Guide to Exemplary Practices in Community Leadership

Highlights from the exemplary practices session

On December 14, 2012, the Prime Minister honoured Canada’s most innovative and inspiring volunteers who give their time in some of the country’s largest cities, smallest towns and most remote northern hamlets. Seventeen recipients of the inaugural Prime Minister’s Volunteer Awards (PMVA) were recognized for their efforts to improve the well-being of families and their communities.

The 17 winners hail from many walks of life. They include energetic and dynamic individuals who have devoted much of their lives to helping specific demographic groups, local business leaders that have nurtured cultures of social responsibility across their organizations and innovative not-for-profit organizations that have been remarkably successful in spurring collective efforts to improve quality of life in their communities.

To give a few examples, one winner is a survivor of human trafficking and is aiding women who have been similarly victimized. Another is the local division of a national corporation that feeds homeless people in downtown Vancouver. Still another winner is an organization operating in an isolated community in Nunavut intent on promoting physical, emotional and spiritual wellness for the whole community.

Learning from the experts

All winners have been profoundly influential in their communities. Working locally, they have helped specific groups in their communities live better lives. They have much to teach Canadians from all walks of life about the best and most practical ways to build stronger communities through volunteerism.

The day before the awards ceremony, 13 of these exceptional volunteers participated in a session in which they agreed to share their experiences as well as the exemplary practices that have enabled them to succeed. So that the group could benefit from full explanations of their experiences, as well as hear important lessons in leadership, the volunteers shared brief presentations of their work, their challenges and their impact on communities. Later the same day, all participants shared their exemplary practices for success in volunteerism.

Lead by speaking

Many PMVA winners agreed that word-of-mouth marketing was vital not only for helping communities and potential partners understand the importance and relevance of a particular volunteer effort, but also for convincing people unfamiliar with volunteerism that it can be rewarding to give one's time to a worthy cause.

In 2009, Timea Nagy, a victim of human trafficking, began an organization called Walk With Me through word of mouth to support other victims. The power of Nagy's personal story has helped her organization establish nine safe houses in Ontario for victims as well as create Canada's first 24/7 mobile crisis team for victims. As Nagy describes, "In the beginning, two allies became four, which became six, and so on." Walk With Me has formed partnerships with police, social workers, nurses and politicians in Nagy's own community and across Ontario. Her work has trained 60 000 police officers and sparked a dialogue about a problem that is not widely recognized or acknowledged in Canada.

Zeibarth Electrical Contractors' Johannes Zeibarth delivered another powerful message about leading by speaking. For years, Zeibarth quietly wired houses for charities such as Habitat for Humanity, not wanting to attract attention. When one day he mentioned his activities to a colleague, 50 volunteers magically arrived at the next job to help. Says Zeibarth, "Humility was a barrier for me at the beginning of my volunteerism." Once he realized the power of leading by example, Ziebarth began to speak of his volunteer activities with friends. As a result, three have established their own charities, including a cancer care foundation for young adults.

Lead by acting

Some organizations spread the word of volunteerism through their actions, transferring their interests and passions to others. Award recipient TELUS supports the Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver as part of a broad range of philanthropic activities that support TELUS employees in their efforts to volunteer in the hearts of their own communities. TELUS spokeswoman Jill Shnarr said that in recent years her telecom peers have stepped up their volunteerism efforts in response to TELUS's example.

Individual volunteers can have a similar effect on those around them. Patrick Busque, presenting on behalf of his father, the late Richard Busque, told the group that his nine-year-old son was beginning to get involved in volunteerism of his own accord after witnessing the volunteerism of his grandfather and the great passion that he brought to his work and community. Dr. Rick Irvin, who has received widespread praise for his pioneering work in palliative care in Barrie, Ontario, said, "When you're out in front as a volunteer, you gather people to you and then you get to work." Dr. Irvin has changed the way end-of-life care is provided in his region and also raised awareness of issues that will affect more Ontarians in the coming years. He said that the act of standing up to receive an award lends credibility to the people who nominate award-winning volunteers.

Make connections

Many participants voiced the opinion that making connections is vital to success. Exploits Valley Community Coalition spokeswoman Karen Beresford said her group, deeply inspired by the concept of building a social enterprise, has borrowed brilliant ideas from similar groups about housing multiple services under one roof-something that would not have occurred to her without outside inspiration. Meanwhile, community support keeps her organization vital and effective. "Partnerships have been the key to solving crises of all kinds, from fixing water main breaks to working with farmers to help feed the homeless," she said.

Alberta's Lo-Se-Ca Foundation has benefitted profoundly from its community connections. Lo-Se-Ca, which began as a single group home for persons with disabilities, has grown to 23 homes that serve 85 individuals. Lo-Se-Ca forges links between residents and the larger community by connecting them with volunteer opportunities and paid positions as well. One key connection is a partnership with the Brothers of Charity, with which Lo-Se-Ca shares exemplary practices in volunteerism and raises funds. When the organization faced an acute staffing shortage, it reached out to new Canadians, integrating them into the community by providing much-needed training opportunities.

The Child Development Institute's Stop Now and Plan (SNAP) program operates in 92 sites worldwide and reaches between 4 000 and 10 000 children. The tremendous success of the program, which uses a cognitive behaviour strategy to address aggressive and antisocial behavior in children, has spread via partnerships with police services, band councils, child welfare bodies and mental health groups. In total, the program has established 25 partnerships.

Ashid Bahl and his For the Love of Children foundation have helped some 20 000 newcomers to Canada settle in Alberta and contributed to aid operations around the world that benefit children. The breadth of Bahl's work has been possible largely through the many partnerships he has created with corporations and governmental organizations, which reach into communities across the city and province.

It's a small world

The participants were delighted to learn that many partners had ended up in the same room December 13, having supported each other's causes and enabled each other's work. One of Richard Busque's volunteer organizations in the Beauce region has helped two of Timea Nagy's human trafficking survivors. TELUS is a great supporter of the Lo-Se-Ca Foundation in Alberta. And Rich Goulet revealed that three of his high school students have been awarded TELUS scholarships over the years.

Make a difference

All participants shared the results of their work, making it clear why each is exemplary in Canadian volunteerism. Here are a few highlights of what they revealed:

Alfreda Bérubé, a passionate supporter of the arts, established l'Éclosion in 1982 in Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska, New Brunswick, as a training workshop for disabled persons. Twenty years later, she founded FABÉMA to provide arts and music training for disabled persons. Today, Bérubé's dream continues, with her new vision of creating a music school in the northwest corner of the province.

Rich Goulet began his work developing a comprehensive sports program at a school that had little to offer in the way of sports, with the goal of developing good citizens and creating better schools. Goulet has mentored many students who now coach basketball in the community and elsewhere and has developed a highly competitive basketball team at Pitt Meadows Secondary School in BC.

The Ilisaqsivik Society has empowered the community in Clyde River, Nunavut-imparting a sense that the hamlet can provide its own ideas and answers for its unique challenges. The society, which was started when the community recognized that its programs did not adequately respond to the needs of Clyde River's 830 inhabitants, is now the main employer for the hamlet.

Dr. Rick Irvin's work promoting palliative care has helped lead to the establishment of Hospice Simcoe's Hospice House, a 10-bed residential hospice in Barrie Ontario, serving Simcoe County. Through volunteerism Dr. Irvin has nurtured dignity and respect for the ongoing care of people and their families.

Practices that create deep impact in a community

Practices that lead to the widest possible reach

Practices that establish strong engagement with others