To download or request a copy of this document please visit:

http://www.calgarycgc.org

Contents

1. Letter to our Supporters from the Executive Directors 5

2. 2011 Management & Board of Directors 7

3. 2011 Milestones 9

4. Letter from the Director of Programs 11

5. 2011 Programs Summary 13

6. Raise it Up! 2011 Fundraiser 19

7. Financial Reports: Assets and Expenses 21-2

8. Thank-you Supporters! 23

9. You Have to Play to Win by Dr. Arthur Clark 25

Letter to our Supporters

The Calgary Centre is new, but we have deep roots. When Rosa Parks refused to take a seat at the back of the bus in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, her actions sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which in turn became an important stepping-stone for the American Civil Rights Movement.

What many don’t know is that Rosa Parks had recently attended the “Highlander Folk School” (now call the Highlander Research and Education Centre) in rural Tennessee that focused (and still does) on building the capacity of people and organizations in the struggle for labour rights, social justice and racial equality.

What happened in the Highlander Centre in the remote mountains of Tennessee in the 1950s changed the world. The Centre (founded by Myles Horton, Don West and James Dombrowski) went on to support community economic and labour rights for poor Appalachian communities, environmental justice for thousands of families who had become sick or lost loved ones due to industrial pollution and many other important movements and campaigns.

Highlander continues to this day to be an incubator of social innovation as it supports grassroots leaders and organizations to be more effective change makers. We share this history because the Calgary Centre for Global Community is on a similar path. We too are incubators of social innovation. Our focus is on building sustainable solutions to critical global challenges affecting the sustainability of human life and well-being. We are small. We are only in Calgary, but we believe we can impact the whole world by actions we take here in our own city, especially in this era of a totally “wired” together world.

Specifically, the CCGC was created to act as a catalyst that will help to speed up the process of positive change, beginning at the grassroots in Calgary, and eventually reaching out to the whole world. The need is to significantly increase the frequency, quality and effectiveness of civic interactions focused on solving critical human problems, and to extend the scope, reach and impact that civil society organizations and networks are having in addressing the most pressing issues of our times.

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So What Does the Calgary Centre Do?

1) We look for the dreamers and the game changers, the people who want to make a contribution, and the people who are already doing great things—and we support them to get even better at what they do, and to become connected to others, so their work can have the greatest possible impact.

2) We also work with civil society organizations and networks, first to connect them to each other and to the information and resources they need to have a greater impact, then to carry out increasingly impactful campaigns and strategies for change.

This work at both levels is supported by two key strategies:

1) interconnection – getting people talking and engaged in constructive dialogue that leads to transformative action, and

2) capacity building – fostering the learning (attitudes, values, knowledge, skills, connections) that will improve effectiveness and impact.

Many of us have been enormously inspired by figures such as Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, but had there been no civil rights movement, would we remember Dr. King as we do? If thousands had not marched to the sea with Gandhi, and thousands more stood behind Nelson Mandela, we would barely know their names. The movements behind these figureheads were intentionally created and nurtured through strategic research and education and the mobilization of individuals, organizations and networks.

The catalytic work of incubating and supporting change-makers is at the heart of what the Calgary Centre is all about. This is work that needs many hands. We invite you to join us.

Drs Michael and Judie Bopp Executive Directors

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2011 Management

Staff

Board of Directors

Michele Braun

John Chan

Arthur Clark

Naushad Dada

Darren Hedley

Yasmin Kanji

Mike Simeons

Judie Bopp - Executive Director

Michael Bopp - Executive Director

Kelly Dowdell - Director of Programs

Russell Giesbrecht - Contract

Julie Hrdlicka - Contract

Lorah Jensen - Contract

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2011 Milestones

Human Voice Project interviews

Programs outcome mapping

Networking Neighbourhoods:

Vandana Shiva and Exploring Jane

Jacob’s Legacy

Irma Parhad student selection

Oasis of Peace exhibit launch

Networking Neighbourhoods:

Mapping Calgary civic engagement

“All That We Share” workshop with

Jay Walljasper

Dr. Thomas Turay Peacebuilding and

Social Justice Workshop

Irma Parhad Summer Studentship

Symposium

Raise It Up! Fundraiser

Human Voice Project Launch

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Letter from the Director of Programs

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In the early days of the Calgary Centre for Global Community, a great deal of time and care was given to developing

the five programs that you will read about in the following pages. Given our educational mandate, and our belief that

learning is the principal engine of human development, our programs are designed to be appealing to a broad range

of people who are on different legs of their journey to becoming effective global citizens.

Through our Human Voice Project and our Modeling Global Citizenship programs we share amazing stories of

individuals and communities. In sharing these stories, we begin to see what is possible for our lives and for our

society: that it is possible to overcome great adversity; that there is wisdom to be found in the diversity of our

backgrounds and experiences; and that we share many common threads which, when woven together represent the

human experience in all its complex beauty.

Our Networking Neighbourhoods, Connecting Communities program is based on the notion that sustained and meaningful conversations can be

an important tool for change. They can change individuals, breaking the patterns of isolation that our present consumer culture sustains. They

can change communities by bringing people together around common interests and to incubate new ideas. Finally, they can change the

broader society in which we live by encouraging more deliberative and participatory democratic processes that extend far beyond political

campaigns and ballot boxes.

We offer two programs aimed at developing a deeper understanding of the many challenges we face and the capacity to respond to those

issues that strike a chord deep within. Capacity Building for Global Citizenship is an adult learning program that brings together people who

know they want a part in creating a better world and are looking for a supportive network in which to develop their understanding and their

plans for action. Complementary to this is the Irma Parhad Summer Research Program that supports individuals in learning about issues

facing communities around the world, and the innovative local responses of the community members.

Often when we stop to look around, it is easy to become fearful, cynical or even lose hope about our ability to effect real change that will have a

positive impact now and for future generations. However, if we take the time to look deeper, we see so many examples of people working every

day for a more just, peaceful and sustainable global community. There is great cause for hope; however, hope is not something that can be

given. Hope is something that each of us must earn by doing, by standing shoulder to shoulder with others who share our concerns and

working together to create the kind of world we want.

2011 Programs

Summary

Human Voice Project

The Human Voice Project initiates a process of learning from the lives, the experience, and the wisdom of people who are willing to share what they have learned of the human condition, while on the journeys of their lives.

The Human Voice Project was introduced as a pilot project in 2011 under the guidance of Julie Hrdlicka, Project Coordinator. From January through March, Julie, together with volunteer interviewers, sat down for conversations with each of the storytellers. Hans Berkhout lent his considerable talent in portrait photography to capture the spirit of each of these remarkable individuals. Additional volunteers then took on the significant task of transcribing the interviews, from which Julie crafted three unique stories for each of the storytellers.

The program received a considerable boost from the Calgary Herald Sunday Edition in the fall. Beginning on November 6th, Human Voice Project participants were featured in the People section of the Sunday Herald over the course of five weeks.

On Saturday, November 22nd we celebrated the launch of a two-week long Human Voice Project exhibit at Endeavor Arts Gallery. The gallery was filled to capacity as people interacted with the program participants and listened to their stories. All of the 39 stories are now available on-line for viewing from the Calgary Centre’s YouTube channel and can be accessed from the home page of our website.

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Networking Neighbourhoods, Connecting Communities

Networking Neighbourhoods, Connecting Communities aims to support and encourage small grassroots neighbourhood and community groups to form, thrive and develop in their capacity to address critical human issues, at the local and global level. Behind this initiative is the understanding that fostering dialogue, learning and action at the community level strengthens the roots of our democracy and can serve as an incubator for engaged citizenship and social innovation.

The principal activity in the first quarter of 2011 was to undertake an environmental scan of different civic engagement initiatives. The CCGC connected with eight initiatives and organizations exploring potential connections and opportunities for partnerships. In addition to co-hosting the Jane’s Talk event, in partnership with the Calgary Foundation, the Calgary Public Library and the Federation of Calgary Communities, we also hosted an activity at the 75th We Should Know Each Other event, promoting the CCGC and inviting people to share their vision for the kind of world they want.

In June we hosted a presentation and workshop by Jay Walljasper, author of The Great Neighbourhood Book. The presentation was well attended and those who participated in the afternoon workshop appreciated the opportunity to connect on a deeper level with some of the presentation content.

Reasearch into different community building models was ongoing throughout the year as was our experimentation in supporting different kinds of community conversation circles. Our principal learning throughout this process was twofold:

1) Until such time as the understanding of community leaders as conveners (as opposed to super heroes) gains traction, we may in some cases be dependent on traditional community leaders to get new conversation circles up and running.

2) Community conversations typically emerge when either a particular need (crisis / issue) emerges, or when an individual becomes inspired by the possibilities of this process, enough so to take the risk and invest the time to give it a shot.

We must constantly have our ear to the ground and be prepared to follow up as we discover nascent activities that would fall within the scope of the kind of network we are trying to build.

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Capacity Building for Global Citizenship

The Capacity Building for Global Citizenship program is an extended experiential learning program for people who want to become more effective change makers and contributors to the process of creating the world we want. Whether participants will support organizations working for a better world locally or internationally, or embark on an initiative of their own, this program is intended to provide them with tools for analysis and action that contribute to a more peaceful, just and sustainable world.

The program consists of six one-day modules and six evening seminars on various topics ranging from self-development and self-care to strategies for transforming communities and influencing societal learning, growth and change. The program involves both experiential classroom work and a hands-on practicum.

We first tested the waters by partnering with the Consortium for Peace Studies to offer a condensed version of their week-long course on Peace-building and Social Justice, with Dr. Thomas Turay from the Centre for Development and Peace Education in Sierra Leone.

The foundation for this program was laid after we undertook a survey of the alumni from the Parhad Summer Studentship program. Alumni identified knowledge, skills and attitudes that they believed were important for global citizens to have at their disposal: an open mind, cultural sensitivity, respect for diversity, understanding of anti-oppressive practice, empathy, commitment to social justice, leadership skills, critical thinking and analysis, research skills/knowledge, presentation/facilitation skills, self-reflection and an understanding of global issues.

From there, a consultation committee composed of local and international educators was invited to provide input towards the design of the program, how to structure and present it to encourage diverse participation from the public. CCGC staff then met to flesh out the structure and develop the curriculum for the program launch in February 2012.

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Irma Parhad Summer Internship

The purpose of the Irma Parhad Summer Research program is to support emerging global citizens to develop a holistic understanding of a situation that is disrupting human health and welfare, and explore innovative solutions to these situations together with civil-society, social service and/or non-governmental organizations. In addition to the alumni survey mentioned in the previous section we selected and supported four applicants in 2011:

Godwin Dossou traveled to Pretoria, South Africa to work with the International Organization for Migration. Working with the IOM team, Godwin learned how the IOM manages the reintegration and resettlement of young migrants and explored the psycho-social conditions and aspirations of this population.

Riana Downs participated in the evaluation of a molecular biology and bioinformatics course offered by the Armauer Hansen Research Institute in Ethiopia in conjunction with the Global Health Program at the University of Calgary. Riana was interested in ensuring that the course is relevant for Ethiopian students and assists them in obtaining professional research and clinical positions, thereby reducing brain drain and promoting the best use of limited resources.

Crystal Kwan’s placement with the Coalition of Services for the Elderly (COSE) in Quezon City, Philippines looked at how community organizing by older adults is allowing this population to effectively address the diverse challenges they face. Crystal documented the process of community organizing and its implications to affect social change at both the local and international level.

Alisa Tukkimaki took part in the planning and management of the Fellowship for Afghanistan coordinated by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Hiroshima office. Organizing and assisting with the implementation of the learning activities as well as with the evaluation plan for the program, Alisa worked with the Afghan Fellows as they received training through face-to-face workshops in Kabul, Abu Dhabi and Hiroshima.

All of them contributed updates and reflections on their experiences that can be accessed through the program’s blog: http://ccgcparhadstudentship.wordpress.com/about/ In addition their final research reports can be downloaded from the CCGC website.

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Modeling Global Citizenship

This program stream showcases the achievements and on-going work of established civil society organizations. The purpose of the program is to extend the reach and impact of role-model civil society programs, and by making their work known to the general public, to raise public awareness about both the need and the possibilities for action related to global citizenship.

The Calgary Centre partnered with the Canadian Friends of Oasis for Peace, a Calgary-based not for profit organization dedicated to dialogue, cooperation, and a genuine and durable peace between Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and Israelis by encouraging, supporting, and publicizing the projects of Wahat al-Salam-Neve Shalom (WASNS), the “Oasis of Peace.”

Our collaboration, together with two skilled students from the Alberta College of Art and Design Visual Communications program produced a high-quality, eye-catching display that tells the highlights the accomplishments of the Oasis of Peace village. The exhibit was presented to the public in May. The members of the Canadian Friends group gave an engaging and informative presentation and the 65 people in attendance had the opportunity to participate in a conversation about

the relevance and value of an initiative like WASNS here in Calgary. The display was also mounted at a special event organized by the Diversity Committee of Canada Revenue Agency in celebration of Asian Heritage month.

The exhibit content, as well as the short documentary about the village are available for viewing on our website. Additionally, the display is available for community groups to show upon request.

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Raise it Up!

2011 Fundraiser On October 20, 2011 the Calgary Centre for

Global Community launched its first-ever

fundraiser.

Held within the fantastic Headspace

meeting room downtown Calgary, the

Raise It Up fundraiser was more than

just an event to raise awareness and

funds for the CCGC. It was a unique

opportunity to demonstrate to

supporters the future vision of CCGC

and its capacity to motivate and

engage Calgarians.

The venue was divided into five different

areas to represent the five programs

streams of the CCGC and staff and

Board members were ready to direct

conversation and take questions.

In total, the net income of the event was

over $4,000.00.

A silent auction presented

guests with a variety of unique

artifacts and pieces from local

artists. The evening was

rounded out with

performances from musicians

and a house DJ.

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2011

Financial Report: Assets

Reserve Fund 650,000.00

Bank Balance 39,313.69

2011 Revenue

Bank Interest 10,438.06

Canadian Donations 101,857.47

U.S. Donations 7,952.85

Program Fees 989.83

Fundraising 4,618.99

2011 total $125,857.20

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2011

Financial Report: Expenses

Personnel 60,000.00

Administrative Costs 8,187.18

Legal & Professional Fees 9,621.63

Communication & PR 13,880.08

Fundraising 14,553.56

Board Expenses 1,177.13

Program Costs 107, 409.40

2011 total $214, 828.95

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Thank-you Supporters!

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“I am here today to shed some light on what a volunteer entails with the Calgary Centre for Global Community. As a volunteer since 2010, I have grown in both my understanding and involvement in civil society and the problems which face humanity on a global level. This growth was not swift and it has not yet come to completion. I found myself reiterating the biblical expression, “The angels where lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory”. This infinite glory, this righteous purpose, is my hope. I am committed to keeping this race on this planet for years to come, and I believe (fingers

crossed), our perpetual contemplation can come to fruition, but it’s going to take some work. That’s where I come in…”

Christopher Franssen

CCGC & the story of one volunteer...

The success of building a new organization from the ground up is entirely dependent on the trust, support and

generosity of donors, volunteers, staff and well-wishers alike. The CCGC has evolved quickly since its inception. As

we move into 2012 and beyond, we will continue to create new space for ideas, concepts, dialogue, programs and

connections for Calgarians with humility and strength.

Thanks to our supporters, in 2011 the CCGC has

been able to:

Maintain and expand each of the 5 program

streams by increasing visibility, partnerships, and

reaching new participants

Develop a brand and fund development strategy

for 2011 and beyond

Increase the number of volunteers and volunteer

hours

Impact communities outside of Calgary through

our Summer Studentship program

Materialize the future Calgary Centre space at

the Raise It Up! Fundraiser

To view the 2011 list of donors please visit:

http://calgarycgc.org/contribute_005-2011.html

You Have to Play to Win

By Dr. Arthur Clark

Like other human beings, you are aware that you will not live forever. You may be less aware of your own unique potential; many go through life and never discover it. Such awareness can be much more important than winning a one hundred million dollar lottery. It can provide you with a purpose, and that can lead to responsible self esteem and personal well being. It can change absolutely everything in your life. The Calgary Centre for Global Community is based on a pragmatic way of thinking about the relationship between personal well-being and a healthy global community. Everything of enduring value created by human beings depends on the interplay of individual genius and cooperative work. Human beings are capable of great things when they work together, and they travel down the road to ruin when they don’t. Each person has a unique potential to contribute to the vitality of the world around them. Self-actualization involves discovering and developing that potential. This process leads to personal growth as the individual contributes to vitality and healing in her community. Vitality and healing are essential to a healthy organism and to a healthy society. That’s pragmatic realism. This vision transcends the narrow self interest of our consumer culture and escapes the straitjacket of nationalism. It enriches communities and enhances individual consciousness. We human beings often forget how dependent we are on one another for our personal well-being and quality of life. Because of our poorly informed choices, our global community is catastrophically dysfunctional, divided by grotesque inequality and perpetual warfare. This is squandering public resources and the potential of countless human lives. Our culture does not educate us even to imagine anything better.

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Fortunately civil society worldwide is envisioning and actualizing the changes that need to be made. Called the largest movement in the world, civil society is us – hundreds of millions of us - as individuals and small organizations, thinking outside the box, identifying threats to human well-being and human survival, and responding to those threats. But progress has been much too slow. As the not-for-profit, nongovernmental sector of society, working for the public interest and the common good, civil society needs something that will enhance the speed of transformation it is leading. We created the Calgary Centre for Global Community for that purpose. The programs and other resources at the Calgary Centre, and the vastly increased frequency and power of the connections that will take place there, are intended exactly to enhance the scope, the reach, and the impact of the work of civil society. We cannot meet the challenges alone, but working together we will be just about impossible to stop. If you are part of civil society, we created the Calgary Centre for you. You can join us in growing this gift for others like us – your children and theirs – who will continue this work a decade and a century from now. It may be the chance of a lifetime to change the course of history in the twenty-first century. Wherever you are on the road of your life, the Calgary Centre can help you expand the power of your work and the enduring value of your legacy. Engage in this with all your heart, and you will outgrow what you thought you could be. This is an investment for a lifetime, and the odds are in your favour. But you have to play to win.

Arthur Clark Chair, Board of Directors

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Alone we can do

so little;

together we can

do so much.

Helen Keller

“

Calgary Centre for Global Community

224 13th Ave SW

Calgary, AB T2R 0K2

www.calgarycgc.org

Tel: +1 (403) 457-5534/

+1 (403) 932-0882

”