In this episode, Sally speaks with Tamer Ibrahim of the Laidlaw Foundation about Youth Collective Impact, or Youth CI. Tamer is the manager of Youth CI at Laidlaw and also sits on the board of directors at the 'For Youth Initiative': a non-profit organization that has served, inspired and advocated for thousands of [...]
In this episode Lynn is joined by Steve Doherty, Executive Director, and Mike Burnett, Community Engagement and Education Specialist, from Youth Without Shelter in Etobicoke, ON. Steve and Mike detail the "500 in Five" Strategic Plan and all that went into its development. This includes the inclusion of lived voices from youth at [...]
In this episode of Impact Conversations, Bill Young, the founder of Social Capital Partners, joins Lynn to talk about creating impact in systems. Bill’s extensive business experience and social enterprise successes have given him some important insights about learning through experimentation, pivoting as ideas and opportunities present themselves, and trusting in management teams and their [...]
Often, organizations approach their strategic planning by asking their stakeholders for ideas about what the organization should focus on next, without thinking about the overall impact the organization hopes to have. Stakeholders often have great ideas about what is working well and what can be improved (the classic SWOT analysis) and employees and board members [...]
A day long training workshop with Lynn Fergusson, hosted by the Sustainability Network. We'll provide an overview of strategic planning and our approach to tying it to impact in a concrete, actionable and inspiring way. We’ll provide examples, then share tools and give you a chance to get your feet wet. You’ll get feedback from coaches [...]
In this episode, Lynn talks to members of the impact team at PolicyWise – a partnership between Alberta's universities, the community, and the government of Alberta – Cathie Scott, Chief Knowledge and Policy Officer; Jo-Louise Huq Organizational Innovation and Change Scientist, and Courtney Lundy, Business and Grants Manager. Hear about their journey to [...]
One of the most important considerations in building strategy for impact is establishing who your beneficiaries are. You want to be clear about for whom you are intentionally doing this work. This shows up at the very beginning of strategy building, in defining your Intended Impact Statement, which states the result we intend to be [...]
Is your organization aligned on its Point of Accountability? Recently we heard a funder’s excitement about the clear purpose, and conviction to achieve it, that a grantee had gained after working with us. In fact, the funder wanted that same clarity for themselves. It reminded us that clarity of purpose and accountability is a rare [...]
Sally interviews Shelley Zuckerman of the North York Community House, an organization that supports its community members to settle, thrive and lead. They discuss the process of defining NYCH's intended impact and aligning the organization to its impact in the broader community. Shelley also tells us about NYCH's continuous effort to measure its [...]
Sally interviews Robin Cory, of Colbeck Strategic Advisors. They talk about how organizations which focus on their impact, and align their financial resources and organizational capabilities to it, can build strong strategy that achieves results. Robin and Sally talk about how to decide what not to do and why that is often difficult in the [...]