Tuesday, June 29, 2010, Ottawa – More than 200 people attended United Way Ottawa’s 9th annual Sharing our Strengths Community Conference, held today at Ashbury College. The conference brought together volunteers and staff from across the social services sector, as well as other community and business leaders, to network, build skills, share strengths and discuss important issues facing the sector.
The conference offered opportunities for participants to acquire new skills and knowledge in the areas of strategic leadership, management, finance, communications and information technology. Presenters from more than 25 organizations, including host sponsor Ashbury College, offered workshops on topics such as social enterprise development, leadership, grant writing, and pending changes to the Not-for-Profit Corporations Act.
Betty Ferreira, founder and principal consultant of ReStructure Consulting, offered the keynote address. A former executive director of several non-profit organizations, Ferreira focuses on restructuring, starting and turning around non-profit organizations. She works with not-for-profits and donors to build a more robust, sustainable and effective social sector by envisioning and implementing their work in new ways. Also making a special appearance was Jeff Bean, a former Olympian (freestyle aerials) and Ottawa native, who spoke about resiliency and lessons learned in his athletics career.
New to the conference this year were speed-networking sessions offered over the lunch hour: 10-minute networking sessions that helped participants to efficiently meet other attendees, exchange business profiles, share experiences and build contact lists.
“Through events such as the Sharing our Strengths conference, United Way brings people and resources together to build a strong, healthy, safe community for all,” said Michael Allen, President and CEO, United Way Ottawa. “This is an opportunity for United Way to come together with our community partners to learn ways to increase our capacity to respond to the needs of the people we serve and, ultimately, equip ourselves with the tools needed to make change happen.”
“Ashbury College is proud to host this important professional development day for leaders, staff and volunteers from community organizations,” said Karen Keskinen, Director, Communications and Marketing, Ashbury College. “Our 800 students work countless hours volunteering alongside and in support of these wonderful organizational leaders to serve our community. At Ashbury, we are helping both our students and our community to grow.”
A full conference program can be seen here.
For more information, please contact:
Anne-Marie Marcil, United Way Ottawa
Cell: 613-299-2479
E-mail: amarcil@centraideottawa.ca
Website: www.unitedwayottawa.ca
Karen Keskinen, Ashbury College
Cell: 613-355-8596
E-mail: kkeskinen@ashbury.ca