Posted on Tuesday, 23rd December 2008 by chris wignall

During a meeting today with Opportunity International, Lise Struthers (Governors Council Director)shared what she’s told people who ask her what her job is. I love her response: “Everyday I get out of bed and get to connect those who live in chronic poverty with those who live in chronic wealth”. Perfect.

Tags: Great Stories, Partners
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Posted on Thursday, 11th December 2008 by chris wignall

I’ve always been something of a jargon junkie. When I enter a new subculture I quickly seek to understand and adopt the particular language that marks one as a member. That has also been true in Philanthropy. The most difficult word to parse has been “Partner” as I blogged about months ago. In our society [...]

Tags: Catalyst, Partners, Philanthropy
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Posted on Friday, 14th November 2008 by chris wignall

Read this article from Christianity Today. A few brief observations: -If Apple can be a religion, leadership can tend towards being a cult. -That women find leadership particularly difficult is the reason for existence for our friends at Next Level Leadership. -Servant Leadership certainly has become a relatively meaningless buzzword; but I still believe it [...]

Tags: Leadership, Partners
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Posted on Thursday, 23rd October 2008 by chris wignall

Last week I was pleased to be with the first cohort of nonprofit organizations participating in World Vision’s FreeFORM program for a jazz cafe in Niagara Falls. In addition to the always great entertainment from Mike Janzen, I had a chance to connect with several people I’ve met in the last several months through Catalyst. [...]

Tags: Catalyst, Partners
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Posted on Friday, 26th September 2008 by chris wignall

As the world of small scale loans to developing world entrepreneurs continues to seek increasingly effective ways to engage new donors and take advantage of the potential of the internet and the decentralized nature of a digital world there continue to be new possibilities opening up. Thanks to Mark Petersen at Bridgeway I can let [...]

Tags: Partners, Philanthropy
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Posted on Tuesday, 19th August 2008 by chris wignall

Two contrasting episodes today: 1. Spent an enjoyable with Hugh Brewster of World Vision Canada’s Partners to End Child Poverty program and Scott Jones from Micah House reviewing some material from the LEAP workshop that Scott and I attended with Hugh a couple weeks ago. LEAP is an intensive process in developing project designs that [...]

Tags: Leadership, Partners
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Posted on Friday, 15th August 2008 by chris wignall

Last week I recommended a book on microfinance. After a really good meeting on Wednesday with Opportunity International – Canada I was sent this article that breaks the idea down into a pretty manageable chunk while also exploring the edges of the approach. Microfinance is going to be a key piece to our strategy.

Tags: Catalyst, Partners, Resources
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Posted on Wednesday, 6th August 2008 by chris wignall

Two books are strongly shaping our approach to our philanthropy as we enter our September funding cycle (draft proposals due August 15th): Out of Poverty by Paul Polak, founder of International Development Enterprises. and A Billion Bootstraps by Phil Smith and Eric Thurman, who have had ties to Opportunity International. These two books, combined with [...]

Tags: Catalyst, Partners, Resources
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Posted on Tuesday, 22nd July 2008 by chris wignall

A telemarketing call made me feel guilty last night. About 8:20pm yesterday Kristen was finishing up bedtime with my sons and I was tidying up the kitchen when the phone rang. I grabbed it quick (don’t disturb bedtime) and was greeted by a friendly voice who identified herself as from the Cerebral Palsy foundation, calling [...]

Tags: Partners, Philanthropy
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Posted on Sunday, 20th July 2008 by chris wignall

One of our highest values at Catalyst is synergy. We love to see compatible organizations and people drawn together to multiply their impact. Our hope is that as we become familiar with various aspects of ministry, relief, and development work we can help to make some of those connections; truly serving as a catalyst to [...]

Tags: Catalyst, Partners
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