Our partners at the Catherine Donnelly Foundation (CDF) have recently published: Cross-Committee Learning Session: Deepening our Learning May 2019 – Strengthening our Relationships Report. PhiLab is proud to share the results of this collaborative session, both to share the lessons learned within the session, as well as the format of the session itself.
This report covers the lessons that came out of their ‘Deepening our Learning’ session in May of this year. The session brought together members of the CDF board as well as representatives of their program partners, to exchange on the cross-cutting themes of capacity building, systems change and collaboration. By consulting with their partners, they hoped to surpass the limits of working in silos and extract vital lessons that could be used across programs to ensure a collaborative approach in reaching the desired outcomes.
» The Foundation’s Strategic Plan affirms the value of engaging in cross-committee learning and exploring crosscutting work between housing, environment and adult education. Our commitment to integrating an Indigenous-influenced perspective in our work also recognizes the need for holistic approaches reflecting a worldview that all life – human and non-human – is interrelated. »
The session included a discussion in which participants answered a series of questions about their programs. Questions such as: what motivated them to do their work, what sparked the start of the program, what is the vision, mission, team and values of their program, were asked. From the discussions and exchanges that took place, the board members were able to identify key lessons both from a program and a philanthropic perspective.
Consult the full ‘Deepening out Learning’ report here to discover these lessons
Learn more about the Catherine Donnelly Foundation’s main areas of impact (Adult Education, Environment, Housing, Impact Investment) here.
Would your foundation like to share recently published reports, articles or ideas to help advance the conversation? Contact us at philab@uqam.ca to learn more