanthropy (LaboMTL). It explores the complexity inherent in making policy changes over the long term. For this paper, a number of grantmaking foundations were interviewed at length to explore the nature, scope and strength of their engagement in public policy. PUBLICATION Drops in the Soil, Not in the Bucket: The Case for Borderless Indigenous Philanthropy Author: James Stauch (2016) This article, published in The Philanthropist as part of a series on Indigenous communities and philanthropy, begins with the question of how philanthropy can possibly address the magnitude of the environmental and cultural change which is occurring on a global scale. Philanthropy can be more effective by making true partnerships with Indigenous Peoples, whose accumulated knowledge and understanding are essential to address necessary transformative systems changes. PUBLICATION (Practitioner Journal Article) From Confusion to Co-Creation: Addressing the Challenges in International Research Collaborations Authors: James Stauch, Mirle Rabinowitz-Bussell, Nazita Lajevardi, Maria Martinez-Cosio (2016) This article, published in The Philanthropist, critically reflects on research partnerships that are “designed to foster innovative research, training and the co-creation of new knowledge on critical issues of intellectual, social, economic and cultural significance through a process of ongoing collaboration and mutual learning” (the objective of SSHRC Partnership Grants). The value proposition is in co-generating new and better knowledge – grounded in real world practice, informed by analytical rigour and analyzed through a critical lens. The article highlights points of dissonance between the community partners and researchers in such an arrangement, and offers suggestions for how community development or social innovation projects might better structure research partnerships to improve experiences and outcomes for both parties. PUBLICATION (Blog Post) Charity and Politics Author: James Stauch (2016) This blog rephrases the Institute’s submission to the CRA consultation on charities and politics. The blog welcomes the CRA’s review, but also appeals for a new and ambitious dialogue to reconsider and reshape Canada’s policy and definitional approach to 'charity'.
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CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE PUBLIC REALM Despite having moved away from a focus on non-profit studies exclusively, the Institute remains interested in civil society more broadly. The intersections between different sectors is of particular interest, such as non-government organizations interacting with the public sphere and non-profit organizations using market-based tools. Senior Research Fellow Peter Elson, recognized this past year as one of 150 Canadians who have made a transformative impact on the non-profit sector, continued to profile his research on social enterprise, the history of the charitable sector and charities’ engagement with public policy. Peter is working with the Mowat Centre, based at the University of Toronto, to contribute to their Enabling Environment series, which aims to help the federal government and the charitable and non-profit sector develop a modern federal policy framework that strengthens the sector’s ability to improve the quality of life of Canadians and people around the world. James Stauch facilitated a national conversation co-convened by SiG (Social Innovation Generation) and SSHRC (the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) in January on the topic of creating a robust “social R&D” milieu in Canada, which would entail far more frequent, authentic and sophisticated community-university partnerships. James also continued to speak and deliver training related to the Institute’s applied research on leadership development approaches for social change. An on-campus civil society highlight this year was a student-organized event that the Institute was thrilled to sponsor: Trading Post 150 (pictured below), held in late June, was a day of intercultural dialogue, stories, songs, speeches, food and activities on campus. It served to mediate the space between protest and celebration, between Aboriginal Awareness Day and Canada Day, and as a space for conversation and celebration among all Treaty peoples, Indigenous and non-Indigenous. The Institute also invested in the creation of a new GNED course, undertaken in partnership with Physical Education and the Stoney Nation, on Environmental Reconciliation. Jill Andres and James Stauch are also designing a new GNED course, which we will be teaching in Winter 2018, which introduces students to the public sphere as a place for democratic discourse and action, in its many manifestations: physical, institutional, artistic and dialogical. It challenges students to understand their community, city and nation from many different frameworks, including through an Indigenous lens; To understand different perspectives on public issues; To identify, analyze and engage in dialogue and public advocacy; and to expand their own sense of agency and influence. Students will constructively engage with community-based organizations, and critically engage with classic and contemporary writing and research, culturally and ideologically diverse viewpoints, and works of film, literature and art relating to the public sphere.
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PUBLICATION (Book Chapter) Forward: The Insiders Author: Peter Elson (2017) In Nick J. Mulé and Gloria DeSantis (Eds), The Shifting Terrain: Nonprofit Sector Public Policy Advocacy in Canada. McGill-Queens University Press. PUBLICATION (Book Chapter) History of Associations and Volunteering Author: Peter Elson, along with Bernard J. Harris; Andrew Morris; Richard S. Ascough; Grace L. Chikoto; John Mc Loughlin; Martti Muukkonen; Tereza Pospíšilová; Krishna Roka; David H. Smith; Andri SoteriProctor; Anastasiya Tumanova; Pengjie YU. (2017) In D. Horton Smith, B. Stebbins, and J. Grotz (Eds) Palgrave Handbook of Volunteering, Civic Participation and Nonprofit Associations, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. PUBLICATION (Research Report) The Social Enterprise Sector Survey (SESS): National Results Authors: Peter Elson, Peter Hall, Priscilla Wamucci (2016) A consolidated national report, along with anonymized database from 1,350 social enterprises across Canada. The SESS project involved nine provinces and three territories participating in this first-ever survey of the landscape of non-profit-run social-purpose business. PUBLICATION (Academic Journal Article) Social Enterprise: Who gets the non-earned income? Authors: Peter Elson, C. Liston Heyes, N. Jevtovic, and P.V. Hall (2016) This consolidation of a national data in Canada was published in the Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2016, No. 1, p. 12742). Academy of Management.
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NEW CONVERSATIONS is a series of dialogues involving citizens, leaders, innovators, students, and story tellers, aiming to discover, dream and design a prosperous community for all. It is a chance to surface and connect disparate, sometimes underprofiled topics around which there is an urgent craving for conversation. These events are open to the public. The topics and speakers this past year were as follows: •
Millennial Dream: What Values Will Replace the American Dream? (September, 2016) o o o o o o
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The Inclusive Community: Visible and Invisible Disabilities (October, 2017) o o
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STORYTELLERS: Roy Bear Chief, Jyoti Gondek, Sarah Ali, Sally Truss HOST/FACILITATOR: Lena Soots
Part 2: Vivacity: A Conversation about life, diversity and prosperity in the downtown core (March, 2017) o o
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HOST: Roy Bear Chief, Elder STORYTELLER: Camille Pablo Russell, Elder MODERATOR: Dr. Katharine McGowan, Faculty (MRU) Diana Frost, Author Patricia Derbyshire, Chair of Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Social Innovation (MRU) Kallum Teke Dan, Artist Ryan Jason Allen Willert, Artist
Part 1: Vivacity: A Conversation about life, diversity and prosperity in the downtown core (January, 2017) o o
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HOST: Sean McEwan, Calgary Alternative Employment Services STORYTELLER: Camille Pablo Russell, Elder
Colouring it Forward: A Gathering of Art, Community and Enterprise (December, 2016) o o o o o o o
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FILM SCREENING: Produced by the University of New Brunswick’s Pond Deshpande Centre FACILITATOR: Neetu Sidhu, ATB BoostR Greg Hemmings, Director of The Millennial Dream, Founder of Hemmings House Pictures Louisa Ferrel, Founder of True Buch Kombucha Joel DeWiel, MRU student Jonathan Veale, CivicInnovationYYC Lab
HOST: Dr. Catherine Pearl, Faculty (MRU) FACILITATORS: Students enrolled in Facilitating Social Innovation SINV 3203 course at MRU
Calgary 2.0: Building Bridges for a Collective Future (July , 2016) o o o
STORYTELLER: Cold Garden Brewery FACILITATORS: Aman Aditya, Anna Johnson, Latasha Calf Robe CO-HOSTS: Arusha Centre, City of Calgary, Sustainable Calgary, The Calgary Foundation
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THE TEAM The Institute’s work and accomplishments were made possible in 2016/17 by an outstanding team of individuals, including a core of three full-time staff and a group of social entrepreneurs who bridge their (part-time) work at ICP with their work in community as respected practitioners and agents of change. As the images below indicate, we were fortunate to benefit from Medicine Trail Program Coordinator Dion Simon’s guidance in helping him erect the MRU lodge (tipi), and to engage in an open-air photographybased team-building workshop near Bragg Creek. • • • • • • • •
Latasha Calf Robe, Summer Student Joel DeWiel, Changemaker Campus Coordinator Peter Elson, Senior Research Associate (cross-appointed with University of Victoria) Anna Johnson, Community Engagement Coordinator Alix Linaker, Social Innovation Animator Tracy Pfeifer, Administrative Assistant James Stauch, Director Changemakers in Residence: o Jill Andres, Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation) o Lena Soots, Placemaking and Community Engagement o Walter Hossli, Leadership and Community Economic Development o Pat Letizia, (Philanthropy and Sustainability (UNTIL JANUARY, 2017)
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION, LEARNING AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT In addition to the “New Conversations” described previously, the Institute has been involved in either delivering or participating in a wide variety of community or scholarly events locally and nationally in order to communicate our learning to a wider audience of practitioners, citizens and academics as well as to ground our thinking in feedback, experience and application. Workshops The Institute designed and delivered the following workshops over the past year: • • •
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“Mindful Social Change and Integration of Conference Learnings”, CCVO Connections Conference (Jill Andres) “Strengthening Community Leadership in Canada.” Philanthropic Foundations Canada (PFC) Annual Conference, Vancouver (James Stauch) “You Belong… Here?” Student Affairs and Campus Life (SACL) Annual Retreat: Introduced SACL staff and managers to how the concept of "community" is described and thought of in many different contexts, including its connection to well-being, safety, belonging, cultural identity, citizenship and leadership. (James Stauch and Jill Andres) “Yoga for Change Leaders.” Ashoka U Exchange, Miami Dade College (Jill Andres)
Presentations • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
“A Changemaker Campus”, Keynote presentation at MRFA 2017 Retreat (James Stauch, Jill Andres, Joel DeWiel) “Corporate Social Innovation”, Conference Board of Canada, Community Investment Council (Vancouver) (James Stauch) “Agents of Change: Grantmaking foundations and public policy”, Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference (Nottingham, UK) (Peter Elson) “Being Creative: How to Reposition Vacant Space”, Calgary Real Estate Strategy and Leasing Conference (James Stauch) “Collective Impact in Practice”, Soul of the Next Economy, Ambrose University (Jill Andres) “Cross Campus Collaboration”, C2U Expo, Simon Fraser University (Vancouver) (Anna Johnson and Joel DeWiel) “Cultivating Super-Citizenship: Learning Community Leadership in Canada” (Pecha Kucha), C2U Expo, Simon Fraser University (Vancouver) (James Stauch) “Experts in Social Enterprise: Thriving with Unlikely Alliances”, Banff Compass, AFP Canada (Jill Andres) “Growing Local: Accelerating Collaboration”, The Deane House (moderator) (Jill Andres) “Leadership for Social Innovation”, International Social Innovation Research Confernce (Glasgow, UK) (James Stauch) “Learning and Teaching Social Innovation”, AUTM Canadian Meeting and Director’s Forum (Montreal) (James Stauch) “Not for profit, nor for change? A rationale for social innovation education in post-secondary”. 10th Annual Conference of the Association of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research (Toronto) (James Stauch) “Scaling up Community-Based Research: A case study”. 10th Annual Conference of the Association of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research (Toronto) (Peter Elson) “Social Enterprises in Canada”, Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference (Nottingham, UK) (Peter Elson) “Social Innovation Through Collaboration”, C2U Expo, Simon Fraser University (Vancouver) (Jill Andres) “Taking Care of the Social Innovator”, Suncor Energy Foundation Gathering, Banff Centre (Jill Andres)
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• • •
“Use of Self-selected Case Studies in a Nonprofit Leadership and Management Course”, 10th Annual Conference of the Association of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research (Toronto) (Peter Elson) “Vivacity: An Interview with Dave Kelly”, Best of Calgary Community Day (Students Courtney Clarkson and Joel DeWiel; Alumnus Anna Johnson; James Stauch) Yoga Session Lead, MRFA Retreat (Jill Andres)
Awards • • • • • •
Peter Elson - Profiled by The Philanthropist as one of 150 Canadians who have made a transformative impact on the social sector. Latasha Calf Robe – Calgary Aboriginal Youth Achievement Award, 2017 Tracy Pfeifer – MRU 15-year Service Award Anna Johnson and Joel DeWiel – Oxford Global Challenge finalists: “System Advocacy for Child Abuse Victims in Canada” Anna Johnson – HEC Social Business Finalist; Founders’ Grant recipient; JMH Venture Launchpad pitch competition (awarded $17,000 in start-up prize money). Joel DeWiel – Entrance Bursary, Faculty of Law, University of Calgary
Media Coverage • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Companies try out micro-donations, in lieu of one big cheque (James Stauch, CBC, July, 2016) Lotteries and health charities James Stauch, CTV, September, 2016) STARS moves newer, faster air ambulance from Calgary to Edmonton (James Stauch, NewsTalk 770, October, 2016) Newer, faster STARS Air Ambulance moves from Calgary to Edmonton (James Stauch, Global News, October, 2016) Calgary students challenged to reimagine empty downtown office space (Lena Soots and Lorenzo Lobello (student), Metro News, November, 2016) 'It feels too corporate, it feels unwelcoming:' Millennials offer fixes for Calgary's struggling downtown (Lena Soots, Calgary Herald, January, 2017) Interview re. Vivacity (Lena Soots, CBC/The Homestretch, January, 2017) Interview re. Vivacity (Lena Soots, CITY TV, January, 2017) “The View from Calgary” (Lena Soots, Monocle Magazine, March, 2017) MRU students use entrepreneurial spirit to revitalize Calgary’s downtown core (Sara McMullan (student), Metro News, April, 2017) Students look to reduce Calgary’s office vacancy rate: (Dr. Catherine Pearl, faculty, 660 News, April, 2017) MRU students brainstorm ways to use empty downtown office space (660 News, April, 2017) Interview re. Vivacity (James Stauch, CTV News at 6, April, 2017) The Social Shift: A Documentary on Business for the Common Good (Halifax-based student documentary/ Canada-wide tour (James Stauch and Jill Andres) Mount Royal University joins elite group of ‘Changemakers’ (Jill Andres, Calgary Herald/Postmedia July 2017) A very special celebration on the mount royal university campus today (Jill Andres, 660 News) Mount Royal University named ‘Changemaker Campus’ (Jill Andres, CBC/The Homestretch, July, 2017) CHANGEMAKER CAMPUS (Jill Andres, Breakfast Television, CITY TV) There is a changemaker in each of us (Jill Andres, CTV Alberta) Interview re. changemaker campus (Jill Andres, NewsTalk 770) Calgary council OK's proposal for Indigenous relations office at City Hall (Jill Andres, Calgary Herald, July, 2017)
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•
Interview re. Vivacity (James Stauch, Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Magazine)
Training & Professional Development Jill Andres • • • • • •
Ashoka U Commons, Mapping Student Learning Journeys Cohort Ashoka U Exchange, Miami. Getting to Maybe Social Innovation Residency, The Banff Centre RECODE Gathering, Wasan Island (J.W. McConnell Family Foundation) LabWISE, Vancouver. Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience. Open Education in and Across Disciplines Conference. MRU.
Joel DeWiel •
Ashoka U Exchange, Miami.
Peter Elson: • • • • •
Indigenous Canada by University of Alberta on Coursera. Decolonizing Canada: Responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Continuing Education Course. University of Victoria. Learning Institute 2017: Reconciling Indigenous Research Relationships, University of Victoria Indigenous Resurgence in an Age of Reconciliation Symposium, University of Victoria First Nations, Land, and James Douglas: Indigenous and Treaty Rights in the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia,1849-1864. Songees Wellness Centre
Anna Johnson • • •
Ashoka U Exchange, Miami. Community Investment Professionals Certificate, MRU. Indigenous Relations Training Program, University of Calgary.
Alix Linaker •
Urban Exposure Project (telling stories of social issues through photography). United Way of Calgary and Area.
SHAD empowers exceptional high school students – at a pivotal point in their education – to recognize their own capabilities and envision their extraordinary potential as tomorrow’s leaders and changemakers. Each year, SHAD provides the opportunity for 700+ students from across Canada and internationally to attend a month-long summer program, in-residence at one of our Canadian host universities. Following the summer SHAD program, students can compete for a volunteer work experience, to put their new knowledge into action for the rest of the summer or beyond. This year, the Institute for Community Prosperity hired two SHAD interns, Amy Han and Hemish Minhas. Amy and Hemish joined the ICP team for the month of August, supporting the Changemaker Campus Initiative, Vivacity, and other projects. The internship gave Amy and Hemish the opportunity to dive into their individual areas of interest. They also brought their perspectives as high
Tracy Pfeifer •
24th Annual Administrative Professionals Conference, Chicago.
James Stauch: • • • •
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An Ontological/Phenomenological Approach to Leadership Development. MRU (delivered by Miriam Carey, with support from SACL). Ashoka U Exchange, Miami. RECODE Gathering, Wasan Island (J.W. McConnell Family Foundation) LabWISE, Vancouver. Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience. Indigenous Innovation Summit, Edmonton
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Service Institute personnel also volunteer or serve on many other boards and committees, and are encouraged to find synergies between these involvements and their work at the Institute: Alberta Resilient Communities, Pitch Coach & Mentor for Youth Innovation Lab (Anna Johnson) ATB Alberta BoostR, Judge (Jill Andres) Calgary+Acumen, Co-Chair (Alix Linaker) Calgary Social Innovators Network, Steering Committee (Jill Andres) Calgary Senior's Resource Society (Anna Johnson) CalgaryCAN, Board (Anna Johnson) Canadian CED Network (CCEDNET) 2017 National Conference Organizing Committee (James Stauch) Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples of Canada (James Stauch) Enactus Mount Royal, Business Advisory Group (James Stauch) Leader’s Council of the Alberta Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector Initiative (Pat Letizia) LeftOvers YYC (Anna Johnson) Lupus Society of Alberta (Joel DeWiel) MRU Campus Transformation Challenge, Judge (Jill Andres) MRU Changemaker Council (Jill Andres) MRU Classification Committee/MRSA (Tracy Pfeifer) Oxford Global Challenge, Mentors/Judges (James Stauch, Jill Andres) RBC Social Enterprise Accelerator, Mentor (Jill Andres) REAP Calgary, Board (Jill Andres) SAMRU Community Garden (Anna Johnson) Small Change Fund, Board (James Stauch) SolidariTeas, co-founder (Anna Johnson) Soul of the Next Economy (Ambrose University), Advisor (James Stauch) Suncor Energy Foundation, SEF Gathering Advisor (James Stauch) Thrive (Jill Andres) Volunteer Canada, Corporate Canopy Council (James Stauch) YMCA Calgary, Director of Camp Riveredge (Joel DeWiel)
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BUDGET SUMMARY BUDGET (2016-17)
ACTUAL (2016-17)
BUDGET (2017-18)
Revenue • Endowment revenue • Additional donations • Earned revenue Total
$354,724 $375,261 $10,000 $739,985
$528,479 $154,660 $12,604 $695,743
$344,724* $292,459 $20,000 $657,183
Expenses • Salary and Benefits • Non-salary Total
$586,956 $153,029 $739,985
$567,889 $127,853 $695,743
$511,199* $145,984 $657,183
Revenue minus Expenses
($0)
($0)
($0)
*The higher endowment revenue and salary and benefit amounts indicated under the 2016/17 and 2017/18 budgets are pursuant to an approved plan to allocate additional surplus investment income from the endowment toward certain onetime costs related to the Changemaker Campus process, Vivacity, and other initiatives as outlined in the plan.
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ICON & PHOTO CREDITS
Photos: Alix Linaker (p. 6, 21, 22), Anna Johnson (p. 14), Brian Manolo (p. 16),,CCEDNet (p. 11), Design4Change (p. 1, 2, 5), James Stauch (p. 3, 4, 6, 15, 17), Jill Andres (p. 2), Jordan Piraux (p. 7).
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APPENDIX: MRU CHANGEMAKER ROADMAP
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