From Our Vantage Point

In our latest episode of From Our Vantage Point, our Associate Executive Director, Maria Turnbull, joins Wavefront Centre for Community Accessibility’s Christopher T. Sutton and Harbour West Consulting’s Shelagh Levangie in conversation about the Accessible British Columbia Act. Together, our guests share some of the key milestones that led to the Act's development, key features of the new legislation relevant to BC non-profit organizations, and significant considerations for non-profit leaders to support alignment with the Act.

Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Humanity Financial, for their support of these important conversations!

In this first episode of our podcast season, British Columbia’s Parliamentary Secretary Megan Dykeman joins Vantage Point’s Zahra Esmail and Prairie Chiu in an exploration of the growth of a stronger relationship between government and non-profits in our province, what we’ve seen so far and what we might expect and look forward to with future initiatives and the development of a non-profit network in BC. The opportunities abound and we are glad to be on this journey together!

Coaching is a powerful way for non-profits and leaders to go deeper into their core values and beliefs to determine their “why”. A coach approach can help organizations identify the cultural values they want to uplift in their organizations that in turn helps them strategize more effectively. Dr. Delbar Niroushak and Hassan Pardawalla join our host, Rachelle Smalldon, to explore how coaching can help set up individuals, teams, and entire organizations with a growth mindset to help them succeed.

Dr. Delbar Niroushak is a PhD psychologist and a behavior expert for designing Indicators to measure change and success. Delbar has more than 18 years' experience as a Leadership and Executive coach for performance improvement and its alignment with the vision and mission of a company. Delbar is a strategic HR developer and a professional trainer creating opportunities for intentional employee engagement in organizations.

Hassan Pardawalla’s progressive cross-functional career path has been non-linear and divergent; a path that has been driven by curiosity, broad-mindedness, adaptability, grit, and diversity. Hassan works to create great organizational cultures, developing and nourishing talent through servant and authentic leadership, open communication, growing relationships based on trust and integrity, and being a boundary-spanning connector leader.

On May 30, 2023, Vantage Point, together with Vancouver Foundation, Victoria Foundation, City of Vancouver, Vancity Community Foundation, and United Way BC, released “Safety Net” the 2023 State of the Non-Profit Sector Report. The report finds that British Columbia’s non-profits continue to be a safety net for communities, providing services and bridging gaps between government and the private sector. But the safety net is under pressure. BC’s non-profits continue to be driven by hopeful future-oriented visions, but human resource concerns remain prominent. While BC’s non-profits are doing more for communities and for their staff by meeting increased service demands and improving working conditions across the sector, during a time of increasing costs and staffing pressures, the SOTS report signals that even optimistic organizations are unable to thrive in the face of constant uncertainty about operational and funding sustainability.

Our panel of human resources professionals in our sector, join host Cherie Payne, Director of Sector Development and Government Relations at Vantage Point, to explore the results of the sector report, the human resource concerns within, and what is needed to help these organizations survive.

What is a collaboration continuum? How does it start? How does it work? What makes a successful collaboration? In this episode, Maria Turnbull hosts David Lee from MOSAIC and fellow Vantage Point consultants JP Baker and Dorla Tune in a roundtable conversation about the power of collaboration and, based on their own experiences, the key elements and systems for impactful working partnerships. Hear more about what they think contribute to powerful collaborative experiences and where they suggest you could start!

Strengthening the capacity of the Non-profit sector is a primary focus at Vantage Point. Through all our work we seek to support, convene and uplift non-profit organizations in British Columbia. That’s why this conversation is so important to us. How can we use effective fund development practices and efficient technology to support our sector? The tools are out there. How can we use them best? Why are inclusive fundraising practices important? Who is responsible for financially supporting the sector?

In this episode, our host and CEO of Vantage Point, Zahra Esmail, talks with Bryna Dilman, the Senior Director of Growth and Marketing at Keela, exploring the importance of strong and inclusive fund development and how data-driven technology can help us in building a stronger non-profit sector.

Joining us to discuss Truth and Reconciliation in the Workplace with Roy Pogorzelski and Carol Robinson from Harbour West Consulting. In this episode our guests bring diverse perspective to the conversation, from Roy’s lived experience as an Indigenous leader and educator, to their breadth of joint HR and leadership work across sectors in positive and impactful approaches to integrating truth and reconciliation in the workplace. With authenticity and openness, Roy and Carol invite Vantage Point’s listeners to learn, reflect, and be inspired by strategies to activate the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action in the hearts, minds, and behaviours of ourselves, our teams, and our workplaces.

This episode we speak with Kevin McCort, CEO of the Vancouver Foundation, and Katie Clogg, Executive Director of the Sunshine Coast Resource Centre about the new Recovery & Resiliency Fund – $34 million of new funding available for not-for-profits and open for applications until September 30.

It is an eye-opening conversation about what these two leaders have learned about good practices in past funding models, and what this new Fund can seek to correct with novel approaches, innovative evaluation criteria, and commitment to multi-year funding to ensure sustainable staffing and projects.

BC not-for-profits and charities can apply for a grant from the Recovery and Resiliency Fund at this link: https://www.vancouverfoundation.ca/grants/recovery-and-resiliency-fund

If you have been considering developing your coaching skills or have heard of coaching but aren’t entirely sure what it is, this is the episode for you! Darrell Lim, coach extraordinaire, joins From Our Vantage Point's host Rowan King this month to discuss what is really behind the word “coaching”: what it looks like and why it’s an imperative skill to have as a leader.

When we think of not-for-profit collaboration, we don’t often look beyond the borders of our sector. Well, lying just beyond the not-for-profit sector is a world of opportunities — especially when it comes to universities! Kat Cureton and Katie McCallum from UBC Community Engagement joined this month’s podcast to share the plethora of resources universities have to offer not-for-profits, how to access them, and why they can be so mutually beneficial. This episode is full of great resources to discover and opportunities to unfold.