Posted on Monday, 8th August 2011 by chris wignall

If wordpress is correct, this is my 200th post on this blog. My hope is that somewhere along the way there has been some value in it for those who read here, I know there has been value for me in the process of writing. Today, a glimpse behind the curtain. As Catalyst has grown [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Leadership, Partners, Vision | Comments (0)

Posted on Tuesday, 19th July 2011 by chris wignall

Two weeks ago I spent a few hours in a garbage dump outside the city of Sosua in the Dominican Republic helping illegal Haitian immigrants scavenge for recyclables, and food. I was there leading a group of young people who have been recipients of the Catalyst Award. Having been chosen for their demonstrated commitment to [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Great Stories, Partners, Philanthropy, Vision | Comments (2)

Posted on Monday, 30th May 2011 by chris wignall

I want to be good at what I do. Professionally this means I’ve spent a great deal of time exploring the fields of philanthropy and nonprofit leadership in an effort to understand best (and worst) practices. Being a good donor involves a lot more than the grants we issue, it relates more deeply to matters [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Partners, Philanthropy | Comments (2)

Posted on Wednesday, 25th May 2011 by chris wignall

Catalyst’s uniqueness seems to be in our strong focus on leadership development as the area in which we seek to invest both our granting efforts, and our time and energy. Feedback from charities we interact with regularly affirms our strategy as helpful. Whether through funding or (formal and informal) consulting, we are becoming known for [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Leadership, Partners | Comments (0)

Posted on Thursday, 28th April 2011 by chris wignall

My friend and colleague Mark Petersen posted some of his thoughts on partnership based largely on what he’s noticed while working on our shared Stronger Together 2011 project. Earlier this year we hosted a small conference for charities we work with called Gather. (Some of my thoughts on the event can be found here). The [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Partners, Resources | Comments (0)

Posted on Wednesday, 9th February 2011 by chris wignall

Today I read an article from Fast Company on how to decide if a conference is worth attending. I’m still in the review/recovery stage from our Catalyst Gather a couple weeks ago. It was the second time we’ve brought together leaders from many of the organizations we work with on an ongoing basis for some [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Partners, Vision | Comments (0)

Posted on Thursday, 18th November 2010 by chris wignall

For the last couple decades there has been a growing excitement in development fields about the promise of microfinance as a key tool in reducing the impacts of extreme poverty in a sustainable manner. As the industry has grown from the pioneering work of Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus’ Grameen Bank and the outstanding results [...]

Posted in Great Stories, Partners, Philanthropy, Resources | Comments (0)

Posted on Wednesday, 20th October 2010 by chris wignall

In a conversation this morning with a leader in a national organization that is seeking to more effectively connect with people under the age of thirty I was asked if I had any suggestions on how to build those relationships. My response was that of greater importance than reaching out to a younger generation is [...]

Posted in Leadership, Partners | Comments (0)

Posted on Tuesday, 15th June 2010 by chris wignall

This morning the results of the Stronger Together 2010 collaborative granting project were released (Complete list of grantees here.) Having invested a significant part of the past ten months in the process it is a satisfying thing to be able to notify the successful applicants (selected from a total field of 131) and anticipate the [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Great Stories, Partners, Past Grants, Resources | Comments (0)

Posted on Wednesday, 9th June 2010 by chris wignall

Sometimes opportunity knocks, sometimes it seeps through the basement walls. When recent rains flooded the basement of Stu Taylor’s home outside Winnipeg he didn’t anticipate it leading to positive news coverage for our partner IDE-Canada. To see how personal frustration was turned into national media coverage watch this clip from the CBC or read the [...]

Posted in Great Stories, Leadership, Partners | Comments (1)