Partnership Enhancement Fund
Through the Partnership Enhancement Fund (PEF), ACIC provides funding for organizations in the international cooperation sector to engage Atlantic Canadians as global citizens. Successful applicants receive a micro-grant up to $3500 to cover the travel expenses of an international partner they wish to bring to Atlantic Canada for public engagement events.
The PEF strengthens existing partnerships between organizations through sharing perspectives, cultures, and ways of knowing while also creating wider awareness and understanding of international cooperation. Recipients of the fund also regularly create pathways for future collaboration and expansion.
Previous iterations of this fund were called the Global Voices Fund and the Southern Speakers Fund. The names were changed to decolonize our language and to reflect the focus on global partnerships.
Highlights
UNB School of Leadership Studies (SLS) & Sherubtse Student Leadership Program (SSLP)
The University of New Brunswick brought their partner from Bhutan to host public engagement events throughout Atlantic Canada. UNB SLS facilitated a number of events, including a Bhutanese Open House that connected current and past partners, an in-class engagement at the University of New Brunswick, a visit to the East Coast Leadership Academy where SSLP faculty shared perspectives on the Sustainable Development Goals and Gross National Happiness, as well as informal and community-based activities such as sledding, visits to local sites and a gathering with alumni. The visit also included meetings with SLS faculty and university leadership to strengthen and advance the ongoing collaboration between the two programs.
Connecting to Africa and the International Council for Immigration, Entrepreneurship, and Employment (CIIEE)
ACIC member organization Connecting to Africa received the fund to support a visit from Bright Fiaga of CIIEE during International Development Week. Due to visa processing delays, Bright was unable to travel as planned, but contributed his perspective to the event "A Journey into the Unknown: Trans-Mediterranean Migration" in Halifax, NS, through a pre-recorded video message.
LifeSchoolHouse and Fundación SHARE
LifeSchoolHouse received PEF funding to bring Verónica Escalante of Fundación SHARE to a gathering at the Coady Institute for Asset-Based Community Development practitioners. Participants discussed their approach of sharing resources, knowledge, and tools to allow organizations to expand their work. Verónica shared this model at the ACIC Symposium.
Venture 2 Impact and The Forest Stewardship Council-Indigenous Foundation (FSC-IF)
Atlantic Canadian organization Venture 2 Impact brought FSC-IF from Panama to the ACIC Symposium. Fredy Duque spoke at the Symposium on the importance of Indigenous-led climate solutions and met with V2I members to co-develop a skills-based volunteering program in Panama City.
The Cooper Institute
Gabriel Allahdua, a member of The Cooper Institute, spoke on an ACIC Symposium panel on decent work and economic work activity. Gabriel spoke about his experience as a migrant worker, his perspective on Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and his advocacy work for improved working and living conditions for those brought to Canada through the program.