When I saw the poster advertising this 6 week workshop, I was so intrigued that I immediately emailed Erin Stewart Elliot for more information.

Here is what she shared.

Who are the workshops for?

These sessions are for anyone wanting to make a positive difference in their community. 

Because the workshops are happening by Zoom, they are open to anyone across BC. 

Using Zoom is cool because it will mean all kinds of different people can be in the workshops together: 

• People of all ages
• People from different cultural backgrounds
• People with different levels of experience
• People who live in different places

Why should I take the workshops?

People in the workshops will:

• Learn how the cycles of funding proposals work
• Get more comfortable with the language of community development and social change
• Learn from people who are already taking action in their community
• Learn from each other

These sessions also lead into a 2 course CapU Community Capacity Building citation. The citation will run September – April (One course each term).

People will hear new ideas and learn new skills in the workshops. But the workshops are also preparatory. So, people can decide if they want to learn even more through the citation. 

Will the workshops empower indigenous people?

The workshop series is not only for indigenous people – it’s for anyone interested in taking action in their community.

That said, Lil’wat Nation member Yvonne Wallace is the teacher. She is taking curriculum from CapU, called “Everything is Present in the Seed”, and she is indigenizing it. 

Community Development is all about a “power with” approach, instead of a “power over” approach. I hope people will walk away feeling inspired to take action in their community. That people will want to be part of the process of making change where they live. 

Will I be in good hands?

Yvonne is an incredible facilitator. I had the honour to witness her facilitate an activity at a Zoom retreat. The authenticity she brought, and her groundedness, was so beautiful to witness that I felt weepy.