In the social purpose world, it’s true that organizations have long been constrained by funding that values practiced methods over innovation, and the uncertainty that comes with it. Meanwhile, we’re in an era of massive, accelerated change, and increasingly complex social challenges. The status quo won’t cut it anymore.
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Looking at all the things I don't want to forget to remember. It's been another eventful year :-)
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I am honoured to be acknowledged in this way, particularly at a time when women are experiencing significant detrimental effects of the most recent pandemic. Even powerful women are not immune.
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When Heather Keam and I first spoke about reconnect, and she shared the title with me, my response was that it felt like Nova Scotians have been in having a version of the conversation about community being essential since at least October 2020 (if not much earlier) *see lessons, and aftermath, of Hurricane Juan and White Juan, also #communityresilience in #emergencypreparedness.
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Alt title: I wonder, what if, let's try! (Sesame Street)
Wow, where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was musing over my lessons from my 1st 30 days in this role. And now here I am 90 days plus into this fantastic adventure.
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When I got the news of her passing my first thought was sorrow with an underlay of gratitude. I am thankful for the many opportunities I had to connect with Phyllis (as she let me refer to her) over the many years that I have known her. I continuously tried my best and made every effort to “giver her flowers” for the impact she had in my life throughout its twists and turns. Her specific fingerprints on the arc of my path to feeling a sense of place and belonging in Nova Scotia are perhaps best exemplified in what I had chosen as my images (but never posted) for the ‘how it started; how it’s going’ meme.
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Alt Title: "all levels all the time" - Tim Merry (a comment during a workshop in which he was discussing how we navigate complexity and work in complexity)
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In conversations with people, I sometimes hear it said that Halifax (and perhaps Nova Scotia) has fewer than six degrees of separation. I wondered about that, and what it meant, but I now have my own experience of this phenomenon.
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Namibia's Caprivi Strip Exists because the Germans Forgot Victoria Falls (the largest waterfall in the world). Understanding the name starts with understanding the why.
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I was recently invited to facilitate a ½ day workshop on policy, strategy and inclusive stakeholder engagement based on the lessons on my career as a policy, research and evaluation practitioner. It was a wonderful #ProfessionalDevelopment session for a team of dedicated staff.
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This article is a follow-up to a previous piece on what to do when you don’t have the kind of data you think you need to move forward with a decision or action. At another one of my’ hot beverage with a friend’ chats, the discussion dipped into what to do at community or municipal town halls and public meetings when no one (or barely anyone) attends.
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The other day over coffee with a good friend, we chatted about our day(s) and began to reflect on projects that needed but did not always get community engagement or involvement.
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