Ottawa’s Equity Project enters a new phase with the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s funding
October 22, 2013Since April 2012, a dedicated group of individuals from nine social service organizations are leading innovative work to promote our understanding and institutional commitment to diversity and inclusion in Ottawa. The group, collaborating under the project called “Ottawa’s Equity Project”, sparked an inter-organizational dialogue to reflect and promote evidence-based best practices that enable equitable access for immigrants and minority groups to health, education and social services. Their first Report “Better Together: Cultivating Equitable and Inclusive Practices” was published earlier this year.
By the generous donation from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) the initiative has been provided with three funding starting from the fall 2013. The funding will support the establishment of a Community of Practice for Equity and Inclusion designed to enable local organizations to jointly build capacity in five areas: governance, human resource development, community connections, planning, and service delivery. This significant funding reiterates OTF’s commitment to build social service organizations’ capacity to adapt, innovate, and collaborate in order to build sustainable ways of enhancing community outcomes.
Over the next three years, practitioners of inclusion from the partnering organizations will continue to come together in learning circles to discuss the challenges they encounter as they seek to address new needs, learn from solutions adopted by their peers, and discuss best practice strategies. The new Community of Practice will also enable its participants to share resources, tools and training modules for specific challenges based on need and interest. In addition, an online platform will be developed to engage a wider range of organizations into the discussion and learning from each other, providing them with resources to address specific organizational challenges they encounter in serving immigrants.
During the new funding announcement event that took place on September 4th, 2013, Mr. Yasir Naqvi, MPP of Ottawa Centre said: “As our community changes rapidly and significantly through sustained levels of immigration, it is important to enable our institutions to adapt. We know that institutional change is a slow, but crucial process to equip our systems with the capacities needed to adapt to a changing environment.”
Hindia Mohamoud, Director of the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership reflected: “What is interesting about this initiative is that it will enable learning in practice, which is the most effective method for busy professionals that are confronting complex situations both internal to their organizations as well as in their clients’ needs”.
“We are excited about what we can accomplish together; and we are grateful for the possibilities that this new funding opens for us. With increased capacity for inclusion, we will be able to enhance the reach and relevance of our services; and very importantly, we will be able to draw greater benefit from the strength and knowledge of diverse constituents – it takes all of us to serve our community” stated Simone Thibault, Executive Director of Centretown Community Health Centre.
The founding members of the initiative who pooled the funding for the initial work are the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership, the Centretown Community Health Centre and the University of Ottawa.
The nine pioneering organizations who piloted the initiative are: Centretown Community Health Centre, Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa, City of Ottawa, Ottawa Carleton District School Board, Ottawa Public Library, Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre, University of Ottawa, Vanier Community Resource Centre and Youth Services Bureau.
For more information about the Phase II of the Equity Project please read our Frequently Asked Questions.
Work is already underway for the establishment of the new Community of Practice for Equity and Inclusion. Participation is open for any local organizations providing social services in our community.
Those interested to join the Community of Practice for Equity and Inclusion should contact Hindia Mohamoud, OLIP Director at hindia@olip-plio.ca.