What does collective struggle look like for community organizations?

Last week, one of our staff members attended a full day conversation between community groups about the possibility of a community sector strike, demonstration, and other activities that would ramp up the demand of the FRACA- as part of the Engagez Vous Pour le Communautaire campaign-  for increased funding and support for the essential work of nonprofit organizations in Québec.

Applying the concept of a strike to an entire sector– and one that is largely non-unionized–  produces many different kinds of challenges, a number of which were discussed over the course of the day. One of the most pressing questions was whether employees would participate in demonstrations and other activities with our without pay. At the end of the day, this is a decision to be made by the Board of Directors of each organization. Other conversations revolved around whether any of the services provided by community groups would count as emergency services, which would affect the response the government would be required to provide in the case of a service shut-down.

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We’re Closing Over the Holidays!

We’ve been getting a lot of phone calls lately from a wide variety of groups looking for organizational support, so here is your fair warning: the COCo office will be closed from December 22nd until January 5th. In other words, your last day to get in touch is the 21st, and we’ll be getting back to people in the second week of January. Time to recharge and take back some time!

For those of you whose doors stay open during the holidays for people in need– thank you for all your hard work!

The Healthy House: An Organizational Assessment Tool for NonProfits

Developed over many years of accompanying community organizations, and used with a hundred-odd nonprofits, the Healthy House allows us to clearly visualize and evaluate the health of our organizations as a whole.

Using the metaphor of a house, this tool allows you to take a step back and get a bigger picture on the strengths and weaknesses of your community group. What is going well in our organizations? What needs some love, or renovations?

If you are passionate or engaged in the development of your organization, this tool can help you and your team get a handle on the potential and challenges of your organization. Here at COCo, we have used this tool in a number of different contexts.

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Video: Panel on Cultural Appropriation and Systemic Racism

Montreal Arts Interculturels (MAI) organized, with COCo’s support, a bilingual panel on cultural appropriation and other kinds of systemic racism in arts and culture (following a racist performance in our own building, elaborated here). The panel was sold out weeks in advance, and so we hosted a livestream of the event. That video has now been viewed over 9,000 times, and features powerful presentations from Dr. Philip Howard (PhD, Assistant Professor, Social Studies Education McGill University),  Guy Sioui Durand (Huron-Wendat – sociologist, art critic and curator) Marilou Craft (dramaturgical consultant, writer and cultural worker), Kama La Mackerel (story-teller, community-arts facilitator and multi-disciplinary artist) and Angie Cheng (performer and choreographer). The discussion was moderated  by Rhodnie Désir (choreographer, cultural mediator and President of MAI”s board of directors), with opening remarks from our own Parker Mah.

The archived video can be viewed below. Click here to view media.

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ARTISTA mentorship program for young women

Montreal theatre company, Imago Theatre  is now accepting applications to ARTISTA; a free theatre mentorship program for young women between the ages of 16-21. If you (or someone you know) is a young woman interested in exploring, creating and thriving through theatre then apply to ARTISTA by January 5th at www.imagotheatre.ca

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