A 2023-24 Annual Impact Report story
Our 2023-24 Annual Impact Report highlighted stories about how we navigated significant changes over the past year. We are sharing these stories as they reflect how our work embodies our values and impacts those we collaborate with.
Supporting organizational change
The COVID-19 pandemic reminded people how vital non-profit and social-serving organizations’ services are to our health and well-being. But it also highlighted the precarious state of these organizations’ operations.
We understand that for children, families, and communities to thrive, we need strong and resilient non-profit and social-serving organizations supporting them. This is why we collaborate with organizations to develop, evaluate, and strengthen their policies and practices, using change management processes. By assessing their processes and outcomes, we help them to grow and establish programs, policies, and initiatives to make them more resilient.
Through our close collaboration with these organizations, we tailor our approach to fit their circumstances. This adaptability ensures we identify opportunities for change that align with our collaborators’ strengths, their community’s needs, and the priorities within the broader non-profit and social-serving sectors.
Building organizational resilience
Our Organizational Resilience initiative, launched in 2021, collaborates to strengthen non-profits’ ability to anticipate, respond, cope, and recover from internal and external challenges. We work hand-in-hand with participating organizations to assess, enhance, and support their ability to maintain organizational continuity during times of change and crisis.
This year, our Organizational Resilience team partnered with the Edmonton Chamber of Volunteer Organizations to provide a series of training sessions for Edmonton non-profits.
The Edmonton Chamber of Volunteer Organizations helps non-profit organizations build and sustain their volunteer programs and services through resources, networking, and skill development opportunities.
These training sessions aim to improve participating organizations’ resiliency by strengthening and developing new capabilities, improving engagement and well-being, and turning crises into opportunities. The topics we are covering include:
- Staff connection to mission and vision
- Situational awareness
- Planning and adaptability
- Distributed leadership
- Collaborative networks
- Resource availability, management, and support
These training sessions began in fall 2023 and will continue into the 2024-25 fiscal year. We hope that by supporting these non-profits with organizational change, they will continue to succeed with their missions and enable Edmonton children and families to thrive.
Enhancing well-being through collaboration and data
When combined, collaboration and data can have a profound impact on the programs and services provided by social-serving organizations. Together, they empower organizations to make informed decisions that drive impactful social change. Programs can be evaluated and then tailored to meet a group’s specific needs. Organizations can also discover how to enhance their service delivery or strengthen the capacities of their staff.
We believe in the power of collaborating with organizations of all sizes, using data and evaluation to enhance practices, programs, and policies that support health and well-being. In particular, we specialize in working with small and medium-sized social-serving organizations to strengthen their data management practices, using our research, data analysis, and evaluation expertise.
A collaboration highlight from this year was our work with OSI-CAN Alberta. Together, we developed an evaluation plan that enabled them to examine their programs’ effectiveness more thoroughly.
OSI-CAN Alberta is a remarkable organization dedicated to providing mental health support for current and former military members, first responders, and public safety personnel. They offer vital peer group support to these individuals who face occupational stress injuries, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
Our shared goals for this evaluation plan were, first, to assess OSI-CAN Alberta’s current evaluation process. This included reviewing their current surveys and identifying areas for improvement. Next, we developed an evaluation framework. This process involved helping OSI-CAN Alberta define their goals and the impact they hoped to have on their clients.
According to Jason Trenholm, OSI-CAN Alberta’s Provincial Services Coordinator, one of the best parts of working together was that our team took the time to learn about their program before diving in. Many conversations were had to ensure we firmly grasped OSI-CAN’s programs and needs.
We were honoured to share our expertise and work alongside OSI-CAN Alberta. We used the power of data-driven evaluation to make a difference in their operations, which will, in turn, improve the well-being of those who serve and protect our communities.
To learn more about how PolicyWise is making an impact and to read similar stories, check out our 2023-24 Annual Impact Report.
