Why We Exist

Why We Exist

We work with Chatham-Kent changemakers to tackle our community’s biggest challenges through community-led and sustainable solutions. We act as a bridge for changemakers by providing the resources they need to keep moving our community forward.

We strategically identify, develop, and implement projects that invest in changemakers, who in turn invest in our community.

Our Vision

To build a community of changemakers who are ready to tackle the biggest challenges our community faces, now and in the future.

What We Do

We work with individuals, groups, and organizations to address local challenges by providing:

  1. Workshops and training to gain skills in anything from leadership abilities to hands-on skills
  2. Seed funding to start and grow their projects in a short period of time
  3. Resources, such as space and tools, to offer their products and services
  4. Access to a community of innovative, creative, and passionate changemakers
  5. Partnership opportunities to enhance current work
  6. Mentorship opportunities to learn from experience along the way
  7. Facilitation supports to explore and engage with others
  8. Brainstorming supports to find new ideas worth investing in
  9. Recognition and celebration for successes, big or small

Our Values

  • Solution-focused – we strive for out-of-the-box and realistic solutions, especially when the status quo isn’t helping anymore.
  • Community-led – we are dedicated to investing in people and communities, not ourselves, because it is the people of this community that have the power to make real change.
  • Self-sustaining – we specialize in developing projects with local changemakers that are able to sustain themselves partially or fully, using grants as seed funds to get projects off the ground instead of seeking funding in perpetuity.
  • Admin-lite – we look to reduce “admin-heavy programs” in favor of projects that involve a community to share the load, allowing more to be done with less.
  • True empowerment – we look to empower different groups of people who are traditionally not recognized for their contributions to our community, but have so much to offer.

We recognize the contributions and investments of our partners, including the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, and Tamarack Institute.

Join us in being different.


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