Vancity invests in United Way Public Policy Institute

  Making you good money by putting money to good. That is Vancity’s commitment to its 500,000 plus members. This forward-looking, values-based financial co-operative is committed to transforming how banking is done to better help their members and their local communities thrive— financially, socially, and environmentally. How is Vancity accomplishing all this? One key way is by investing in innovative initiatives such as the United Way Public Policy Institute (UWPPI). Between January and June of each year, UWPPI brings together not-for-profit leaders from across the province for monthly two-day training sessions. The objective is to help not-for-profits better understand and influence the public policy process. As a Premier Sponsor of UWPPI, Vancity is helping to equip the leaders, movers, and shakers of the not-for-profit sector with the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to drive public policy change. The result? Strong, vibrant, and healthy communities—something United Way and Vancity are both passionate about creating. This year’s UWPPI participants benefit from both Vancity’s program support and their expertise. Last month, Linda Morris, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Member and Community Engagement for Vancity along with Michael McKnight, President and CEO of United Way British Columbia, co-presented a session on the challenges of measuring social impact and shared their personal experiences on the subject with participants. “Traditional measures and metrics about outputs don’t show us the real positive, long-term impacts of making good investments in community,” said Linda Morris. “We challenged the participants to be bold in addressing how they measure social impact and to use their new advocacy tools in ways that bring meaningful change.” “We know that long-term change takes time, partners and funding: that’s why support from partners like Vancity is so important. This kind of community building, one organization at a time, one policy at a time, is crucial to the overall development of healthy, thriving communities,” said Michael McKnight, President & CEO, United Way British Columbia. The co-presentation by Vancity and United Way was part of the fifth monthly session of the 2015 UWPPI, now in its fifth consecutive year. Faculty member Ida Goodreau, Adjunct Professor at the Sauder School of Business and former CEO of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, led the overall session which focused on the real world challenges of implementing public policy, and monitoring and evaluating its impact. This innovative training and capacity building program would not be possible without the generous support of sponsors and community visionaries like Vancity. From all of us at United Way, thank you for investing in the collective, social good! (Photo: Linda Morris of Vancity and Michael McKnight of United Way at last month’s PPI dinner session.)