‘Successful Coalition Building’ Forum

July 22, 2015 @ Etobicoke Civic Centre

This half-day event brought together representatives from diverse agencies in the West Toronto region. The forum provided an opportunity for participants to learn best practices, network and exchange strategies on building successful coalitions as it relates to service improvement and co-ordination. The afternoon included a key note address and three presentations:

Keynote Address

Carolyn Ferns, Public Policy and Government Relations Co-ordinator – Ontario Coalition Better Childcare

Panel Presentations

Harmy Mendoza, Executive Director – The Woman Abuse Council of Toronto (WOMANACT)
Vikki Ali, Coalition Co-ordinator – The Coalition of Agencies Serving Immigrant Seniors -Peel Region (CASSIS)
Sadia Khan, Project Manager – The Consortium of Agencies Serving Internationally-trained Persons (CASIP)

Following the presentations, participants of the forum were invited to engage in table discussions centred around two questions:

Is your agency currently a part of a coalition? If yes, please share the benefits of being involved with a coalition? If no, based on the session today, do you feel that a coalition may work for you as you collaborate across agencies? Please explain?
What are some key lessons learnt from the 3 coalitions presented today? Are there some issues that your sector is facing that makes you interested in creating a coalition?

Each table shared key points from their discussion with the larger group.

The afternoon ended with a door prize draw with three lucky winners!

A big ‘thank you’ to the speakers, volunteers, forum participants and the members of the TWLIP Service Coordination Action Group, who planned and organized the event.