Alberta Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector Initiative (ANVSI)

The Alberta Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector Initiative (ANVSI) is a ground-breaking initiative, bringing together leaders from the voluntary sector and senior Provincial government staff to develop a more collaborative relationship between the sector and the Province.

Background

The roots of ANVSI extend back to 2004 when a group of nonprofit leaders and staff from Alberta Community Development began informal meetings to discuss how to build a stronger, more collaborative relationship between the provincial government and the voluntary sector in Alberta.

In July, 2006, the Minister of Alberta Community Development, Denis Ducharme announced the new Alberta Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector Initiative (ANVSI) to encourage collaboration between the sector and the provincial government to ensure sustainability of the sector and help address current and future challenges. The first stage included the development of a framework to guide and strengthen the relationship between the provincial government and the charitable sector.

In 2007, a Memorandum of Understanding established a Framework for Collaboration between the Government of Alberta (GOA) and the Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector (NPVS). The Framework led to the creation of a Collaboration Committee, an Alberta’s umbrella mechanism to re-examine, clarify and strengthen the relationship between the province and the sector. The role of the Collaboration Committee is to focus on fostering policy dialogue, capacity building, and issue resolution. Consisting of equal representation from both the GOA and the NPVS, the Collaboration Committee is supported by a secretariat. Alberta Culture and Community Spirit has been the lead department on this initiative since 2008.

For more information please visit the Alberta Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector Initiative (ANVSI) website.

In 2009, the NPVS received funding for a senior staff position to support and coordinate the work of the nonprofit members of the Collaboration Committee.

CCVO’s Role

CCVO has played a leadership role in moving this initiative forward since 2004. The CEO, Katherine van Kooy, has been at the table from the start. In addition to serving as a member of the Collaboration Committee, she is co-chair of the ANVSI Policy Sub-Committee and previously, the HR Project Team. She was also co-chair of a working group that organized two forums, in February 2009 and June 2010, drawing together representatives from community foundations, United Ways, private foundations, municipal funders and corporate community investment programs with nonprofit leaders and government partners to discuss the impact of the economic downturn on their collective capacity to support the voluntary sector and to engage in dialogue about the sustainability of the voluntary sector.

ANVSI continues to be a major focus of CCVO’s provincial public policy work.