TAPESTRY 2019: OCIC Annual General Meeting & Symposium

The International Cooperation sector in Canada has been riding a wave of commitments and movement towards gender equality, climate action and sustainable development. Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), recently announced Equality Fund, Thrive Agenda, the 2030 Agenda National Strategy and Women Deliver Conference have focused resources and opportunities to advance sustainable development action across sectors locally and globally. This fall, OCIC’s 31st Annual General Meeting & Symposium presented a unique opportunity to be part of the conversation and effort.

The AGM & Symposium was held on September 18-19, 2019 in downtown Toronto where participants got to meet with OCIC members, partners and colleagues from civil society organizations, academia, government and community groups to share, learn, influence and inspire transformative, sustainable development.  

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

OCIC held two afternoon roundtable consultation sessions intended to inform OCIC’s new Youth Policy Program and to feed into national and regional capacity building needs assessments for ICN and OCIC programs to be offered over the next four years. 

In the evening, I Am Rohingya: A Genocide in Four Act: Documentary Screening and Storytelling Q&A Event told the journey of fourteen Rohingya youth who take to the stage in order to depict their families’ harrowing escape from Burma. Profiled in OCIC’s 2019 Transformations Photojournalism Exhibition. We were joined by two youth cast members, Ruma Ruma and Ahmed Ullah, as well as Director Yusuf Zine and Cinematographer Kevin Young at the evening event at Al Green Theatre, Miles Nadal JCC.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

We kicked off the day with an exclusive member networking breakfast, followed by an opening panel intended to provide insights on the latest national funding and policy frameworks influencing our community. In our afternoon AGM, members received updates on our progress over the past year, learned more about OCIC’s new four-year Global Affairs Canada-funded program, ran for and elected our 2019-2020 Board of Directors, and met our new staff team.

Our end-of-day Keynote with Nikki Fraser, a 28 year-old Indigenous advocate and a proud mom of two from Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc within the Secwépemc Nation in interior British Columbia, has used her platform to advocate for young Indigenous Women and Girls by participating in meetings, conferences, and gatherings in communities across Canada, United States of America and Central America.

Contributors included: 

• Julia Anderson – Chief Operations Officer, CanWaCH
• Neha Beri, Parliamentary Affairs Manager at Results Canada
• Andrea Dicks – Chief Operating Officer, Community Foundations of Canada 
• Nikki Fraser – Indigenous Rights Advocate & UN Young Leader for the SDGs
• Christina MacIsaac – Director of Innovation, Fund for Innovation and Transformation (FIT)
• Sophie Rosa – Director, Public Affairs and Member Services, Canadian Council for International Co-operation
• Yusuf Zine – Director, “I Am Rohingya: A Genocide in Four Acts” 

Photo Gallery

Participant Package and Supporting Documents

• Participant Package
• OCIC By-Laws – Approved September 2019
• OCIC Community Engagement and Learning Programs Concept Note
• OCIC Consultation Report on Canada’s 2030 Agenda National Strategy
• Results Canada Election Toolkit 

Contributors

Julia Anderson, Chief Operating Officer, CanWaCH

Julia is CanWaCH’s Chief Operations Officer. She previously served as the organization’s Acting Executive Director (2018-19) and Senior Director of Programs and Operations. She is responsible for day-to-day management of CanWaCH’s program portfolio, including managing program deliverables, human and financial resources, reporting, and liaising with CanWaCH funders. She works closely with the Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Directors to implement the organizational strategic plan and long-term fund diversification and sustainability plan. Julia holds a Master of Arts degree in Canadian and Indigenous Studies from Trent University where she focused her studies on the role of civil society in Canada’s international cooperation activities.
Julia has over 15 years of experience in the international development and not-for-profit sectors. She has worked with youth from across the globe on international development policy-related issues and held senior human rights positions. She is also an active volunteer working with the New Canadians Centre to support refugee resettlement and has served on the board of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation and as the Vice-President on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Council for International Cooperation.

Neha Beri, Parliamentary Affairs Manager at Results Canada

Neha is the Parliamentary Affairs Manager at Results Canada where she provides parliamentary strategies to help eradicate extreme poverty that best suit the political climate of the day. Prior to her time with Results Canada she worked with various Members of Parliament, Parliamentary Secretaries and Ministers for over a decade. Neha has worked for Results Canada for almost two years and loves using her political knowledge to help those around the world. Neha holds a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Communications from Carleton University. Read Results Canada’s Election Toolkit.

Andrea Dicks, Chief Operating Officer, Community Foundations of Canada

Andrea is the Chief Operating Officer at Community Foundations of Canada (CFC). Andrea brings a unique perspective to the CFC team having held roles in both the non-profit and corporate philanthropy sectors. Andrea has held leadership positions with the PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada Foundation and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Toronto and Central Ontario, and was the founding Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough. Following this role, Andrea headed north to Ottawa to join the Rideau Hall Foundation start-up team alongside CFC. After supporting the Rideau Hall Foundation‘s incubation, Andrea returned to focus fully on community foundations. Today, as CFC’s Chief Operating Officer, she works across the full breadth and depth of CFC’s purpose — relentlessly pursuing a future where everyone belongs.

Christina MacIsaac, Director of Innovation, Fund for Innovation and Transformation

Christina MacIsaac is the Director of Innovation for the Fund for Innovation and Transformation (FIT), a new initiative launched by the Inter-Council Network (ICN) in May 2019. Christina brings a wealth of experience to her role. She worked most recently as Senior Program Manager in community investment with a global insurance company, and engaged extensively with the charitable sector across Canada on issues ranging from psychological health and well-being to social responsibility and sustainability. A past participant of Canada World Youth, Christina is thrilled to engage with the international development sector on this initiative with her enthusiastic team.

Sophie Rosa, Director, Public Affairs and Member Services, Canadian Council for International Co-operation

Sophie offers over 20 years of experience in leading the development, execution and evaluation of strategic communication, public relations and advocacy efforts. She has put forward her skills in strategic planning, government relations, public speaking, knowledge mobilization and capacity building in the public health and philanthropic sectors.

Sophie holds a Certificate in Global Health Delivery from the Harvard School of Medicine, an M.Sc. in Health Studies from the University of Waterloo, a B.Sc in Psychology from Concordia University, and a B.A. in Professional Writing in English from the Université de Sherbrooke.
Previously, she functioned as a consultant for Public Health Ontario, as a Senior communications advisor for the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, and as a health promotion specialist for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.

 Yusuf Zine, Director, “I Am Rohingya: A Genocide in Four Acts”

Yusuf Zine is an actor, writer, director and producer at Innerspeak Media, a creative producing company that focuses on storytelling in film, theatre, and digital experiences. In 2013, he created and starred in a comedy web-series about racial stereotypes in the entertainment industry called ‘Fame & Fidelity’, which was an official selection at the 2014 Los Angeles Web Festival. After completing his MA in 2018, he directed and produced his first feature documentary film entitled “I Am Rohingya: A Genocide in Four Acts.” Nominated for a Cinema Politica Audience Choice Award, the film follows fourteen Rohingya refugee youth who re-enact their harrowing experiences of the genocide in a live theatre production. Featured by The Guardian, Al-Jazeera, and CBC, the film debuted in international film festivals such as the UNHCR Refugee Film Festival and the Global Migration Film Festival – and continues to be screened around the world. Yusuf is now at work on his next feature documentary slated to be announced in 2020. He continues to pursue his acting career while still writing, directing, and producing various projects with Innerspeak Media.

Keynote

Nikki Fraser, Indigenous Rights Advocate & UN Young Leader for the SDGs

Nikki is a 28 year-old Indigenous advocate and a proud mom of two from Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc within the Secwépemc Nation in interior British Columbia. Nikki was elected as the BC Native Women’s Association Youth Representative in 2015, and was the Nation Youth Representative for the Native Women’s Association of Canada in 2016. Nikki has used her platform to advocate for young Indigenous Women and Girls by participating in meetings, conferences, and gatherings in communities across Canada, United States of America and Central America.
Recognized by her work with the Indigenous communities, Nikki was nominated for “Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals” to the United Nations Youth Envoys in 2016 and was one of the seventeen selected among 18,000 nominations. In 2018, she was invited to attend and speak at the Commonwealth Youth Forum within the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as part of the Equality and Inclusion panel.
Throughout her volunteer work, Nikki’s dedication and achievement has been acknowledged on multiple platforms, including GreenBiz’s 30 Under 30, the 2017 CBC “Young Indigenous Women on the Rise,” and most recently the 2018 “Top 10 Indigenous Influencers” named by the Government of Canada. Nikki is currently enrolled at Thompson Rivers University pursuing her B.A. in Sociology and Political Science.

Partners

“I Am Rohingya: A Genocide in Four Acts” film screening and storytelling event is co-hosted by OCIC and Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre.