COCo board recruitment and the “Walking the Talk” award.

January 26th, 2010 § 0

I’m just putting these here because they’re not yet on our website (the new website is going into beta this week!). I truly enjoy working with COCo and have found the last three years involvement with the team there with incredibly worthwhile. If you are interested or know someone in Montreal that we should be talking to, please let me know.

For the “Walking the Talk” Frances Ravensbergen award, please also see below.

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COCo is Looking for New Board Members this March!

We will be electing several new Board Members at our upcoming Annual General Meeting in March and we are currently accepting nominations. If you or someone you know may be interested in running for the COCo Board please call us to let us know. Please call (514) 849-5599 and ask for Spencer or email [spencerm at coco dash net dot org.

We are looking for Board Members who have participated in COCo's programs or services and have experience volunteering or working with Quebec community groups. We seek representation from many different communities on our Board. In particular we hope to nominate Board members that are well connected with the ethno-cultural community groups we serve.

Skills, Experiences, and Resources we are looking for in new Board Members:

You don't have to have any formal training or a specific background to be on the COCo Board. However we are hoping to bring more of the following skills, experiences, and resources to the Board: Connections with ethno-cultural community organizations, connections with the Francophone Community Sector, connections and experience with off-island communities and community organizations, financial management skills or experience acting as a treasurer, significant experience and history with the Quebec or Montreal community sector.

What it means to be part of the COCo Board of Directors:
Approximately 8 - 12 hours of Board work per month including Board meetings every two months
Acting in a general organizational oversight role
Participating in semi-annual organization-wide planning retreats
Participating in COCo committees and activities that interest you
Working on expanding the COCo membership base

If you are interested or you know somebody else that you think would make a great COCo Board Member please call (514) 849-5599 and ask for Spencer or email [spencerm at coco dash net dot org]

Call for nominations for the second annual Frances Ravensbergen Award for Walking the Talk!

COCo’s AGM is quickly approaching and it is time for us to choose the next recipient of the Award for Walking the Talk that was established last year to honour one of our own, Frances Ravensbergen and her relentless commitment to consistently practice what she preaches.

COCo is making a yearly commitment to seek out others in our communities who chose to live out their social change values on a daily basis. This award will be given out to a new recipient, at our AGM on Wednesday March 31, 2010 at the MAI café (3680 Jeanne-Mance). The Frances Ravensbergen Award for Walking the Talk offers award recipients $1000 to donate to community endeavors as they see fit.

Last year, Frances decided to split the award between Jobra Centre (working on poverty reduction in Park Extension)and The Welfare Rights Committee (working out of St Columba House). This year we hope to include Frances and another COCo team member, as well as representatives from these groups, on a committee to choose this year’s award winner.

That’s where you come in! Who do you look to for inspiration in your community? Who do you know that lives out their social change values, consistently and enthusiastically ‘walking the talk’? We are looking for nominations!

Please send your nomination with the following information in writing, in French or English to [spencerm at coco dash net dot org] before Friday, February 26, 2010:

Your name and contact information

The nominees name and contact information

Answer the question: What makes this person a good candidate for the Frances Ravensbergen Award for Walking the Talk?

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COCo est à la recherche de membres pour son nouveau conseil d’administration! Assemblée générale fin mars!

Lors de notre prochaine assemblée générale annuelle qui se déroulera en mars, nous élirons plusieurs membres pour notre conseil d’administration. Nous sommes donc en ce moment en processus de recrutement. Si vous ou une personne de votre entourage désirez rejoindre les rangs du conseil d’administration du COCo, veuillez nous l’indiquer. Vous pouvez téléphoner au (514) 849-5599 et demander Spencer ou lui faire parvenir un courriel à : [spencerm arobas coco tiret net point org].

Nous sommes à la recherche de membres ayant participé à des programmes ou services du COCo et qui aurraient une expérience en travail bénévole ou dans des groupes communautaires québécois. Nous désirons aussi recruter des membres qui aurraient des liens avec les groupes communautaires ethno-culturels que nous desservons.

Compétences, Expériences et Ressources de nos nouveaux membres :

Il n’est pas nécessaire de posséder une formation formelle ou des expériences particulières pour faire partie du conseil d’administration du COCo. Nous souhaitons cependant recruter des membres qui nous pourraient nous apporter : des relations avec les organisations communautaires ethno-culturelles, avec le secteur communautaire francophone, des relations et des expériences avec des les communautés et des organismes de l’extérieur de Montréal, des compétences en gestion financière, des compétences ou une expérience en tant que trésorier, une expérience significative avec le secteur communautaire du Québec ou de Montréal.

En quoi consiste le travail d’un membre du conseil d’administration du COCo :
Approximativement 8 à 12 heures de travail par mois – incluant lors des réunions qui se déroulent à chaque 2 mois
Assumer le rôle de superviseur de l’organisation en générale
Participer 2 fois par an à des séances de planification globale
Participer aux comités du COCo ainsi qu’aux activités qui vous intéressent
Travailler à augmenter le nombre d’adhérents au COCo
Si cela vous intéresse ou si vous connaissez quelqu’un qui voudrait devenir un membre actif du conseil d’administration du COCo, veuillez téléphoner au (514) 849-5599 et demander Spencer ou faites parvenir un courriel à : [spencerm arobas coco tiret net point org].

Appel aux candidatures pour la bourse Frances Ravensbergen ‘Walking the Talk’!

L’Assemblée générale du COCo arrive bientôt et il est donc temps pour nous de choisir le(la) prochain(ne) récipiendaire de la bourse ‘Walking the Talk’ que nous avons créé l’an passé pour honorer l’une des notre, Frances Ravensbergen et la manière engagée dont elle vie ses valeures.

Le COCo s’engage à une recherche annuelle pour trouver ceux dans notre communauté qui vivent pareillement leurs valeures de changement social. Cette bourse sera donné à un(e) récipiendaire lors de notre assemblé générale qui se déroulera le 31 mars, 2010 au café du MAI (3680 Jeanne Mance). La bourse Frances Ravensbergen ‘Walking the Talk’ offre à un(e) récipiendaire $1000 qui est distribué comme bon leur semble à des causes communautaires.

L’an passé, Frances à décidé de répartir le don entre le Centre Jobra (qui travaille sur la réduction de la pauvreté dans le Park Extension) et le Welfare Rights Committee (en provenance du St Columba House). Cette année, Frances, et une autre membre de l’équipe du COCo se joindront à des représentants de ces deux organismes pour choisir le(la) récipiendaire de cette année.

C’est donc pourquoi nous vous contactons. Qui considérez-vous comme étant une inspiration dans votre communauté? Connaissez-vous quelqu’un qui vous ébahi par ses contributions fréquentes à la justice sociale? Si oui, nous sommes à la recherche de candidatures!

Envoyez vos candidatures par écrit, en français ou en anglais, à: [spencerm arobas coco dash net point org] d’ici à vendredi le 26 février, 2010:

Votre nom et vos coordonées
Le nom et les coordonées de la personne que vous nominez
Répondez à la question: Pourquoi est-ce que cette personne est un(e) bon(ne) canditat(e) à la bourse Frances Ravensbergen ‘Walking the Talk’?

proserpina

January 24th, 2010 § 0

The writing on Said The Gramophone is the best I read most days. I’m sharing this one not because of the writing but because it’s about Kate McGarrigle. I’ve been worrying a lot about death (not dying) in the last few months and it’s sad that she’s gone.

The youtube video is beautiful as well (bottom of the post). I’ve seen both Martha and Rufus perform (or maybe I only imagine I’ve seen Rufus perform).

human trafficking in Canada

January 22nd, 2010 § 0

Last night I attended the premiere of Avenue Zéro.

Asian girls are being enslaved in suburban massage parlours; domestic workers toil like slaves in suburban homes; girls in a Montreal subway station are being lured into prostitution; Vancouver gangs are recruiting Honduran boys to sell drugs. Human trafficking is a reality today, and it’s happening closer to home than you might think. Featuring candid interviews with victims, witnesses, and perpetrators, Avenue Zero paints a spellbinding portrait of a dark and sinister trade flourishing in the shadows of the law. A Virage Production. In French and English with French subtitles. A discussion will follow the screening with the filmmaker, Guy Bianchi, Detective Lieutenant with SPVM, Lynn Dion, Batshaw Youth and Family Centres and Louise Dionne, Spokesperson for the CATHII (The Comité d’action contre le trafic humain interne et international).

Screenings continue from January 22 to 31 !

I’m don’t have much knowledge in the area of human trafficking or sex work, although I’m pretty well-read in sexual assault and child abuse. It was an interesting film that I imagine didn’t under or overstate the reality of what is happening in Canada. I’m used to social justice advocates sometimes having to overstate their case in order to be taken seriously, but this film seemed content to show some of the horrible reality and let the workers and survivors tell their own stories.

It made me wonder on what the impact of decriminalizing sex-work (and drugs, for that matter) would have on the sex-work side of human trafficking (I’m just finishing Gabor’s Maté’s book on addiction which espouses more decriminalization and an approach of harm-reduction). I was very surprised that no one raised that issue so I asked it – mentioning first that I wasn’t an expert and I didn’t have an formed opinion about it. Turns out that only groups present were abolitionist groups – those trying to eliminate prostitution, and nobody spoke about whether another approach would make a difference. I wonder what Stella‘s take would have been. I don’t know quite enough about them to assume that it would be different on this particular point, but it would have been nice to have that question debated properly so at least I would have understood the issue more.

Article in LaPresse about the film.

(I looked around to see if I could spot anybody from my old organization SACOMSS (Sexual Assault Centre of McGill Students’ Society) but the only young anglo’s I saw were part of Missing Justice, an org I’ve only heard of that works against violence against Indigenous women in Quebec. I was happy to meet them.)

fixed up

January 21st, 2010 § 0

This site broke somehow and it took me a bit of time to ask Yannick to fix it up. One+ month to ask, <30 minutes for him to fix it. It's nice to work with developers.
I also finally got the spam filter set up, so I just approved a few comments that people had made a while back. Sorry about that.

The exciting news of yesterday (besides really realizing just how much fun using the API on our CRM really could be for our sales/marketing strategy) is that Evan and the Status.net / Identi.ca team are moving into our building! I had no idea until I saw Evan walk by our window yesterday and turn in our door.
I haven’t hung out much with him in the last three years, so hopefully this will be an opportunity for the two teams to spend some fun time together. Daniel’s also a fan and friend (MSU is an investor). It’s possible that Yannick has sworn a blood oath against him because of an anti-Python/Ruby comment that Evan may or may not have made, but that’s another story. ;)
I just need to get Sylvain and Sebastien to move here and I’ll have my web-insight stimulation dream-team from 2004.

Where am I?

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