Courtney Feldman is a Capacity Building Consultant with The Winnipeg Foundation. A key initiative in her portfolio is the Endow Manitoba program, which works to advance the sustainability, growth and impact of the province’s 57 community foundations. Feldman is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) and helps to build the capacity of individuals and organizations through coaching, training and development roles.
She’s a graduate of the MPNL program, with a BComm from the University of Manitoba and an Adult Ed degree from Saint Xavier University. As part of her MPNL degree in 2022, she wrote a capstone paper, Leadership Practices of Emerging Community Foundations in Manitoba. She spoke to PANL Perspectives about this research and her work with community foundations in Manitoba. The interview has been shortened and edited for this Q&A.
Question: What was your community-foundation research about?
Community foundation leaders from Manitoba and staff from Endow Manitoba met in Killarney, Manitoba, to share knowledge and stories about building community awareness.
Feldman: One of the key messages in my paper is that community foundations are evolving. With the presence of community foundations in Canada for more than 100 years, with the first being The Winnipeg Foundation, in my home province, my research paper highlights a shift in how these organizations are creating community impact. We’re seeing a shift from what was historically a financial institution for the community to, now, a vehicle for change and impact through coordinated efforts, long-term relationships and a holistic look at community wellbeing. A community foundation is more than its financial assets; there are many ways community foundations are supporting community wellbeing. Simply put, we’re not going to grant our way out of society’s challenges.
In my paper, I looked into the nature of this new leadership role of community foundations, regardless of asset size of the foundation. I found that, large and small, they hold leadership roles in their communities, demonstrating everything from advocacy to granting to building community capacity to fostering partnerships and collaborations.
Q: What does success look like for a community foundation?
Feldman: Community foundations are leaders, and they’re evolving. Success is no longer focused on financial assets alone. Success also includes measures of collaborations, relationships and impacts on wellbeing.
We now have 57 community foundations in Manitoba, which is the largest concentration per capita in North America. There are just over 200 community foundations in Canada, and we have 57 here. This is a tremendous display of generosity in Manitoba.
There’s a deep sense of pride in Manitoba. It’s like, “If you can have a hockey team, then we can have a hockey team. If you can start a foundation, then we can start a foundation.” People think of vibrant communities, and they think of future generations, when looking at community foundations. I have the pleasure of working with all 57 community foundations in my work with Endow Manitoba.
Q: In general, how should community foundations engage in leadership activities and remain accountable to their communities?
Feldman: They need to continue to listen and learn — to pause, connect, convene and build relationships within their communities, just as they’ve been doing. Community foundations are evolving, and the only way they can do this effectively is by doing it with their communities. We have to remember that we as community foundation don’t do anything alone; we work together with our community partners.
Q: Can you comment on how Manitoba community foundations are connected with Indigenous partners or nations?
Board members of The Pas Tri Community Foundation, which was formed by The Pas, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, and the Rural Municipality of Kelsey. It’s Manitoba’s first community foundation established in partnership with an Indigenous community.
Feldman: Recently, The Winnipeg Foundation engaged several Indigenous communities and organizations regarding community trust-based philanthropy. This engagement was an opportunity for community foundations in Manitoba to learn more about the complexities and opportunities that reflect Indigenous values regarding community philanthropy. From this, we’re building relationships and learning how the network of Manitoba community foundations can work alongside Indigenous communities and organizations.
At last year’s Endow Manitoba Community Foundation conference, Coty Zachariah with the Southern Chiefs’ Organization spoke about the need and opportunities of listening and learning from each other. This work is continuing. The network of Manitoba community foundations is interested in continuing these conversations.
At the inaugural Endow Manitoba Community Foundation Conference, more than 160 attendees from more than 40 Manitoba community foundations listened to a panel of Indigenous leaders share insights about strengthening relationships. Left to right: Coty Zachariah, Nicole Chartrand, Sky Bridges, Sharon Redsky and Justin Johnson
With few connections between Manitoba community foundations and Manitoba First Nations communities, there’s significant opportunity for connection and collaboration. The Winnipeg Foundation is exploring how best to move forward with the learnings from the recent engagement sessions. These learnings focused on continued dialogue on the thoughts, values and understanding of community foundation models, training and development on the cultural traditions, values and history of Indigenous communities, advocacy that encourages more equitable distribution of resources, and further research into how community foundations could operate under an Indigenous governance system.
Courtney Feldman is on LinkedIn. Her research can be downloaded here: Leadership Practices of Emerging Community Foundations in Manitoba.
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Friday, September 22, 2023 in Closer Takes, For homepage, News & Events, Research from Alumni
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