November, 2016

Message from the director
 
Welcome to our fall 2016 e-digest featuring alumni achievements and the latest news from Coady International Institute.

Now in my second year, I continue to be inspired by stories of our graduates who go on to play key leadership roles in their communities. Now, more than ever, the current economic and political events around the globe demand that community visionaries be equipped with the skills and tools to create meaningful, lasting change.

Consider just a few troubling global developments: the international refugee crisis as a result of longstanding conflicts; the widening disparities between the wealthy and those in poverty; the urgent need to fight global warming; the growing chorus of Indigenous voices around the world on issues of governance, rights and the environment; and here in Canada, our own national conversation about reconciliation among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. These are complex issues, many of which are subsets of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that require our sustained, collective attention.

At Coady, we are well underway in renewing our Institutional Strategy for 2017-2022. I am very encouraged that a thorough stakeholder consultation and environmental scan show that our thematic approach to programming continues to resonate with our participants, educational partners, donors and supporters. These themes – promoting accountable democracies, supporting local economies, and building resilient communities – will feature prominently in our new institutional strategy that will guide our future efforts.

As always, do stay in touch and share your success stories with us. In closing, I want you to know that we deeply appreciate your continued support as proud Coady ambassadors around the world!

Dr. June Webber
Director, Coady Institute
Vice-president, StFX University

Almost 30 graduates from Ghana organized a meeting with the Canadian High Commission in Accra. Diploma graduate Jonathan Osei Owusu says it was an opportunity to show that new Coady alumni from Ghana are committed to return and contribute to their country’s development.

Siphiwe Mabuyakhulu of Swaziland, Diploma ’16, received the 2016 Katherine Fleming International Development Award for her inspirational work with women and children. More details here.

Rosario del Pila Diaz Garavito, GCL ’16, was selected to represent Peru in the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative.

Marie Omare	Bernadette Muyomi

Marie Omare, GCL ‘15 and Bernadette Muyomi, GCL ’16, each received the 'Top 40 Under 40' award in Kenya. Top 40 under 40 women in Kenya are game changers in society nominated by the public and vetted by the newspaper Business Daily.

Caitlin Tolley, Indigenous Women in Community Leadership '15, wonders about the lack of Indigenous representation on the Supreme Court of Canada, in this article.

Six alumnae of Women’s Centre programs and two Coady staff attended the Association for Women in Development (AWID) forum in Brazil. Hear the podcast here.

Alan Syliboy

Renowned Indigenous artist Alan Syliboy joined us on campus as StFX’s 2016 Coady Chair in Social Justice. Mr. Syliboy engaged with students, faculty and the community to share stories about using art for social change. You can hear part of his talk on the October Coady Radio podcast.
 
Three Indigenous women leaders joined us for our ‘Coady Celebrates Indigenous Women Leadership’ annual fundraising dinner. We were joined by Inuit leader Mary Simon, Cree law professor/author Tracey Lindberg and Coady graduate Dale Tamara Plett of Rama First Nation. (See event photos here)
 
Three Coady staff are contributing their expertise in the Rockefeller Foundation project: ‘Market-based solutions for the extreme poor’. (Project details here)
 
Two senior Coady staff – Colleen Cameron and Alison Mathie – are about to retire! If you have a story or photo of Colleen or Alison to share, please send by December 1st to coadycom@stfx.ca.

December 5th, 2016 is the application deadline for the following spring certificate programs in Antigonish. Apply early if you wish to be considered for a scholarship!

May 8 – 25

• Citizen-led Accountability: Strategies and Tools
• Community Development Leadership by Women
• Community-Based Microfinance for Financial Inclusion

May 29 – June 15

• Building on Local and Indigenous Knowledge for Community Resilience
• Livelihoods and Markets
• Re-thinking Partnerships

Other application deadlines:

March 27 - April 7, 2017

• Community-Based Microfinance for Financial Inclusion - Offered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Apply by January 6, 2017

June 12, 2017 – June 1, 2018

• OceanPath Fellowship (For select Canadian university graduates) - Apply by Jan. 17, 2017

July 17 – December 2, 2017

• Diploma in Development Leadership - Apply by Dec. 5, 2016

May 1 - August 25, 2017

• 2017 Indigenous Women in Community Leadership (For First Nation, Métis and Inuit women) – Apply by January 15, 2017

Alumni stories of change

Swastika Kasaju, Global Change Leaders ‘15, is changing the lives of poor street girls in Nepal. “I learned at Coady that promoting democracy does not mean only in the higher level, but at the grassroots. We gave young girls the power to make decisions about their program. At first they would not even talk, but now they take leadership for family activities at the training centre.”
 
Castrol Singelengele, Empower '15, rejuvenated a neglected local market in Ghana by lobbying for water, washrooms and electricity. “Now everyone is using it and vandalism is reduced. Through the experience and knowledge gained from Coady, my fear of engaging in development as a youth was removed.”
 
Maimouna Lehman, Diploma '15, helps women in Benin increase their income and gain more control over their money. “I succeeded with local NGO partner staff to explain the importance of having women build support among themselves and to discuss their own choices with their husbands. As a result, one woman convinced her husband to let their daughter return to school instead of being given away in marriage. Coady Institute gave me the appropriate resources for this."

Publications

  Congratulations to library specialist Catherine Irving and StFX colleague Leona English, who won the Cyril O. House Award for outstanding literature in adult education for their book 'Feminism in Community: Adult Education for Transformation’.

Can participation ‘fix’ inequality? Unpacking the relationship between economic and political citizenship, John Gaventa, April 2016 (Innovation series No. 5).  

Did you know that you can download a free online version of the Leaky Bucket? It’s a tool that Coady alumni have been using for more than 15 years. Discover how much money comes into or leaks out of your local economy or household. There is an online version or you can download a copy for your Mac or PC.

We invite you to subscribe to our monthly Coady Radio podcast. Simply go to iTunes or Stitcher to listen to our most recent episodes. Please send us any news you want to share with fellow alumni. We can share it via our website, Facebook or Twitter. Email us at coadycom@stfx.ca.

Coady International Institute | St. Francis Xavier University | Antigonish | Nova Scotia | Canada