Posted on Saturday, 26th April 2008 by chris wignall

It was very nearly a month ago when I set out to use this space to describe how we’ve identified our priorities for funding and other support. In the unlikely possibility that you’ve been checking back looking for the rest of those thoughts I apologize for the delay and hope that what’s been posted in [...]

Tags: Catalyst, Great Stories, Leadership
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Posted on Tuesday, 22nd April 2008 by chris wignall

One of the challenges for our work is trying to figure out how to evaluate not only the proposals and opportunities we come across, but(even more difficult) evaluating organizations and projects that we are supporting. This is an ongoing challenge in this field, as I’ve commented on before. In a couple weeks I’ll be attending [...]

Tags: Leadership, Philanthropy
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Posted on Tuesday, 15th April 2008 by chris wignall

With my planned trip to Haiti not happening I found myself with an essentially blank schedule this week. I had pretty much complete freedom to fill it because when I did my planning for this quarter I assumed I would be away, so all the other projects were on track without any time right now [...]

Tags: Catalyst, Leadership
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Posted on Monday, 14th April 2008 by chris wignall

I got to spend a very enjoyable lunch eating ribs with an old friend Bruxy Cavey, teaching pastor at The Meeting House, one of the most intriguing and impactful churches in Canada. As always, the conversation was very thought provoking. Among the topics was the paradox that Bruxy has become one of the premier Christian [...]

Tags: Leadership
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Posted on Monday, 14th April 2008 by chris wignall

I got this message from Tim DeYoung, the Haiti director for MMI: (his blog is insightful about what’s really happening there) Chris, I just got a chance to read your blog. Had looked forward to meeting you and having you get to know a bit about what life is like here in Haiti. Based on [...]

Tags: Catalyst, Partners
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Posted on Thursday, 10th April 2008 by chris wignall

The situation in Haiti continues to be unstable as the government’s proclamations and pledges to support further indigenous agriculture are not satifying a populace who are needing food now. MMI’s Haiti director Tim DeYoung has decided against bringing our team in at this point because our security can’s be reasonable certain. So we’re not going. [...]

Tags: Catalyst, Partners
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Posted on Wednesday, 9th April 2008 by chris wignall

I came home from a meeting about 2pm yesterday to have my neighbour tell me their dog had fallen into the creek and been swept over Webster’s Falls. Miraculously, the dog has survived the fall (absolutely astonishing!), but was now stranded on an inaccessible ledge just below the falls with the current surging by. After [...]

Tags: Great Stories, Partners
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Posted on Friday, 4th April 2008 by chris wignall

This week I’ve been in a couple of discussions about how boards of directors are built and function. Stuart Taylor at IDE-Canada compared boards that are made up primarily of major donors (large scale investments lead to positions of influence), with those who are brought together for their professional credentials (“We need a lawyer, a [...]

Tags: Partners, Resources
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Posted on Thursday, 3rd April 2008 by chris wignall

I recently read a very interesting book called We Are The New Radicals. The premise is that there are a large number of baby boomers who, still in their working years, have become disillusioned with their careers and are looking to do something more intrinsically fulfilling. This version of a mid-life crisis is leading many [...]

Tags: Resources
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Posted on Tuesday, 1st April 2008 by chris wignall

This afternoon I stopped in at the pharmacy to get the anti-malarial and antibiotic meds I’ll need for my trip to Haiti with MMI in a couple weeks. There was some confusion about my new benefits coverage, so I had a conversation with the pharmacist. He asked where I was going and it turns out [...]

Tags: Leadership, Partners
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