How can you advance your non-profit’s values through the use of technology?

In this session, recorded live on January 23, Amy Sample Ward, CEO of NTEN and author of The Tech That Comes Next¸ and Katie Gibson, Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience, presented their answers to this question.

[5:38] 1. Never put technology ahead of people.

[10:23] 2. Create diverse tech committees to support decisions, testing, and feedback.

[15:01] 3. Only collect data you can protect. And give it back to its owner.

[19:52] 4. Make your values the foundation for technology adoption and investment.

[27:41] 5. Make your voice heard in the technology policy-making process.

[34:13 ] Q & A

Download the session handout. Follow along with the transcript.

Presenter bios:

Amy Sample Ward believes that technology should be accessible and accountable to everyone, especially communities historically and systemically excluded from the digital world. They are the CEO of NTEN, a non-profit creating a world where missions and movements are more successful through the skillful and equitable use of technology. Amy’s second book, Social Change Anytime Everywhere, was a Terry McAdam Book Award finalist. Their most recent book is The Tech That Comes Next, with Afua Bruce.

Katie Gibson is a lawyer by training and an activist at heart. She is passionate about using entrepreneurial tools for social impact. Katie led strategy and partnerships at the CIO (Chief Information Officer) Strategy Council, a nonprofit focused on Canada’s digital transformation. In this role, she cofounded the Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience, where she is now Executive Director. She also leads work on sustainable IT and responsible AI (Artificial Intelligence). You may also have crossed paths with Katie in her previous roles as general counsel in a national youth charity, as director of Social Enterprise for the Ontario government, or in her work at the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing.

When searching for a new office space, it’s all about the lease.

In this session, recorded live on November 25, George Georghiades, Principal and CEO of Lexington Park Real Estate Incorporated, presents his advice on who to hire for help, what to look out for, and how to minimize risk in what is often an organization’s second largest expense.

These are his five suggested steps for a non-profit’s leasing process.

[6:03] 1. Define your space needs

[11:56] 2. Align your internal team

[15:51] 3. Hire the right external specialists

[21:04] 4. Be mindful as you negotiate your lease and prepare for occupancy

[26:56] 5. Use your rent-free period wisely

[32:58 ] Q & A

Download George’s leasing process checklist, the handout, and session slides. Follow along with the transcript.

Presenter bio: George leads and oversees Lexington Park’s team of investment, asset management, and development professionals. Prior to co-founding Lexington Park, George held progressively senior roles at McKinsey & Company, serving both its Private Equity and Institutional Investor Practice and providing guidance on a wide range of issues related to alternative asset class investing, specifically real estate and private equity. A Loran Scholar from the Class of 1995, George was the first alumnus to serve on the board of the Loran Scholars Foundation. He has also served as Board Treasurer for the Design Exchange, Canada’s Design Museum. He holds a BA in Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, an MSc. in Real Estate Economics and Finance at the London School of Economics, and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University.

If the well-being of a non-profit organization depends on its financial health, then the quality of the relationship between senior, or finance, staff and the board of directors is key.

In this session, recorded live on October 24, Michael Herrera, Chief Financial Officer at George Brown College, shares lessons from his wealth of experience as a staff member and a director.

These are his five good ideas on bringing your financial story to the board.

[3:12] 1. Set up your new board members for success

[4:52] 2. Write brief and useful meeting packets

[6:18] 3. Design a clear, concise, and purposeful meeting agenda

[9:13] 4. Present accessible, meaningful, and relevant financial information

[12:05] 5. Develop a strong relationship with your Treasurer and Board Chair

[17:01 ] Q & A

Download the session handout. Follow along with the transcript.

Michael’s recommended resources:

Six steps to being an awesome treasurer | CharityVillage

27 Tips for Improving Your Nonprofit Board’s Operations (bloomerang.co)

Presenting financials to boards | Airbase

Seven tips on how to present your finance case to the board | Acuity (acuitymag.com)

Onboarding New Nonprofit Board Members: 4 Key Steps to Ensure a Successful Transition (nonprofitready.org)

Presenter bio: Michael Herrera joined George Brown College in 2019 as Chief Financial Officer. In this role, he provides comprehensive financial leadership and technical expertise relating to the operations of the college. Michael has spent a career in service to the non-profit sector, having worked with social services, religious and arts organizations. Prior to joining George Brown College, he spent nearly a decade with United Way Greater Toronto. He also held similar leadership positions at the Anglican Church of Canada, YMCA of Greater Toronto and the National Ballet of Canada. Michael currently serves on the board of directors for Crow’s Theatre, Theatre Museum Canada, Toronto Arts Council, Toronto Arts Foundation, and Making The Shift – a Youth Homelessness Social Innovation Lab with a mandate to transforming how we respond to youth homelessness through research and knowledge mobilization.

The charitable sector has navigated many new challenges in the past few years. How do we now quantify our impact, respond to the future of work, and relate and respond to social movements? 

In this Five Good Ideas session, recorded live on September 28, Sabreena Delhon, executive director of the Samara Centre for Democracy, discussed how to break out of default binary non-profit work processes to find exploratory, creative, and substantive approaches to making meaningful change.

[5:18] 1. Measure the obvious

[8:17] 2. Challenge the production formula “PDF, Tweet, repeat”

[13:17] 3. Maximize your resources through partnerships

[15:20] 4. Fill knowledge and lived-experience gaps

[18:06] 5. Make it easy to be your audience

[21:41] Q & A

Download the session handout.

Follow along with the transcript and check out Sabreena’s recommended resources.

Presenter bio: Sabreena Delhon is the Executive Director of the Samara Centre for Democracy, a non-partisan civil society organization that is committed to securing an accessible, responsive, and inclusive democratic culture in Canada.

Prior to joining Samara, Sabreena was the Principal of Signal Strategies and managed access to justice initiatives at the Law Society of Ontario. She has directed research studies that examine public perceptions of legal technology and the justice system; results have informed the work of Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General and can be found on law school syllabi.

She is a Fellow with Simon Fraser University’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue and Massey College.

In this session, originally recorded on June 1, 2022, we asked Katharine Coons, National Senior Manager, Workplace Mental Health at Canadian Mental Health Association, to share her five good ideas on how create a psychologically healthy and safe workplace.

Read the full transcript. Download the session handout.

Katharine Coons, M.Sc
National Senior Manager, Workplace Mental Health at Canadian Mental Health Association

Katharine is the National Senior Manager, Workplace Mental Health at Canadian Mental Health Association. She has over ten years experience working in mental health and holds a M.Sc. in Occupational Psychology focusing her thesis on Workplace Well-being. She has worked in a variety of industries across Canada and the U.K. and brings a diverse understanding of employee and organizational needs. Katharine is an expert columnist at Benefits Canada, has written for The Toronto Star and has been interviewed by the CBC, CPA Canada and Retail Insider. Katharine was also an expert judge of the 2021 Workplace Benefits Awards. She currently serves as the in-house expert and trainer for Not Myself Today and the workplace mental health program at CMHA National.

In this session, originally recorded on April 26, 2022, we asked Teresa Marques, president and CEO of the Rideau Hall Foundation, to share her five good ideas on how to navigate effective development within the non-profit and charitable sector.

Read the full transcript.

Download the session handout.

Teresa Marques, President and CEO, Rideau Hall Foundation

Teresa Marques is an established senior executive and educator in the non-profit sector. She leads the Rideau Hall Foundation (RHF), an independent national charity with a vision for a better Canada. The RHF works to address key challenges facing the country in the areas of learning equity, creating a culture of innovation, leadership development, and by strengthening Canada’s culture of giving and volunteerism. Teresa has significant experience in people and talent management, stakeholder engagement, major-gift fundraising, and financial stewardship. Prior to joining the RHF, she led development teams focused on healthcare and post-secondary education. Teresa is also an instructor and course developer at Ryerson University’s G. Raymond Chang School for Continuing Education and holds degrees in Canadian history from the University of Ottawa and York University. She is a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) Director Education Program. Teresa is interested in how giving patterns and attitudes towards philanthropy in Canada are changing and is passionate about strengthening the non-profit sector and civil society more broadly.

In this session, originally recorded on March 29, 2022, we asked Nandita Bijur and Galen MacLusky to share the mindsets and principles that have helped their organization, Prosper Canada, introduce and integrate human-centred design into their projects.

Download the session handout at https://maytree.com/wp-content/uploads/5GI-Mar2022.pdf.

Nandita Bijur
Nandita (she/her) is a senior officer at Prosper Canada, working with municipal and community partners to integrate financial empowerment into existing services. As a service designer who has worked with frontline organizations and governments, she is most energized by learning how to make complex systems accessible and understandable.

Galen MacLusky
Galen is responsible for managing Prosper Canada’s Technology-Enabled Financial Empowerment projects, including the Benefits wayfinder. Galen is passionate about working with community organizations to help build and scale new ideas that deepen their impact. The foundations of his work are approaches that help organizations engage with those who are impacted by their services and test new programs and services with minimal investment. He has ten years of experience as a service designer in the private, public, and non-profit sectors, as well as a Master’s Degree in Engineering, Design, and Innovation from Northwestern University.

In this session, originally recorded on February 24, 2022, we asked Marlene Oliveira, a communications advisor and copywriter, to share her five good ideas on how to best get an organization’s communications fundamentals in order and how to plan to strengthen them.

In her presentation, Marlene discussed the importance of specific frameworks, tools, and tactics, including a non-profit’s strategic plan, brand, website, and storytelling.

Read the full transcript at https://maytree.com/five-good-ideas/five-good-ideas-to-get-your-communications-fundamentals-in-order/.

1. Use the strategies and frameworks that you already have

2. Always come back to your audiences

3. Let branding be your guide

4. Give your website content the attention it deserves

5. Deliver your nonprofit’s narrative over time

Marlene Oliveira is a communications advisor and copywriter specializing in content strategy and copywriting for non-profit organizations. She has worked in the non-profit sector since 1999, including a two-year crash course in a grassroots role, and six years as the national communications manager at a large Canadian health charity. Since 2008, Marlene has been running her consultancy, moflow, through which she solves content challenges for a wide variety of non-profit organizations through.

Marlene’s approach is to tap into the knowledge, experience, and expertise her clients already possess, to help their communications “flow.”

Marlene on social media:

In this session, originally recorded on January 26, 2022, we asked Matthew Mendelsohn, a public policy entrepreneur, researcher, strategic advisor and public sector executive, to share his five good ideas on the best ways to influence the decisions governments make.

Matthew provides an overview of lessons he has learned during his time in government, advocacy, consulting and policy think tanks.

Read the full transcript at https://maytree.com/five-good-ideas/five-good-ideas-to-influence-public-policy/.

1. Political science matters – interests, institutions, ideas, identity, and incentives all constrain outcomes

2. Understand the political process, the bureaucratic process, and the issue

3. Relationships and trust are capital

4. Stories matter to help frame problems and solutions

5. The announcement is the end of the beginning – details and implementation matter

Matthew Mendelsohn is a public policy entrepreneur, researcher, strategic advisor, and public sector executive. He has been using public policy to deliver economic and social impact for 25 years. He is currently a Visiting Professor and co-founder of First Policy Response at Ryerson University in Toronto and a Senior Advisor to Boston Consulting Group’s Global Public Sector Practice.

From 2016-2020 he served as Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet in the Privy Council Office, where he led the Prime Minister’s Results & Delivery Unit and the Impact & Innovation Unit. During his time in Ottawa, he also co-led the Government of Canada data strategy, oversaw advice on digital and platform governance, and designed Impact Canada, which developed Challenges and outcomes-based funding initiatives for the government.

Prior to his role in the Privy Council Office, Matthew was the founding Director of the Mowat Centre, a public policy think tank in the School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Toronto. During that time, he published and spoke about government transformation, democratic institutions, social and economic policy, and federalism.

Matthew is a former Deputy Minister and Associate Secretary to the Cabinet with the Ontario government and a former Senior Advisor in the federal government’s Privy Council Office where he led the polling unit. He was a chief architect of the 2015 Liberal election platform and a member of Prime Minister Trudeau’s transition team. Matthew received his B.A. from McGill University and Ph.D. from the l’Université de Montréal and held a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia. He was a tenured faculty member in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University for 10 years and has been an active board member for many non-profit and charitable organizations that support community well-being, civic engagement, and economic and social inclusion.

In this session, originally recorded on November 25, 2021, we asked Rosemarie Powell, Executive Director of the Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN), to share five good ideas about the lessons she has learned as the leader of a community-labour coalition charged with implementing community benefits agreements.

Local communities want the workforce building public infrastructure to reflect the demographics of their neighbourhoods and for the accrued economic benefits to be shared more equitably. Construction unions also recognize community benefits as an opportunity to increase diversity and inclusion in their workforce. If the goals and values are shared, how can the promise of community benefits be fulfilled?

In this Five Good Ideas session, Rosemarie Powell shares the lessons she has learned as the leader of a community-labour coalition charged with implementing community benefits agreements. She has worked on some of the city’s largest public infrastructure projects, including the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, Finch West LRT, Casino Woodbine, and the West Park Healthcare Centre.

Rosemarie tells the story of how TCBN created a foundation for success by building an allied coalition. She takes us through their journey of building trust, revealing some of the systems and processes they used to hold each side accountable while recognizing and celebrating progress along the way.

1. Co-create the foundation for success

2. Cultivate a coalition of champions and allies

3. Build and preserve trust while working through challenges

4. Maintain a clear definition of success and verify outcomes

5. Recognize and celebrate milestones and progress

About Rosemarie Powell

Rosemarie Powell is a passionate advocate for social, economic, and environmental justice. She has led for over 20 years from the grassroots up, managing and developing several innovative and impactful community programs and services to support historically disadvantaged communities and equity seeking groups’ access to the labour market and the economy. Her community engagement work in Jane and Finch earned several awards for leadership and imagination. Currently, Rosemarie is the Executive Director of the Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN).

TCBN is a community/labour coalition of 120 member organizations and groups which successfully initiated Community Benefits Agreements for the Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West LRT transit projects, West Park Healthcare Centre, and Rexdale Casino Woodbine.