The room was abuzz with meaningful conversations and connections at The Law Foundation of Ontario’s second annual Catalyst Day on May 9, 2024.
Catalyst is the Foundation’s multi-year core funding program that supports leading access to justice organizations across Ontario. Catalyst Day offers grantees of the program and Foundation staff a chance to come together for networking and learning. Like last year, it also gave us the in-person opportunity to announce additional support. We are pleased to be able to provide each Catalyst grantee with $17K in funding to put toward their own capacity-building objectives.
We began the day with a big topic! Meredith Brown, Sarah McCoubrey, and Ashley Major from CALIBRATE Solutions hosted a workshop on defining and measuring the systemic outcomes of our collective access to justice efforts. Input from the workshop feeds into a larger Foundation initiative to create an impact measurement framework. We hope the framework will help us better understand the impact of our funding and focus on the most effective approaches to improving access to justice.
The afternoon was devoted to an “open space” format where grantees were invited to create and manage their own agenda. Together, they decided on topics they wanted to dig into, formed into smaller groups, and facilitated conversations. This fluid approach gave participants exactly what they were looking for: dedicated time to meet and talk with each other about their common issues and opportunities.
“The content was engaging and relevant. It was a great balance between understanding more about what the Foundation is working on and a chance to hear from other grantees about their ideas, concerns, best practices, and so on. Wonderful use of time, much appreciated!” – Catalyst Day attendee
Throughout the day, grantees had the opportunity to have a professional business portrait done. This turned out to be very popular! Keep your eyes on everyone’s websites and LinkedIn profiles for shiny new photos! Attendees were also invited to share a short video message to recognize and celebrate the Foundation’s 50th anniversary – more on that coming soon. The day closed with a casual reception where we were joined by two of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees: Stephen Thiele and Gerald Chan.
It is always a pleasure and privilege to spend the day with this influential and inspiring group. Catalyst Day is designed to deepen our relationships and knowledge. From the chatter in the rooms, we believe it also ignites ideas and optimism of what we can do together.
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