Nonprofits at 2:00 (formerly Nonprofits at Noon) brings nonprofit professionals and other community leaders together in conversation about relevant issues. These sessions provide you with timely information, meaningful discussions, and actionable insights.
Session Details
Albertans can expect the release of Budget 2021 in February, which will set out the government’s financial plan as well as it's overall taxation and spending priorities. Next year’s budget is an important one, coming on the heels of:
a provincial fiscal update in August 2020 that showed significantly declining revenues in the province;
a provincial recovery plan that is focused on infrastructure investments; and
a federal recovery plan that is at odds with the priorities of the Alberta provincial government.
Moderated by CCVO President & CEO Karen Ball, this Nonprofits at 2:00 brings together an expert panel of speakers for a candid discussion about what the nonprofit sector might expect in next year’s budgets at different orders of government, how nonprofits can be influential during this time, and what the next few months will mean for the sector.
Panelists
Janet Brown | Principal, Janet Brown Opinion Research
Marc Henry | President, ThinkHQ Public Affairs Inc.
Lindsay Tedds | Associate Professor and Scientific Director, Fiscal and Economic Policy, University of Calgary
Zain Velji | Partner & VP Strategy, Northweather
To view the recording, please click the button below.
leveraging the alberta community advantage
Recommendations for the Government of Alberta in Building a Community Prosperity Strategy
The Government of Alberta will need to implement bold actions to help with the recovery of our economy and the nonprofit sector remains a ready and willing partner in these efforts. In this blog post, we focus on recommendations for the Government of Alberta in building back better with a Community Prosperity Strategy. Based on feedback and conversations that built on draft recommendations CCVO crafted this summer, our recommendations for the Government of Alberta include:
Recommendation 1: Creating a Social Infrastructure Fund
Recommendation 2: Committing to increasing internet connectivity and digital literacy for individuals and organizations
As the province is in the midst of its budget consultations, CCVO will be making a submission to the Minister of Finance with a request to include these two recommendations in the upcoming budget. Show your support for a $350 million infrastructure fund in the 2021 budget with the hashtag #ABCommunityAdvantage and let's work together to create community prosperity in Alberta.
#ABCommunityAdvantage
Stay tuned for the next post in our series as we develop a set of draft recommendations for funders and other stakeholders. We encourage you to share your thoughts about what makes a community great, helping to build a collective Community Prosperity Strategy. Join the conversation on our website or on social media using #ABCommunityAdvantage.
ALBERTA BUDGET 2021 CONSULTATIONS
Albertans can share their perspectives on Budget 2021 through an online survey and telephone town halls. The online survey will be open until December 4, 2020, and can be accessed here. The town halls are scheduled for November 30, December 2, and December 3. For more information, please visit the Alberta Budget Consultation website.
We encourage you to participate and have your voice heard. It's important for nonprofits to put forward their policy priorities for the 2021 provincial budget and ensure that the nonprofit and charitable sector is not left out.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Janet Brown
Panelist
With over 30 years experience in public opinion polling, Janet Brown has developed a knack for asking the right people the right questions.
Together with Trend Research, Janet conducted the only poll during the 2019 Alberta provincial election with results that were within the margin of error for all political parties across all three regions in Alberta (Calgary, Edmonton, and the rest of Alberta).
In partnership with journalist Paul McLoughlin, Janet publishes Wild Ride – a quarterly report that weaves political insight with proprietary polling and provides clients with a no-agenda assessment of Alberta’s rapidly evolving provincial scene.
Janet continues to be active in the academic community and has recently delivered guest lectures at the University of Calgary, Mount Royal University, and Concordia University in Montreal. Janet is co-author of a chapter in Orange Chinook: Politics in the New Alberta (University of Calgary Press, January 2019) that analyses the publicly-released polling from the 2015 Alberta election.
Marc Henry
Panelist
Marc Henry is President of ThinkHQ Public Affairs, Inc., a Canadian-based public affairs strategy consultancy. The company, founded in 2011, specializes in providing clients with strategic counsel in the development of public and government relations approaches, and is one of the few firms in Canada to include in-house public opinion research as a foundation to strategy development. ThinkHQ has an impressive roster of Canadian and international clients from a variety of sectors ranging from healthcare, energy, land development and construction, infrastructure, hospitality and cannabis.
From 2001 to 2010, Mr. Henry was Chief of Staff to Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier. In this capacity, his responsibilities included providing political counsel to the mayor, senior administration and Council liaison, intergovernmental affairs and communications/media relations.
Prior to his appointment as Chief of Staff, Mr. Henry was Vice President (Public Affairs Alberta) for Ipsos-Reid. During his nine years with Ipsos, he grew the small Alberta polling division into the largest public affairs practice in the province.
Marc developed a taste for public opinion research in university. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Lethbridge, and went on to graduate studies at the University of Calgary specializing in Canadian and U.S. politics and political behaviour.
Mr. Henry’s background offers clients unique insights and perspectives on public affairs, and in addition to political public opinion research, Marc’s specialties include brand, reputation and issues management, crisis communications, labour relations, message/ad testing and program evaluation.
Dr. Lindsay Tedds
Panelist
Dr. Lindsay Tedds is the Scientific Director of the Fiscal and Economic Policy program at the School of Public Policy and an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Calgary. Lindsay is a specialist in applied economic research and policy analysis, with a particular focus on the design and implementation of tax policy. Her work spans a number of topics including municipal public finance, taxation and disclosure of stock options, tax non-compliance and the underground economy, taxation and poverty reduction, taxation of exploration expenses, and birth seasonality. She has served on several expert panels, is the co-author and editor of several books and has published a number of book chapters, technical reports, interactive guides, and papers in peer reviewed journals.
Zain Velji
Panelist
As Partner and VP Strategy for Northweather, Zain brings a decade of experience in political, business, and non-profit communications, as well as marketing and engagement.
Zain is a frequent public speaker and regular political commentator who appears weekly on CBC radio and television and co-hosting the 2019 federal election for CTV. In addition, Zain chairs the board of The Canadian Children’s Book Centre, serves on the board of the YMCA Calgary, and the Education and Lifelong learning committee of the Calgary Foundation. He is also the city co-chair of the Banff.
Zain's consulting and political experience has allowed him to work for companies and non-profits as well as notable political campaigns, serving as campaign manager for Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi in 2017 and working on the campaigns for US Senator Elizabeth Warren and US President Barack Obama.
Zain is also the host of the award-winning podcast The Strategists, where he dissects political strategy and public affairs issues of the day. His writing has been published by the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and The National Post. Zain was named one of Calgary’s Top 40 under 40 by Avenue and was awarded the Horizon Alumni Award by the University of Alberta. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Alberta.
