Canada 150 | Who are we listening to? Who is missing?

Who are we listening to?Who is missing?

It’s a question we constantly return to at Inspirit Foundation: who are we listening to and who is missing from the conversation? With the peak of Canada150 events culminating this past weekend, the question couldn’t be more relevant.
In these last few months, we’ve seen many courageous voices powerfully complicate what was, for many, a celebratory moment. Indigenous and non-Indigenous advocates urged us to take heed of our histories, to recognize the Indigenous peoples who have stewarded these lands for 15,000+ years, and to be mindful of the circumstances that continue to hinder Indigenous as well as racialized, Muslim, and other historically marginalized populations from thriving.

While it can be said we’re hearing from more voices and lived experiences than ever before, we must still ask ourselves who are we really listening to: who will we look to as we determine how we create a more inclusive future?

So many young people tell us about the visions they have for their communities, the gaps they are creatively designing solutions to fill, and the relationships they’re developing to systemically address racism and discrimination. Who better to signal the path forward than these change leaders?

In this issue, you’ll hear about and from THIS IS WORLDTOWN, a collective amplifying racialized women mediamakers; Justin Wiebe, a Métis change leader sharing his vision for a more inclusive future, kicking off our #Canada150 series; Akio Maroon and Teddy Syrette on recognizing those living at the intersections of multiple identities in the LGBTQI2S community; and so much more.

Thank you for reading. We invite you to share your thoughts with us.

Andrea Nemtin
President and CEO

We’re very excited to have supported THIS IS WORLDTOWN at their first event, which featured three Black, Muslim multimedia journalists telling their stories. This dedicated team is building spaces and an online hub to amplify Indigenous, Black, and racialized women mediamakers. Learn more about them here.

Board Member In Focus:  Farewells and Welcomes

We send our best wishes to Susan Millican and Paul Harding Stewart as they leave the board and extend a warm welcome to two new members: Wendell Adjetey and Mohamed Huque. Learn more about all of them here.

Indigenous Youth Must Take the Lead

As part of our series to broaden the #Canada150 conversation, we talked to Justin Wiebe. Justin is a young Métis city builder from Saskatoon. He spoke to us about the need for Indigenous leadership to be at the centre of conversations about Canada’s future. You can learn more about the series here.

 Additional Highlights

• 18 Muslim change leaders attended Broadbent Institute’s Progress Summit with Inspirit team members in April to contribute ideas and draw attention to experiences of young Muslims in Canada
• We worked closely with the Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada and other organizations to deepen our commitment to partnerships with Indigenous communities at a gathering at Rideau Hall around the Philanthropic Community’s Declaration of Action
• Congratulations to Crystal Cowie, Sean Stiller, Kleverson Peruzzo, and Iman Kassam, the successful applicants who participated in Story Money Impact on Cortes Island, B.C in late May to take their media-making to the next level. Read Kleverson’s reflections here

 Resources

• Last month, we were fortunate to hear from Akio Maroon and Teddy Syrette on marking Pride and recognizing those living at the intersections of multiple identities in the LGBTQI2S community
• Wanda Brascoupé Peters and Andrea Nemtin talk about philanthropy’s role in reconciliation in the latest issue of Hillborn eNews
• How can individuals ensure their investments align with their vision for a more inclusive society? That was the question guiding Jory Cohen, our Director of Social Finance and Investment, on his personal impact investing journey. Learn about it here
• Two of Inspirit’s Board Members were featured in a national Walrus Talks tour on Canada’s future. Watch Wendell Adjetey in Toronto and Caro Loutfi in Montreal
• During this year’s Jane’s Walk festival Shazlin Rahman, our Stakeholder Engagement Specialist, led an important walk and conversation about standing in solidarity with Muslims. She wrote about the walk for Spacing.ca
• Andrea Nemtin sat down with Queens University’s Smith School of Business to talk about how Inspirit Foundation is going all in on impact investing
• Introducing our Investment Policy Statement: our IPS charts the path for our commitment to a 100% impact portfolio and illustrates how we make investment decisions. Read it here.
• Share your events! Are you hosting an event advancing inclusion, equity, or pluralism? We want to share it on our nation events calendar. Please submit your events here.