Mindy Stroet, formerly with the Prince George Community Foundation, talks about working with regional partners to ensure resources reach those who need them most. Through Communities for Gender Equality, the foundation supported programs that empower young girls and address systemic issues such as food insecurity. 

Harry Daley of The Greater Saint John Community Foundation shares his personal transformation through CGE. The foundation has revamped its grant review process to include those with lived experience, ensuring that funding decisions are rooted in community knowledge. 

Jennifer Debues of the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough Foundation speaks about embracing participatory grantmaking—an approach that puts funding decisions into the hands of the communities most affected. This shift not only ensured funds reached those who needed them most but also helped validate and amplify gender-focused work that often goes unnoticed. 

Despite being the “tiniest Community Foundation,” Manda Aufochs Gillespie of Cortes Island Community Foundation shares how her small but mighty team is taking bold steps to challenge traditional funding models, from tackling food insecurity to prioritizing immediate impact over long-term financial reserves.

Penny Day of the Rural Communities Foundation of Nova Scotia shares how her foundation leveraged Communities for Gender Equality to update bylaws, ensuring investments align with gender and climate-conscious values. 

Lori Runciman of the London Community Foundation reflects on how feminist grantmaking and policy changes, such as prioritizing vendors from marginalized groups, have reshaped her foundation’s approach to equity.

Join Andrea for this episode as she talks to Kelly Terbasket, co-founder of IndigenEYEZ, an organization that empowers individuals using Indigenous ways of knowing through different programs and projects. One of these programs in 13 Moons. 

For episode 4, Andrea chats with Marshall Feit from Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, creator of My Uncomfortable Hoodie, a podcast series, occasionally a live performance, that curates a set of stories from people on the uncomfortable parts of our lives that cultivate our identity.

In episode 3, Andrea talks to Sherri Smith from Red Deer, Alberta, president of Soroptimist International of Central Alberta. Sherri spearheaded the Period Promise project which is a program that advocates against period poverty, and for stigma free access to menstruation products for anyone that has a period.

In this episode, Andrea talks with Wendy Goldsmith, a social worker at the London Abused Women’s Centre and a facilitator for the Centre’s program, Survivors Speaking Out for Gender Equality.
Survivors Speaking Out for Gender Equality was a year-long project that saw 59 women who had experienced domestic violence create a community of leaders while designing and implementing different types of campaigns to raise awareness for women experiencing domestic violence.
NOTE: This episode discusses domestic violence and violence against women. Here are a few resources in you need support:

If you are in an emergency, please call 9-1-1.
For immediate assistance, please call one of the following 24-hour helplines:
Human Trafficking Helpline:  1-833-900-1010
Assaulted Women’s Helpline:  1-866-863-0511

Join Andrea as she talks with Michelle Friesen, co-founder of Lead As You Are, a program that empowers all individuals, no matter their age, to step into leadership roles, whether that's in politics, or in other spaces in their lives.