PolicyWise’s 2024 Annual General Meeting & 2023-24 Annual Impact Report
In 2003, PolicyWise for Children & Families began as an Alberta-based research and evaluation facilitator. Our mission is to improve the well-being of children, youth, families, and communities through changes in social policy and practice.
Over the past twenty years, we have unwaveringly adapted and expanded our areas of work to meet this mission, listening and responding to the needs of non-profit and social-serving communities.
This year has been no different. We have fostered many partnerships, working hand in hand with several organizations on projects that we believe will lead to big shifts in policy and programs.
Embracing meaningful changes
At our Annual General Meeting on September 27, 2024, PolicyWise President & CEO Kristine Williamson introduced our 2023-24 Annual Impact Report.
The report highlights our resiliency while navigating significant changes, such as new leadership and shifts in funding and policies. It reflects how our work embodies our values and its impact on those we collaborate with.
At the meeting, Kristine shared three stories from the Annual Impact Report that illustrate how the PolicyWise team worked towards embracing meaningful changes.
Sharing insights for supporting Indigenous children and families
Kristine showcased a collaboration between the Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society and PolicyWise.
In 2020, the federal Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Metis Children, Youth and Families became law. It recognized and affirmed the inherent Indigenous jurisdiction over child and family services. The Act also set national standards to protect Indigenous children’s rights to their culture.
As an Indigenous-led child and family serving agency, Bent Arrow is on a journey of understanding and looking at how to implement the Act. As part of that journey, they invited PolicyWise to collaborate on a case study to learn, document, and share their experience.
Beginning in ceremony, the PolicyWise team prioritized listening, relationship building, and experiential learning to create a visual case study that resonated with Bent Arrow’s approaches to knowledge sharing.
The final case study offers insights to child and family serving agencies about how to:
- Meet the Act’s national standards
- Best serve Indigenous children and families
- Practise differently
- Navigate challenges
Learn more about this collaborative project in our news story from June 2024.
Supporting gender-diverse youth
This past fiscal year, there were several legislative announcements across Canada about the health and well-being of gender-diverse youth.
These announcements increased the need for knowledge, research, and resources on the health and well-being of gender-diverse youth. Specifically, providers serving these youth were looking for accessible, evidence-based information on how best to support them, their families, and their communities.
This is why PolicyWise responded to this need for research and resources by launching our Empowering Providers Serving Gender-Diverse Youth initiative.
We began the initiative by gathering and sharing existing resources for social-serving providers whose clients include gender-diverse youth. Then, we shared these resources on our Resources for Practice website and social media channels.
Since the initiative’s launch in March, these shared resources have been viewed:
- Over 1,000 times on our website
- Over 6,000 times on our social media channels
While we continue to share existing information, we are also gathering research and information that we will use to develop Alberta-specific resources. These resources will help fill potential knowledge gaps for those in the social, education, and public sectors. They will also assist parents and other allies in supporting gender-diverse youth. We expect that we will be sharing these new resources later this fall.
You can read more about this initiative in our news story from March 2024.
Launching a new capacity building resource website
Kristine also shared an update about our new capacity building website, Resources for Practice. It launched at last year’s annual general meeting.
Finding timely, relevant, and reliable information is often difficult for those working and researching in the social-serving sector. Our website makes it easy for them to find and use relevant policy and practice resources.
Resources for Practice has become a place where we share knowledge and resources that we have generated and those created by other organizations that align with our mission. On the site, you will find direct links to webinars, tools, reports, and many other resources.
Since it launched one year ago, it has quickly become one of our most visited sites, with the main page being viewed over 9,000 times. We are committed to ensuring this site continues to be a valuable resource to our communities in Alberta and beyond.
You can learn more about the launch of Resources for Practice in our news story from September 2023.
To read about our other projects and initiatives that are making meaningful changes, we encourage you to explore our website or look at our 2023-24 Annual Impact Report.
Changes to our Board of Directors
Another meaningful change during our Annual General Meeting was the appointment of two new Board Directors and the reappointment of three others, all to two-year terms.
The PolicyWise community warmly welcomed Jennifer Garg and Veronica Young as the newest members of our Board of Directors.
Jennifer Garg has over 15 years of experience in finance and business development. She is an active certified public accountant known for her strategic planning and business acumen. Currently, Jennifer is the Director of Finance and Business Support Services for Campus Services at MacEwan University. She brings a wealth of knowledge to PolicyWise, from her ability to provide financial and operational support to leading teams of talented finance and marketing professionals.
Veronica Young is a Fractional Financial Controller with over 15 years of experience in accounting, finance, and leadership. She completed a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Commerce degree before earning her Chartered Accountant designation. Her experiences in the private sector have honed her skills in supporting growing and changing organizations, which will serve PolicyWise well.
Our three reappointed Board Directors are Board Chair Michelle Okere, the Governance Committee’s Co-Chair Cheryl Whiskeyjack, and Angela Logan.
To find out more about these and our other Board Directors, visit our Board of Directors web page.
Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond
As we look ahead, the PolicyWise team is excited as we enter a period of transformation for the organization.
Our previous strategic plan came to an end last year. We have since been focused on creating an exciting new strategic journey for our organization. We look forward to sharing that with you in 2025.
Until then, we will continue to build on our momentum of change and ensure that children, youth, families, and communities can thrive.
Read more about our past projects and initiatives that are making meaningful changes in our 2023-24 Annual Impact Report.
