People in communities share common dreams. They dream of a better quality of life and safer, healthier and more prosperous places to raise their children. Tamarack believes that we can find a better path forward when different sectors work together strategically in communities. The Institute provides learning resources and training, coaching, strategic consulting and study guides to help people to collaborate and to learn with and from each other.
In the four years since the Institute’s founding, Tamarack has attracted a committed constituency of people and organizations interested in community engagement, launched Vibrant Communities, a national poverty-reduction initiative, and developed a Learning Centre to disseminate learning and knowledge.
Collaboration is at the heart of Tamarack’s work. In its simplest form, collaboration is defined as working jointly with others. Magic can happen though, when the right people collaborate at the right time for the right reasons. In these cases, the act of collaborating can generate a remarkable amount of power, energy and momentum in a community.
Bringing people in communities to collaboration is an emerging field of practice and in 2005 Tamarack focused on documenting ideas and resources on community collaboration and collaborative processes.
Tamarack provides learning resources, training, coaching, strategic consulting and study guides to help people collaborate and learn with and from each other. This year the Institute provided collaboration training and consulting services to more than 30 organizations and community groups.
Tamarack’s 2005 learning theme, Communities Collaborating, was a key factor in expanding the reach and impact of the Institute’s Learning Centre. Nearly 1,000 people engaged in the learning generated by monthly tele-learning seminars profiling collaborative community initiatives and prominent experts.
Tamarack’s understanding of community collaboration is grounded in the work of the 16 cities that participate in Vibrant Communities, a Pan-Canadian learning community dedicated to exploring innovative community-based solutions for poverty reduction. Across Canada, concerned citizens and business, government and community leaders are collaborating in new and innovative ways to reduce poverty. Their work is now beginning to generate results in several cities across the country.
This 2005 Annual Report describes some of the activity and learning at Tamarack this year and provides a brief description of the Institute’s key goals and priorities for 2006. Learning and work does not stand still at Tamarack. This report captures a moment in time and we encourage you to visit our website to learn more about the work and the results that Tamarack, and our partners, are generating across Canada.
Communities Collaborating
• 2005 Annual Report •
Our Mission
Tamarack engages citizens in inspired action and learning as they work together on behalf of their communities to create and realize bold visions for the future.
Contact Us
Tamarack – An Institute for Community Engagement 139 Father David Bauer Dr. Waterloo, ON N2L 6L1 Tel: 519-885-5155 Fax: 519-885-4454 Email: tamarack@ tamarackcommunity.ca www.tamarackcommunity.ca Inside…
The Learning Centre Vibrant Communities Goals for 2006
Financial Highlights Partners & Supporters
2-3 4-5 6 7 8 Collaboration is more than coordina-tion or partnership. It is a methodology that builds the will of a community to
work together to build a movement for
Contributing to a National Learning Cycle
In its second year of operation, Tamarack’s Learning Centre expanded its reach and impact through a focused strategy to increase the number of people actively learning through the institute and growing the number of partners we support.
Tamarack aims to build a national, continual learning cycle that contributes to the understanding of community engagement in Canada and helps engaged citizens and organizations build and nurture healthy communities. We do this in two ways: by offering free access to many of the Institute’s learning vehicles, such as e-newsletters, the website, and tele-learning and also by working in customized ways with partners and organizations. In 2005 Tamarack worked to deepen constituent understanding and document ideas and practical resources in community collaboration and collaborative processes through our 2005 learning theme, Communities Collaborating. Nearly 800 people participated in this year’s tele-learning seminars while many more downloaded and listened to the audio recording and interacted with the online seminars.
A new section on our website dedicated to Communities Collaborating shares resources and stories and documents the practices of active collaborations. We also developed and disseminated a monthly e-newsletter to animate the theme throughout the year. All of this work has put us in good stead as we plan a five-day Communities Collaborating Institute for 2006.
Tamarack’s website highlights and promotes promising examples and strategies for community wide collaboration and citizen engagement and attracts more than 5,000 users each month. 2005 was a noteworthy year in the website’s develop-ment. In June the website experienced a crash. Though the site was online again within a day, and operating as normal within a week, with minimal disruption to our users, the crash encouraged us to move to a hosting and e-solutions provider that could pro-vide us with “room to grow” and a secure backup procedure. We also changed the statistical software solution we use to track website traffic so that we can gain even better insight into the ways in which users interact and engage with the website and the material on there.
2005 saw the launch of the Communities Collaborating e-newsletter and retirement of Community Life. The latter ended its 26-issue run in July with 978 subscribers. We also re-designed Eunoia, our monthly e-digest of news and resources and have seen subscriptions more than double. Engage!, our bi-weekly e-newsletter is now delivered to 5,900 subscribers. Our partners and subscribers continue to provide positive feedback on the look and feel of our e-newsletters. We have provided advice and consultation to several organizations in the last year regarding e-communication.
In 2006 the Learning Centre will launch a new learning theme on Movements for Change. Tamarack learners will also have access to content in a variety of new formats so that they can take learning “to go”.
Communities Collaborating Seminars & Speakers Investment in Collaboration – Tim Brodhead
TRIEC: New Realities, New Opportunities – Ratna Omidvar, Elizabeth McIsaac
Comprehensive Collaborations – Anne Kubisch
City Centre Education Project – Colin Inglis
Community Visions, Community Solutions – Jay Connor
The Saltwater Network – Arthur Bull
Movements for Change in Canada Calgary Urban Aboriginal Initiative – Barbara Milmine Collaboration: The New Leadership – David Chrislip Enough Talk: The Toronto City Summit Alliance – David Pecaut Highlights
12 tele-learning seminars (Dec – Nov) attract more than 600 registrants Engage: 23 issues, 5,900 subscribers Eunoia: 12 issues, 2,012 subscribers Communities Collaborating: 11 issues, 1,485 subscribers
Custom Services
Tamarack’s Custom Services is an expression of the Institute’s desire to work with organizations that share our interest in community engagement processes. We provide a flexible and responsive service that enables our partners to achieve success.
Tamarack provides services in partnership with organizations, tailoring the services to the particular needs of the requesting group. Our approach is constantly adapted in response to the individuals involved, so that the users drive their own agenda and the process is truly customized.
In 2005 we delivered the following services to 30 organizations: • Coaching and strategic consulting
• Training, presentations (keynotes) and workshops • Strategy development, planning and implementation
• Communities of Learning (knowledge creation and dissemination) • Practical resource and tool development
• Action Research (think-plan-act)
• Collaborative alliance/partnership building
Tamarack has provided services to a range of organizations and community groups, supporting their efforts to effect change through proven strategies of community engage-ment. Some examples of our partners in 2005 include:
National Crime Prevention Centre: Tamarack helped the National Crime Prevention Centre to become familiar with the potential role and impact of Community Comprehensive Initiatives and prepared a study guide on governance.
Toronto Community Housing: Tamarack provided community building training for Health Promotion Officers (HPOs) at Toronto Community Housing. Tamarack prepared an interactive series, grounded in five daylong sessions, to assist HPOs to develop new skills and deepen their understanding of community capacity building and neighbourhood revitalization.
Action for Neighbourhood Change
In 2005, Tamarack partnered with United Way Canada, the Caledon Institute of Social Policy and the National Film Board of Canada to launch Action for Neighbourhood Change (ANC), a unique learning initiative that explores and assesses approaches to locally-driven neighbourhood revitalization that can enhance the capacity of individuals and families to build and sustain strong, healthy communities.
ANC is funded by the Government of Canada and works locally with the United Ways of the Lower Mainland (Surrey), Regina, Thunder Bay, Greater Toronto and Halifax. Tamarack’s role in ANC is to facilitate learning between the communities by providing coaching, training, strategic consulting, and developing useful tools. Learn more about this
exciting initiative at www.anccommunity.ca!
2005 Custom Services Partners
Action for Neighbourhood Change ACOA
Brock Solutions
Calgary Urban Aboriginal Initiative Canadian CED Network
Centre D’Entraide D’Argenteuil Centre for Community Enterprise City of London
City of Ottawa City of Toronto Coast Capital Savings Community Leadership Conference
County of Dufferin Health Sciences North Industry Canada
Leaders for Change, Maytree NCPC
New Horizons for Seniors Program OMSSA
Ontario Museum Association Ontario Parks & Recreation Ont. Sustainable Energy Assoc. PAAFE
Social Development Canada Toronto Community Housing TRIEC
Understanding the Early Years United Way of Winnipeg Urban Aboriginal Strategy YMCA-YWCA of Guelph
Tamarack launched Vibrant Communities in 2002 as a national strategy to explore the potential of local collaborative and comprehensive efforts to reduce poverty. Founded in partnership with the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation and the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, Vibrant Communities now has partnerships with organizations and networks in 16 cities.
There are three major components in Vibrant Communities:
• Communities and sponsors are involved in the Pan Canadian Learning
Community, which provides a common ground to share practices and ideas for involving community leaders in high impact poverty reduction initiatives.
• A smaller group of local networks, called Trail Builders, are exploring these ideas in more depth by developing and pursuing comprehensive, collaborative efforts to reduce poverty for at least 5,000 households.
• Funders and policy makers are involved in the Funders Network and Policy Dialogue respectively to explore how to best support local efforts to reduce poverty.
These three components are mutually reinforcing. The Pan-Canadian Learning Community creates a mechanism for structured and intentional learning about new approaches to re-duce poverty while the work of the Trail Builders ensures that learning is rooted in the real experience of communities on the ground. Finally, the Funders Network and Policy Dialogues are positioned to use the Vibrant Communities experience to build stronger investment and policy environments for communities.
Learnings & Outcomes
2005 was a turning point in Vibrant Communities. In 2004 we articulated our lessons learned to date, sharing that comprehensive local approaches to poverty are promising, but chal-lenging. We noted:
• It takes time to build capacity. • It takes time to generate results.
• Local initiatives, even when well supported and led, are fragile.
In 2005, Trail Builders demonstrated that they could generate results despite the challenges of the work.
Networks in Saint John, Niagara, Montreal and Victoria have carried out initiatives that will result in hundreds of new affordable housing units in each community. Trail Builders in Niagara, Edmonton, and Victoria are working on workplace practices and workforce development initiatives that will assist just as many, if not more, underemployed and unemployed residents. Additionally, groups in Edmonton and Calgary have shaped changes in the design and implementation of public income supports programs that will improve the lives of thousands.
2005 Highlights Trail Builders
6 Trail Builders developed com-munity plans to reduce poverty in 5,800 households by 2008. 140 non-profit organizations, 113 government agencies, 81 businesses, and 33 low-income leaders are now leading local collaborations.
Communities raised nearly $3.5 million in local funding from more than 30 donors to date. Five national funders commit-ted over $3 million to match local funding and provide national supports.
SDC contributed $2.5 million dollars over the next 5 years.
*** Pan-Canadian Learning Community
The Funders Network con-tinued with over 50 local and national donors and sponsors participating.
Six communities participated in peer-to-peer learning on Living Wage & Employer Practice initiatives in their cities.
All communities participated in monthly calls to learn about the plans and strategies to reduce poverty.
CAC International completed its second external evaluation of the PCLC. Recommendations have been incorporated into the 2006 plan.
The Trail Builder component of Vibrant Communities moved into a higher gear in 2005 as two Trail Builders implement the second year of their community plans, three groups finished their first year, and Calgary formally became the sixth Trail Builder. Here is just some of the work that is unfolding in Trail Builder communities across the country.
• B.C.’s Capital Region – The Quality of Life CHALLENGE seeks to improve the quality of life in the Region by creating a local culture of leadership and engagement that will result in the creation of 1,000 affordable homes and 5,000 persons with sustainable incomes. In 2005, the CHALLENGE managed an “Employer Challenge” that encourages employers to improve workplace practices, played an important role in encouraging regional municipali-ties to establish an investment fund for affordable housing, and is now launching a regional Social Purchasing Portal and employer-employee mentorship program.
• Calgary – Vibrant Communities Calgary, a growing coalition of non-profit agencies, foun-dations, governments, health care organizations, postsecondary groups, faith organizations and businesses, is successfully raising awareness of poverty in a city where citizens rank it 19th on a list of public concerns. Vibrant Communities Calgary was instrumental in shaping provincial government changes to an income support program for persons with disabilities and encouraging the City of Calgary to introduce a subsidized bus pass for low income Calgarians. The group will focus on a living wage campaign for employers in 2006.
• Edmonton – A multisectoral collaboration committed to assisting 1,000 working poor residents by “scaling up what works”, Vibrant Communities Edmonton has a particular focus on workforce development, family economic support and community infrastructure. The group is preparing a comprehensive campaign with government departments to substan-tially increase the uptake of a variety of public income support programs and expand the size of a successful program that allows low-income residents to purchase homes.
• Niagara Region - Opportunities Niagara was central in the creation and expansion of a multisectoral workforce development pilot that linked long term unemployed persons to good paying jobs in the tourism industry and provided much needed transportation to and from the worksite. The group also played a key role in two successful affordable housing projects and is close to launching its living wage campaign for regional employers.
• Montreal – In the city’s historic St. Michel neighbourhood a broad and animated network of local leaders and residents are implementing a long-term community revitalization initiative that seeks improvements in employment and income, business development, affordable housing, and accessible cultural, social and recreational facilities and services. Vivre Saint-Michel en santé, the network convenor, is currently coordinating 16 of 32 priority projects with an emphasis on housing and job training.
• Saint John - Vibrant Saint John aims to assist 2,000 individuals exit poverty by 2007 and reduce the local poverty rate by 27% to 16% by 2010. The group has helped increase federal investment into affordable housing, is involved in the renewal of a distressed neighbourhood, and is preparing strategies in the areas of early childhood development and workforce development.
Four years ago Tamarack was founded to support community engagement and collaboration in Canada. In 2006 we will consider the impact Tamarack’s work has had to date and how we might have an even greater impact in the future. We are developing a long-range (five-year) strategy for Tamarack so that we can work even more effectively and achieve greater impact by effectively communicating and sharing the value and practice of community engagement across Canada.
We look forward to the following in 2006: Vibrant Communities
The work in communities will continue to grow in 2006 as Trail Builders ramp up their community plans and launch new initiatives to reduce poverty. Vibrant Communities sponsors will focus on documenting and sharing the successes, challenges and learning of the Trail Builder communities. Within the Pan-Canadian Learning Community meanwhile, a Government learning circle will launch, and emphasis will be placed on growing the scale and depth of both the PCLC and the Funders Network.
With the input and consensus of funding and community partners, Vibrant Communities will also develop a growth strategy to 2010 for the initiative.
Learning Centre
Tamarack will seek constituent and expert input in the development of a compelling vision for the Tamarack Learning Centre and its expansion over the next three years.
In September 2006, we will host a Communities Collaborating Institute for 50 community engagement practitioners. The five-day Institute will be based on a unique curriculum and
learning process.
In addition, we aim to grow the number of people engaged in Tamarack’s work so that the Tamarack website sees 10,000 user sessions a month and 7,000 people subscribe to Engage!
We will deepen our understanding, document our ideas and position the institute as a leader in community collaboration and collaborative processes. The 2006 learning theme Creating a Movement for Change focuses on: “Thinking like a movement”. We will publish a dynamic body of practice on our website and host 12 tele learning seminars over the next year on this theme. We will also research the theme Acting Like an Organization and Thinking like a Movement over the summer and launch this as our learning theme in 2007.
Custom Services
Providing customized services specifically tailored to the needs of our partners has become an important way for Tamarack to expand its impact. In 2006 we will grow our capacity to serve more people and to further focus the kind of work we do. We are deepening our learning through a learning process with the Annie E. Casey Foundation and continue to grow our relationship with United Way Canada.
“[Engage] is an awesome piece of work that has, for me, some real on the ground value. I always expand my horizons when I read it!” Kathie Cram, Saskatoon Health Region
***
“I want to thank you for yester-day’s “collaboration for change” session. It was challenging for me and gave me lots to pon-der. I have been very burnt out by this work – but yesterday felt inspired for the first time in a very long time.” Workshop participant
***
“We just wanted to thank you very much for your ongoing leadership and commitment to the Dufferin Social Propserity Project. You have a marvelous way of inspiring folks and your comments yesterday helped remind us all that what we’re trying to do with this project – is doable.” Sylvia Cheuy, Dufferin Social Prosperity Project
***
“This was an excellent session with a valuable process for hear-ing examples of collaboration and learning about challenges including ideas for exploring solutions. Looking forward to a follow-up session.” Workshop participant
*** “This is the best [web]site anyone could imagine to obtain resources on the full spectrum of community engagement. You even have resources from my homeland… Thank you.” Cathie Buckley, the Really Useful Consulting Group, Australia
Tamarack is a young organization supported by foundations, businesses and government and community partners. The Institute is incorporated as a charitable organization and is audited annually by KPMG. Our board of directors, chaired by Alan Broadbent, meets regu-larly to provide governance and leadership, which involves, among other responsibilities, the review of financial statements, strategic plans and activity reports. Tamarack’s President is Paul Born, who has over 20 years experience and leadership managing charitable organiza-tions. The Institute’s financial highlights for 2005 are provided below.
The Maytree Foundation
The Maytree Foundation has made a ten-year commitment to grow the impact of Tamarack’s work. This partnership, now in its third year, provides Tamarack with a stable source of revenue allowing the Institute to work strategically. Tamarack’s work would not be possible without the Maytree Foundation’s support.
The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation
The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation provides support for the national component of Vibrant Communities including coaching for communities, learning, policy and evaluation. In addition the Foundation provides direct grants to Vibrant Communities’ Trail Builders, totaling $200,000 in 2005.
Donors/Supporters
Tamarack has sought financial support from donors for Vibrant Communities. Key partners in 2004 include RBC Financial, The Young Fund of the Hamilton Community Foundation and Sunlife Financial.
Tamarack also supports Vibrant Communities partners with local fundraising coaching. In 2005 local communities raised nearly $3.5 million in gifts and pledges.
Generated Revenue
Tamarack generates revenue through custom services contracts. Partners contribute to advancing our mutual goals.
Financial Highlights
The Young Fund
Charitable Registration No: 862808615RR0001 Audited by: KPMG
Statement of Cash Flows
Source of Cash:
2005 2004
The Maytree Foundation $200,000 $300,000
The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation $110,000 $90,000
Other Donations $212,500 $137,500
Earned Income and Other $381,449 $149,576
Total: $903,949 $677,076
Use of Cash:
Salaries and Benefits $463,190 $329,203
Supplies and Services $438,619 $332,923
Capital Assets $10,902 $14,483
Board of Directors
Alan Broadbent, Chairman/Co-founder, Chairman & CEO - Avana Capital Corporation
Nathan Gilbert, Vice-President Executive Director - The Laidlaw Foundation
Ratna Omidvar, Director Executive Director - The Maytree Foundation
Colin Robertson, Treasurer Chief Financial Officer - Avana Capital Corporation
Vali Bennett, Secretary - Avana Capital Corporation Paul Born, President/Co-founder
- Tamarack, An Institute for Community Engagement Advisors
Vibrant Communities Convenors Lance Evoy, Coordinator
- Institute in Management and Community Development, Concordia University
Edward (Ted) Jackson, Carlton University Founder - CEDTAP
Charles Pascal, Executive Director - The Atkinson Charitable Foundation Sherri Torjman, Vice-President
- The Caledon Institute of Social Policy Frances Westley, Director
- Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Staff
Laura Antal, Web & Multimedia
Paul Born, Strategic Coach & Consultant Mark Cabaj, Strategic Coach & Consultant Susan Eckerle Curwood, Pan Canadian Learning Community
Susan Damiao, Administration
Suzanne Holder, Administration & Finance Louise Kearney, Communications & Knowledge Management
Sharalynn Krahn, Custom Services
Susan Taylor Simpson, Strategic Coach & Consultant Rita Witt, Bookkeeper
2005 Partners & Supporters
Non Staff Coaches (Vibrant Communities) Dal Brodhead, New Economic Development Group Garry Loewen, Garry Loewen Consulting
Wayne Hussey, Wayne Hussey Consulting Vibrant Communities Steering Committee Tim Brodhead & Katharine Pearson
- The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation Paul Born & Mark Cabaj
- Tamarack, An Institute for Community Engagement Sherri Torjman & Eric Leviten-Reid
- The Caledon Institute of Social Policy Vibrant Communities National Donors The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation RBC Financial
The Maytree Foundation
The Hamilton Community Foundation (The Young Fund) Social Development Canada
SunLife Financial
Vibrant Communities (*Pending)
Victoria Saint John Toronto* Halifax*
Surrey Calgary Sydney Hamilton
Montreal Edmonton Trois-Rivières Niagara Saskatoon St. John’s* Winnipeg Waterloo
Non Staff Researchers, Consultants & Support Chris Cowperthwaite, Researcher
Neil Denison, Peaceworks Anita Fieguth, Researcher Matt Gordon, Researcher
Linda Gregorio, Coach & Consultant Dan Hamilton, eSolutions Group
Garry Loewen, Garry Loewen Consulting Sonya Lyon, Sentrik Graphic Design David Pell, Strategic Coach & Consultant Attila Schmidt, J2X Technologies, Inc. Kerrie Skillen, Custom Services Wes Worsfold, J2X Technologies, Inc.
