Insights & Important Update about Inspiring Communities
Welcome to my first announcement and blog as the Executive Director of Inspiring Communities. Since last fall, the co-leadership model was announced. During my […]
Blog
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Write Your Heart Out: Adapting Evaluation to a Youth Writing Program
Write Your Heart Out (WYHO) is a program for youth 11+ that has, to date, run three times out of the Bus Stop Theatre […]
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“I am because we are”: African Nova Scotian Changemakers
Centering an understanding of the participants’ culture and heritage presents an innovation-stoking alternative to existing colonial systems.
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Art as a Focus for Healing
In 2022, Inspiring Communities received funding from the Canada Healthy Communities Initiative for a project to be delivered by Northside Rising (now North Star […]
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Mosaic, Melting Pot and AI
Will artificial intelligence flatten what makes cultures unique? As the Senior Manager of Communications and Technology, I am intrigued by the areas where technology […]
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Inspiring Communities Welcomes new Co-Executive Director Mueni Mutinda
Inspiring Communities warmly welcomes Mueni Mutinda to the role of Co-Executive Director. Mueni joins Co-Executive Director Jocelyn Li in leading our equity-centered systems transformation […]
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Queering Climate Justice Now and Into the Future
by IC Environment Senior Fellow Lily Barraclough When I first started this fellowship, as a Climate Research Fellow with Inspiring Communities, I had only […]
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Name and Scope Change in Cape Breton Initiative
The last few years have been rich in learning and growing for our Cape Breton initiative, Northside Rising. The collective work, particularly working with […]
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Social Finance Commitment
Views of a Peruvian in Canada by Francisco Cruzalegui In early November, the Sustainable Finance Forum was held in Ottawa. I decided to attend […]
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Dartmouth Mural Project Recognized in Legislature
MLA of Dartmouth North, Susan Leblanc, rose in the Legislature Thursday, November 9, 2023 to officially remember Miya Harris. MLA Leblanc commended the work […]
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Empowering Communities
Insights from the Canadian Network of Community Land Trust Conference By Treno Morton Recently, I had the privilege of attending a conference hosted by […]
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Impact of the Social Impact Summit
Social impact organizations, practitioners, funders and policy makers recently came together in St. John’s Newfoundland for the Atlantic Social Impact Exchange Summit. Hosts Common […]
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Credit Union Innovation
Happy International Credit Union Day 2023! On Tuesday we hosted a webinar to discuss credit union innovation. Here is the recording of that event! […]
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Truth And Reconciliation
Inspiring Communities acknowledges the ongoing trauma caused by the residential school system and systemic injustices to First Nations, Inuit, Metis Nation children. Our office […]
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Co-Lead Structure Moves Forward
We are excited to announce Jocelyn Li as internally appointed Co-Executive Director (Strategy) and are recruiting a collaborator to complement their skills in strategic […]
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Inspiring Communities Implements Innovative Leadership Transition
Inspiring Communities (IC) is known for exploring innovative ways to achieve equity-centered systems change and sharing their learnings from this work. Now, the organization […]
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Governance, Leadership and Equity in the Sector
We opened this blog series with the intention to capture some of the thoughts and learnings about identity, intersectionality, leadership, equity in leadership, and […]
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Embracing Equity: Insights from the CIP Planning Conference in Halifax
by Treno Morton, Climate Engagement Coordinator, Between the Bridges Introduction Recently, I had the privilege of attending the Canadian Institute of Planners Planning Conference […]
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High-Hanging Fruit
Download High Hanging Fruit here. “Swing for the rafters” is a baseball metaphor for aiming high. Working in systems transformation requires this kind of […]
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Art as a Mechanism for Hope and Agency
How Open Space Mobile Arts Centre used art as a tool for positive change As the recent Safe Spaces Network film series has shown, […]
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Our Evaluation Evolution
Inspiring Communities has a long deep history entwining monitoring, learning and evaluation throughout our work. Nancy Carter is the evaluator who has been working […]
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Collaborative Leadership as a Model for Healthy Transitions & Succession Planning
In our last post, we joined Benny Welter-Nolan and Louise Adongo in conversation on their experiences of burnout. Review the introduction here and the […]
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Learning in Community: CBYF National Retreat Reflection
By Morgan Dunn Tamarack Insitute hosted a CBYF (Communities Building Youth Futures) Members Retreat in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan on May 10 and 11. Each […]
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The Power of Sharing: A Garden Encounter Inspires Hope
by Graham Cromwell In a world where food security is a big deal, sometimes a random encounter can remind us of the power of […]
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Three Bridges: Stories from the Ship’s Bridge
by Nancy Carter, Evaluator Introduction In nautical and seafaring contexts, a ship’s bridge is an elevated platform from which the captain steers. From the […]
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Burnout and Systemic Barriers to Rest & Resilience
People underestimate the burnout of, and impact on, leaders in the nonprofit/social purpose/ community sector. And that the leaders need rest.
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Phase Zero: Testing Community-Based Strategizing
By: Kjeld Mizpah (KJ) Conyers-Steede Fellow, Inspiring Communities My ah-ha Moment When I started this journey, I wanted to understand the impact of economic policy in […]
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Introduction to our Leadership Blog Series
You have only to review this blog section to realize that Inspiring Communities is an organization in transition. Or perhaps, it is easier to […]
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Three Bridges: Sustaining and Using Bridges
by Nancy Carter, Evaluator Locals of Halifax-Dartmouth will remember “The Big Lift” project aimed at maintaining and sustaining the MacDonald Bridge – one of […]
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Strategizing as a Collection of Communities: Inclusive Policy Development that Embraces the Diasporic Journey
Presented By: Kjeld Mizpah (KJ) Conyers-Steede, Fellow, Inspiring Communities When you look at Black lives within Canada, the evolution of the relationship on these […]
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Queer Climate Justice Perspectives
Policy, Community Organizing, and Lived Experiences We are grateful to HCi3: Halifax Climate, Investment, Innovation and Impact Fund for their support of this fellowship, […]
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MIYA’S WORLD
On June 10, 2023, the community of Dartmouth North were invited to gather for the unveiling of a mural at the BGC building on […]
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Could Co-operatives Help Rural Communities in Atlantic Canada Be Self-Sufficient?
Co-written by Inda Intiar and Kristen Murray, members of Inspiring Communities Atlantic Changemakers Council. In 2016, the community of Dorchester, on the bank of […]
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Three Bridges: Bridges that Connect
by Nancy Carter, Evaluator In the first post in our series, we talked generally about Inspiring Communities’ culture of evaluation and how it can […]
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Building Community Resilience Through Film Screenings
The Safe Spaces Network, a project of Northside Rising, aims to create a more trauma- informed Cape Breton Regional Municipality. As the name suggests, […]
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Community Healing Community: Remembering Miya
Last June, Between the Bridges, our initiative in Dartmouth North, opened a dialogue with youth in the neighborhood. We asked what mattered to them, […]
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Three Bridges: IC’s Culture of Evaluation
by Nancy Carter “Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” – Abigail Adams “A […]
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Atlantic Canada Narratives: Staying, Coming, Returning
View the recording below. If you have a story about belonging or place, feel welcome to share it in the comments. Watch for more […]
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Embrace the Complexity: Street Parties & Privilege
In the late fall of 2021, Dalhousie University approached us for guidance in setting up a collective impact project with their neighbors to address […]
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Harsh Truth & Tough Love: Imperialism, Race and Evaluation
Charlene Boyce interviews Darlene Lawrence Inspiring Communities is committed to learning and evaluation and has been since our inception. We have reflected publicly on […]
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The Colonial Place
Navigating the governance bug in the Commonwealth software The Colonial place is my reality. I was watching the TV show The Good Place, which […]
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Queering Climate Justice in Mi’kma’ki
How do queer justice and climate action intersect? 2023 IC Climate Fellow Lily Barraclough explores the systems that define the challenges for queer climate […]
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I2 – Making Impact with ARAISA
In partnership with the Atlantic Region Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies, we launched Innovating for Impact I2 Innover pour impacter a year ago, with […]
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Sustainable, Accessible, Affordable Rural Transportation?
Many thanks to all who joined us on January 31 for this engaging panel discussion. Everyone who came brought information, questions, and great insights. […]
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Writers on the Storm (of Teenage Angst)
Youth Writers Circle: February 2 – 23 Bus Stop Theatre, Gottingen Street Facilitators: Andre Fenton, Meg Hubley, Sue Goyette More information to come Next […]
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IC Recruits Junior Climate Fellow
In an extension of the Inspiring Communities Fellowship Program, Anastasia Nevin has been chosen to serve as the first IC Junior Climate Fellow. Anastasia […]
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IC Welcomes Climate Fellow
From a robust field of 14 candidates, Inspiring Communities (IC) has chosen Lillian Barraclough, a recent graduate of the Master of Environmental Studies program […]
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Links for Thinks – 2022
We have a weekly email called the Monday Essentials that goes out to our staff and initiatives across the province. Through it, we regularly […]
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Driven by Community
Feasibility study on carsharing electric vehicles in Dartmouth North by Treno Morton Introduction and Overview In an effort to raise awareness around opportunities for […]
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Harvesting Hope on the Northside
“Hopefully some people share their stories of hope and some of the positive things that are happening in the community,” – Megan during her […]
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Climate Change Demands Regional Collaboration
Establishing a need for a Trans-Regional Institution defending Atlantic Canada’s interests as the nation attempts to transition to cleaner energy alternatives Blog post contributed […]
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Who has power? Who exercises control? Who needs to build trust?
Navigating the shift of meaningful economic development Navigating Power, Control, and Trust has impacted me since the age of 10 years. At that age, […]
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Sorting through the Archives for Gold, or At Least a Can Opener
Inspiring Communities releases “Learnings of the Organization from a Collective Impact Perspective” Download and read: Learnings of the Organization from a Collective Impact Perspective […]
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Social Innovation Round Up
Discussion starters in Social Innovation this week Philanthropy is a linchpin to social innovation While it is undeniable that it is easier to improve […]
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New Board Members Extend IC’s Reach
Inspiring Communities is pleased to formally welcome four new members to our governing board. These new members bring diverse experiences, fields of expertise, geographic […]
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Inspiring Communities Announces Fellowship Program
Focus areas to include polarizing conversations and shifting policy making For release September 20, 2022 (Kjipuktuk) Inspiring Communities (IC) is proud to present the […]
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Doctrine of Discovery: A Linchpin of Heiltsuk Cultural Genocide
There have been ongoing calls to dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery advocating that it informs and influences policies and practices entrenched in legislation and procedures. It is viewed as a doctrine of superiority that impinges on reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and Canada in general. By dismantling it, reconciliation can be advanced to interface with Canadian law with the International Human Rights Law that repudiates the doctrine.
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The Art of City Building
What we can learn from this conference, and why we, as Inspiring Communities, are helping present it. Inspiring Communities is dedicated to creating systems […]
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Mind the pace…
by Charlene Boyce, Communications Manager In my first city job, I was a graphic designer at a printing company. It was back when manual […]
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Poems by North Dartmouth Poet Kali JJ Williams
As presented at the North Dartmouth public consultations. Printed with permission of the author. North end When I moved here the first thing I […]
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Between the Bridges Renews Its Community Mandate
Between the Bridges, started in 2016, predated Inspiring Communities but formally became an initiative of the organization in 2019. The initiative served the community […]
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Dartmouth North Youth Engagement Informs BtB Work
Below are some captured elements from a powerful engagement with youth in Dartmouth North held on June 15. The organizers were Kayley Dixon and […]
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Brain Science Supports Repetition
Check out this interesting article about how repeated action deepens learning!Written by Peak Wellbeing at Medium.com: The Reason for Repetition: How Repetition Helps Us […]
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Triple Loop Learning
We host monthly Inspiring Communities Network sessions during which we aim to talk about and review what we have learned from our work, sharing […]
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Call for Board Members
Inspiring Communities is a not-for-profit equity-centered systems change leader in Atlantic Canada. We believe that collective action is essential, so we innovatively connect communities. […]
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IC Reveals New Strategic Directions
We are proud to share our new Strategic Directions. We began the strategic review process a year ago, as we recognized the need to […]
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Lisa Power is a Changemaker
Tell me a little bit about yourself My name is Lisa Power, and my pronouns are she/her. Both my parents were born and raised […]
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Ashley Musgrave is a Changemaker
Tell me a little bit about yourself My name is Ashley Musgrave, my pronouns are she/her. I am a mother of five children. I […]
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Kade Rogers is a Changemaker
Tell me a little bit about yourself Hi, my name is Kade Rogers, my pronouns are they/them. I am a queer trans masc individual […]
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Beth Steele is a Changemaker
Tell me a little bit about yourself. My name is Beth Steele, and my pronouns are she/her. I am a new mom who is […]
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Jenny Hubbert is a Changemaker
Tell me a little bit about yourself. My name is Jennifer Hubbert and my pronouns are she/ her. I am a mom to three […]
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Amber Dawn is a Changemaker
Tell me a little bit about yourself. Hello, my name is Amber Tapley (Dawn), and my pronouns are she/her. I am a proud parent […]
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Atlantic Changemakers Council
Inspiring Communities has learned a lot from our experiences with networks over the last four years. We aim to apply those lessons as we […]
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Cindy Allen is a Changemaker
Tell me a little bit about yourself Hello, My name is Cindy Allen and my pronouns are she/her. My background is primarily music, in […]
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Writing a new story at Turning the Tide
Charlene Boyce speaks with Digby lead Erika Rolston So much of our systems change work comes down to a need to change the stories […]
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Connections Between Permaculture & Systems Practice
By Megan McLeod, Northside Rising My personal learning about systems (and especially understanding how people are the trickiest/most important part of systems) came from […]
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IC joins movement tackling Digital Resilience for nonprofits
The Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience aims to build a digitally-enabled nonprofit sector, where Canada’s nonprofits use data and tech to advance their […]
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Social Innovation and Systems Change News Notes: March 11, 2022
Co-op housing rises again in the Tara Inn. The Nova Scotia Co-operative Council has purchased the Tara Inn in New Glasgow and will be […]
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Julieann Poirier is a Changemaker
The Northside Changemakers Program was developed as a way to celebrate and empower changemakers on the Northside. We wanted to develop a program which […]
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Avery Varnes is a Changemaker
The Northside Changemakers Program was developed as a way to celebrate and empower changemakers on the Northside. We wanted to develop a program which […]
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Amritpal Kaler is a Changemaker
s blog series showcases each participant’s journey. The changemaker we would like to introduce this week is Amritpal Kaler, who designed and delivered a vegetarian cooking class for the Pathways to Employment program.
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Northside Changemakers Program Returns
Northside Rising is excited to announce that the third round of The Northside Changemakers Program is now open for application.
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Estelle Levangie is a Changemaker
Northside Changemaker Estelle Levangie created a private Facebook group with the intention of bringing all women and gender expansive individuals together in a circle.
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Community Psychology PhD Chronicles pt. 3
Human Connection and the Learning Pathway January 25, 2022 We’re in the heart of winter now… glorious snowshoeing in our backwoods with the frolicking […]
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Matthew Jessome is a Changemaker
The Northside Changemakers Program was developed as a way to celebrate and empower changemakers on the Northside. We wanted to develop a program which […]
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Kathleen Robinson is a Changemaker
Northside Rising is an Inspiring Communities initiative. Learn more about the Northside Changemakers program here. The Northside Changemakers Program was developed as a way to […]
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Felicity Clarkson is a Changemaker
Northside Rising is an Inspiring Communities initiative. Learn more about the Northside Changemakers program here. The Northside Changemakers Program was developed as a way to […]
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Northside Community Coalition Launches
North Sydney, October 5, 2021 – The Northside Community Coalition hosted an outdoor family event to celebrate Northside communities and build support for the new […]
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Lorraine Pye-Varnes is a Changemaker
Interview conducted by Northside Rising, an Inspiring Communities nested initiative. Learn more about the Northside Changemakers program here. Tell me a little bit about yourself. […]
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Lessons in Weaving a Network
WeavEast has been a rich experiment in trying to build, or weave, an Atlantic network of changemakers. “Trying” is the operative word. WeavEast was […]
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Truth and Reconciliation Day, Every Day
Reflection shared by Jody Nelson, Project Lead, Northside Rising “They try to put sugar in the coffee,” said my 13-year-old son, after a session […]
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Paige Cox is a Northside Changemaker
Tell me a little bit about yourself Hi, my name is Paige Cox, I am from North Sydney, grew up in North Sydney and […]
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The Northside Changemakers – A Journey Inspired
Northside Rising has launched its second cohort of Northside Changemakers. Suzi Oram-Aylward, Program Coordinator, shared this: The Northside Changemakers Program was developed as a […]
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“All you have to be by the time you’re 23 is yourself.”
Themes at the scale of a generation There is a podcast I love called Decoder Ring. The show explores “cultural mysteries”. The last episode […]
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Wayside Journey
At Inspiring Communities we often like to call ourselves a learning organization. Well, over the last 12 months I have certainly learned a lot. […]
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Community Psychology PhD Chronicles, Pt. 2
The Learning Pathway by Cari Patterson I’ve just officially completed the first year of my PhD program (time flies!) and I’m poised to begin […]
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9 Inspiring Social Innovation Projects Funded
September 14, 2021 Inspiring Communities is pleased to share the nine social innovation projects that have successfully received WeavEast Seed Grants. “We were appreciative […]
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Community Change through Elections
September 6, 2021 Community change happens in many ways and in our organization, we have 26+ staff who are making a difference in their […]
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Friday round up of good news, interesting tidbits & things to make you go, “Hmmm”
Our content curator, Charlene, sifts through the Google hits to entertain and inform you.
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Digby Youth Leading Change
Our Executive Director, Louise Adongo, recently posed a series of questions to Morgan Dunn, the Communities Building Youth Futures Coordinator in Digby. Here is […]
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Emancipation Day: Organizations & Individuals
We have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to Black history and talent in this region. This is in NO WAY a comprehensive […]
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Acknowledging Small Steps in our Network
Inspiring Communities’ Content Curator reflects on Emancipation Day in light of our recent Impact Report. Canada has long enjoyed the perception that our race […]
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Conversations with Changemakers
Our Digby Youth Intern, Graham, reflects on some of people he has connected with and some of what he’s learned by Graham Cromwell, Youth […]
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Experimenting with Networks and Systems Change:
I was involved with WeavEast from the beginning and had stars in my eyes about its potential to strengthen relationships for social innovation and impact. I was still in the throes of my doctoral research and was absorbed in theory around networks and their power for spurring change. That fall we were also establishing Inspiring Communities as a new organization. But when the opportunity to help launch and host a regional network of changemakers presented itself it felt too important to turn down.
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Weymouth’s Resilience Shines Bright
A Community Shaken but not Broken The evening of Tuesday, July 13th, 2021, I found out some distressing news. As I went to close […]
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#OuEstMaPetition: Commemorating Acadians
A story of how the royal proclamation recognizing the Expulsion of the Acadians came about. This was originally published as a Twitter thread. View […]
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Ways to Spend Emancipation Day
We would like to celebrate this first Emancipation Day by lifting up and celebrating a small sample of the impactful Black Atlantic organizations / […]
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Noted in the News
July 23, 2021 Noticed This feels like a grab bag of randomness, but there are woven connections throughout, of race and justice, of sustainability […]
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Better Zoom / Video Meeting Guide
Covering the basics Duncan Ebata shared this great resource from Jan Keck: The Ultimate Zoom Guide for Participants in 2021. At the start of your […]
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Wayside: A Case Study
Did you know that Wayside was originally redeveloped at Inspiring Communities in response to the needs identified by WeavEast Fellows? Or that we benefitted […]
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Systems Change in Difficult Times
2020-2021 Impact Report Released July 12, 2021 Systems change can take a long time. So, how do you know if you’re moving the needle? […]
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Lawrence Shebib is a Northside Changemaker and a Dr. Strang Community Hero
Lawrence Shebib is the coordinator of the North Sydney Food Bank. Under Shebib’s guidance, the food bank has moved to a new location, the former Seton Elementary School site, where it has become a community hub, aiming to assist clients in new areas such as housing and employment. In May 2021, Shebib was named as one of Dr. Strang’s Community Heroes.
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Lisa Bond Is a Northside Changemaker and a Strang Hero
Interview provided by Northside Rising, an Inspiring Communities nested initiative. Earlier in June, Lisa was recognized with one of the Dr. Strang Community Hero Awards […]
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Northside Rising – The Back Story
A look back at the steps that have led to Northside Rising’s current form.
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Collective Impact on Substance Use: A 3-Year Snapshot
By: Megan MacLeod, Community Lead, Collaboration & Engagement, Northside Rising Background: Through the provincial government, Inspiring Communities was funded to lead 3 collective impact […]
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What does systems change look like?
Systems change can be a tough nut to crack in many ways. First, what is this system you are speaking of?! There are multiple perspectives and truths simultaneously at play. In fact, there are often multiple systems!
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DEN Takes Holistic Approach to Equitable Employment
In 2020, it felt like the world’s awareness of systemic racism shifted. So why does is it still so hard for African Nova Scotian […]
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Community Psychology PhD Chronicles
By Cari Patterson, Director, Research and Evaluation Part One: Introduction When I started working on my PhD last fall, one of my Community Psychology […]
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What we learned: Conversations about Quality of Life in Nova Scotia
Our partners at Engage Nova Scotia have offered this reflection on their experience with The Meet-Up The Meet-Up was a six-week series of conversations […]
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Small Town Big Changes
In this article, I want to introduce a young man named Graham Cromwell. Graham is in the position of Youth Intern with Turning […]
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Kayla Steele is a Changemaker
Interview provided by Northside Rising, an Inspiring Communities nested initiative. Tell me a little bit about yourself I’m Kayla Steele. I’m 29 and I have […]
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Dinao MacCormick is a Changemaker
Interview provided by Northside Rising, an Inspiring Communities nested initiative. Tell me a little bit about yourself My name is Dinao. I am an Expressive […]
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Natalie Couture is a Northside Changemaker
Interview provided by Northside Rising, an Inspiring Communities nested initiative. Tell me a little bit about yourself I graduated from StFX with a degree in […]
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A Safe Place for Digby’s Youth
I want to introduce you to a young lady by the name of Morgan Dunn. I met Morgan at an information session about Inspiring […]
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My Connection with Turning the Tide
I became a member of Turning the Tide in the late spring of 2019. Shortly after, I became a CA (Community Ambassador). It is about making connections with communities, within Digby and the communities that surround it.
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Poverty Reduction Through Capacity Building
The COVID-19 pandemic and other complexities have changed the context and needs for the social sector. In our work to change systems, we recognize […]
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Jim Clarke is a Northside Changemaker
I have been connected to Northside Rising for a while now and thinking about other ways I can help in my community. I saw the application come up in my news feeds. I was drawn to apply mostly because I was interested in the training that came with it (Mental Health First Aid, Non-Violent Crisis Intervention, Naloxone training) I thought I could do something with those
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Analysing the Narrative Around the COVID Pandemic: a War or a Slog?
The rain was coming down in sheets. The gloomy clouds blanket the sky. Makes you want to tuck into your nest and pull your […]
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And so it begins…
Nova Scotia is in the grips of a fast-moving third wave. I was hoping we would stay on our steady course and keep the impending third wave contained.
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Shalom Jose is a Northside Changemaker
My name is Shalom Jose. “Shalom” means ‘peace’ or ‘hello’ in Hebrew. I am a proud participant of the Northside Changemaker program where I have been working on a food security project, “Harvest @ Home.”
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Wicked Questions at the heart of networks
As the MaRS Solutions Lab notes: “creating guiding questions helps to map and understand your challenge.” In the world of complex systems change, anchor […]
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The Pandemic Predicament
Dispatches from Digby by Shawnalynn Cromwell Ontario has jumped from the frying pan into the fire! The premier is asking the Atlantic Provinces for help. […]
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The Slow War
Dispatches from Digby by Shawnalynn Cromwell “Feeling a little scatterbrained, mentally exhausted, almost on the verge of tears and in a constant state of […]
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Northside Changemakers Program
Northside Rising believes in investing in Northsiders. The Northside Changemakers Program is centred around the idea that we all have the potential to be agents for positive change. Through shared learning, mutual support, and creative experimentation with community change ideas, we can build the collective capacity to bring about the change we want to see and be a part of creating.
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Rethinking grief
Our province has demonstrated a high level of resilience and compassion, but Serena questions whether we overplayed the “Nova Scotia Strong” sentiment. Her mission: to help us be aware of where and how grief shows up, and to make space to be with it.
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The World’s Second Easter in the COVID-19 Pandemic
It is hard to believe that we have just celebrated another Easter in a pandemic. The feeling of it is surreal. It is like […]
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Inspiring Communities Welcomes New Executive Director Louise Adongo
April 8, 2021 (Kjipuktuk) Louise Adongo has assumed the leadership of Inspiring Communities – a systems change-focused not-for-profit. “I look forward to catalyzing and […]
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Broken Angels
The medical frontlines are being tested daily, not just with COVID-19, but due to an ongoing crisis of systemic racism in the health care system.
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Better Meetings, Virtually
Last March, I, like many, had the weird experience of having everyone I work with shrink to a tiny head in a Brady-Bunch-like stack of moving pictures on my computer. It was discombobulating.
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The Pandemic and its Pandora’s Box
The pandemic shone a light on many things, but one issue that has been affected to the extreme is the domestic violence of women and children. The government shut the entire country down due to COVID-19 rearing its ugly head. The country went on lockdown. This action opened Pandora’s Box’s, causing misery and fear for women and children in Canada and around the world.
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That Small Town Appeal
Dispatches from Digby by Shawnalynn Cromwell The province of Nova Scotia is being invaded by “come-from-aways!” Canadians are flocking to Nova Scotia for that steal […]
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Shelley Allen is a Northside Changemaker
Shelley Allen is a changemaker. This is her story: ( cue intro music). Interview provided by Northside Rising, an Inspiring Communities nested initiative. Tell me […]
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March 5, 2021, the First Anniversary of COVID-19
It is the first anniversary of COVID-19 becoming a full-fledged pandemic. We have been in limbo, and the worst is not over yet
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How to Host an Open Space Session with Zoom and Jamboard
Emulate a very interactive social technology online.
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Noted: March 5, 2021
Nova Scotia Network For Social Change’s Fashan In the News The Last Taboo: Black women talk about abuse and violence Shelley Fashan is the […]
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What the World Needs Now…
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS A MENTAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM! By Shawna Cromwell Content warning: Discusses mental health challenges and mentions suicide. There […]
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“Row, Row, Row your boat” and Tao Philosophy
By Wayne O’Toole, Northside Changemaker A little realization moment I thought may be valuable to some: something I learned today that simplified my thought […]
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Shealyn Varnes is a Northside Changemaker
I have always known I wanted to make some sort of change whether through community, environmental or art-based means. This program connected a community of people with that same vision, and that in itself was so appealing.
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Confidence and Public Speaking
by Dr. LeQuita Hopgood Porter, BA, JD, MBA, MDiv, DMin Practice Makes Perfect! Shoot for perfection, Settle for Excellence! These are two of the […]
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Wayne O’Toole is a Northside Changemaker
Wayne O’Toole is a Northside Changemaker. Interview provided by Northside Rising, an Inspiring Communities nested initiative.
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10 easy ways you could show love to your community
Happy Valentine’s Day! “Hey, Charlene,” I hear you say. “Individual actions like the ones listed below don’t seem aligned with Inspiring Communities’ systems change […]
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Valentine’s Day? Spread Love Every Day.
Valentine’s Day needs a makeover. Keep reading for some ways our inspiring initiatives are showing their love, and some simple ways you can take action as an individual, family or community group.
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Des Ong is a Northside Changemaker
Being a changemaker, it’s more than a badge, it’s a responsibility to yourself and your community. Anyone can call themselves a changemaker, but to actually do the work of becoming one- that’s what is special.
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Building the Chicken from the Nugget Out
When we try to decolonize, to shift and change the systems we live by, we are trying to take that nugget and strip away the processing. We want to rebuild it into a chicken: a whole, living, dynamic thing, an organic part of our world, a thing with inherent dignity.
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Beyond Self-Improvement and Burn-Out
The goal of mindfulness practice is to allow what is inherently positive, already here within us, to shine forth, as opposed to creating a “new and improved” version of ourselves. It is not about self-improvement or fabricating a special, meditative state of mind. It’s not a matter of reaching a higher consciousness, but rather letting the mind truly relax and settle into its naturally open and creative state.
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Wheels, Webs and Birds
Modeling social innovation leadership One of the key learnings from the WeavEast evaluation so far is the emergence of the wicked question around how […]
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Starlings & Murmurations
I have come to appreciate starlings for many reasons. They are scrappy, they have beautiful iridescent feathers, and I once saw one steal a french fry from a tourist down on the Halifax waterfront. On top of these amazing qualities, it is their murmurations that inspire me the most.
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Looking Back at 2020 with Gratitude
In the fall of 2020 I surveyed our staff on the topic of gratitude. Our staff are embedded in collective impact projects, supporting weaving and network building, and are providing evaluation expertise in Nova Scotia and throughout Atlantic Canada. Gratitude is a challenging concept to consider, and a sometimes difficult feeling to engage with when you can see and experience the inequities and suffering of the world.
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Panning for DE Gold
Inspiring Communities and its nested initiatives (three collective impact community sites) use a developmental evaluation approach to reflect upon achievements and learnings in real time to help with course adjustments as needed and evolution of planned activities. In October, a Developmental Evaluation report, called a DE Brief, was produced and shared with government partners. While the full 10 page document is chock full of reflection and learnings important to the work of Inspiring Communities, we’d like to pull out just a few highlights and share the summary of impacts identified for the period of July through September 2020.
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Share Office Space, Not Covid
We wanted to co-share space with colleagues, not a virus.
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Balm, (Seed) Bomb or Bombe
What kind of changemaker are you?
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Write a Blog Post: How-to and why
The Wayside Team recently hosted a lunch and learn for the Inspiring Communities network to talk a little bit about why blogs matter, how to write blog posts, and how to submit blog posts to the Wayside blog. The highlights of that discussion are listed below in five easy steps.
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The Good Food Bus in Cape Breton
Written by Lynne McCarron (WeavEast Fellow, Nova Scotia) Forty five years ago, my parents adopted an eighteen month old boy, a brother for their […]
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Strong Harbour Strings
Written by Maggie Burton, (WeavEast Fellow Newfoundland and Labrador) Strong Harbour Strings is a mentoring artist program based in St. John’s, grounded in the […]
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An example of Indigenous Social Enterprise: Epekwitk Lanyards
Written by Jenene Wooldridge (WeavEast Fellow, Prince Edward Island) Epekwitk Lanyards is an Indigenous social enterprise that is driven to create long-term sustainable business […]
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Recharge Atlantic: Promoting Health, Wellbeing and Personal Development for Women and Girls
Lynn Anne Hogan established Recharge Atlantic to encourage, empower and inspire primarily girls and women to live consciously and to the fullest. With a […]
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Pandemic Perspectives: Mark Inglis
Mark Inglis is the Marketing and Communications Officer for the Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation (CBRH). CBRH Foundation is a registered charity and its primary goal […]
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Resources for Community Resilience during COVID-19
Resources for Communities and Organizations Resources and Information for Non-Profits and Voluntary Organizations amidst COVID-19, Community Sector Council of NS Coronavirus Response Toolbox, Tools […]
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Pandemic Perspectives: Estelle
Originally from France, Estelle Levangie has always known that owning her own farm was her end game. She spent her younger years living and […]
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Pride in the Time of Covid-19
A reflection by Tyler Colbourne, Community Director, Inspiring Communities Like many things in our world, Pride is complex. Pride is a movement, a parade, […]
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Pandemic Perspectives: Boyd MacNeil
Boyd MacNeil Boyd MacNeil always knew that music would be a big part of his life. The youngest sibling in a musical family, Boyd […]
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Bringing a Systems Change Lens to the Community Sector
A Reflection by Annika Voltan, Executive Director of Community Sector Council of Nova Scotia About a week into our collective social isolation journey I […]
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Nourished by These Stories
Midway Reflections on the Narrative Project by Susan Szpakowski, Orchestrator of How We THRIVE “A people are as healthy and confident as the stories they […]
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The Oxymoron of Abundance and COVID-19
A reflection by Annika Voltan, Executive Director of Inspiring Communities ______________ In March 2020, Cari Patterson, our Director of Research and Evaluation, reflected on […]
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Resources for Covid-19
Resources for Community Resilience during COVID-19 Resources for Communities and Organizations Resources and Information for Non-Profits and Voluntary Organizations amidst COVID-19, Community Sector Council of […]
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Nova Scotia Poverty Reduction Blueprint Evaluation
The Work is Messy: An Evaluation Process that Hits it out of the Park! Written by Cari Patterson, Director of Research and Evaluation Inspiring […]
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Innovative Evaluation
Written by Cari Patterson, Director of Research and Evaluation When we work in complexity, we are often evaluating innovation. That means we are looking […]
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Rising Tide Festival brings community together to understand harmful substance use
by Inspiring Communities staff It was a quiet Friday night in North Sydney and large sturdy canvases were hung with precision on the peacock […]
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Efflor Artist-Run Centre aims to be hub of music and arts on the Northside
Efflor ARC, an artist run studio in North Sydney is collaborating with the Five Eleven Youth and Family Center, to make artistry accessible in the Northside.
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Systems Change During Covid-19 Pandemic
A reflection by Cari Patterson, Director of Evaluation and Research Inspiring Communities works in a complex environment. Ultimately we are building toward a culture […]
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Substance Use in our Community: How to Move Forward
Experts and community members came together for a panel discussion of how we can better understand substance use and related issues on the Northside.
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One act of kindness or safe place at a time
The desire to make a difference – even in a small way – is such an incredible thing, although it’s often snuffed out by harsh realities and tough situations. For Northside resident Angie Rudderham, that could so easily have been the narrative.
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Red Brick Row Rising
The cultural fabric of the community has unravelled over the years and it is time to reweave the fabric. The first coal mines and steel plant along with the military structures are key historical elements to be recognized within the community and beyond.
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Free Community BBQ with Name and Logo Reveal Gallery!
Check out the great fun we had!