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ACTEW Update

 

ACTEW AGM: April 17

Hold the date—ACTEW is having our AGM for the 06-07 fiscal year on Equality Day, Thursday April 17, after work (tentatively 4 – 6pm). Hold the date, and we will be notifying members and friends with details within the next week. Any questions can be forwarded to info@actew.org.

ACTEW Welcomes New Project Managers

ACTEW is pleased to formally announce and welcome the addition of two project managers - Paula Wansbrough, who will be managing Putting Women in the Picture, has been contributing to the project as a researcher since September 2006, and is responsible for many of ACTEW’s new fact sheets on women’s employment issues. Paula also manages another ACTEW project, Moving onto Success, in which she surveyed the residents of a women’s shelter, community practitioners, and employers on intimate partner abuse and its impact on women’s employment. Previously, Paula worked on legal issues for women and their families with CLEONet.ca and the Ontario Women's Justice Network. She has also conducted research and program delivery in the youth employment sector. We are excited to have Paula's expertise in community-engaged research and policy analysis in an ongoing managerial position with ACTEW.

Lori Smith has recently joined ACTEW as the new Project Manager of the Content-Sharing Constellation. Lori brings extensive experience in the non-profit sector, including her most recent role as the Communications and Outreach Coordinator at the Riverdale Community Development Institute. Lori's experience in the sector has also taken her overseas to work in Morocco, where she collaborated with various women's and human right’s organizations to help build technological capacities and international outreach efforts. Lori is active with many community committees in Toronto, including the Toronto Portuguese Film Festival, the International Indian-Electronica Music Festival, and the East End Community Coalition. We welcome Lori as a strong new edition to the ACTEW team!  

ACTEW is Looking for Round-table Guest Speakers from the VAW Sector

ACTEW in partnership with Springtide Resources has developed and will pilot a customized training workshop to improve the capacity of employment practitioners who are providing employment and training services to women who have experienced intimate partner violence. The Supporting Survivors/Supporting Employment workshops will be held in four different locations within Ontario in April. ACTEW is inviting representatives from the Violence Against Women (VAW) sector to participate as guest speakers to share their community experiences and knowledge with the employment sector. The time commitment is two hours where you will share your agency mandate, answer questions about your services and have an opportunity to network with employment service providers. Please contact Trish McNamara at trish@actew.org for more information.
> dates and registration: http://www.actew.org/projects/current/ACTEW_Supporting_Employment_Workshops.pdf
more: http://www.actew.org/projects/current/ssse.html

How Do You Do Referrals? ACTEW Wants to Know

Agencies serving women or youth that have successful referral systems or those that face barriers to making appropriate referrals are encouraged to participate in ACTEW’s new project, Advancing Referral Processes. A partnership with the Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres and funded by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, this project will explore the issues and innovations in current referral processes. Teleconference and in-person focus groups will be conducted with rural and urban employment and training practitioners by EVIDENCE, throughout April. Please contact Paula Wansbrough at paula@actew.org to participate. Space is limited.

ACTEW Provides Expertise to UN Delegates for the Commission on the Status of Women

ACTEW participated in a training session for Canadian non-governmental organization delegates to the 52nd meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Eight delegates from agencies across Canada, hosted by FAFIA and funded by Status of Women Canada, attended the 10 day meeting in New York. ACTEW was funded by Oxfam to provide delegates with information and analysis on women’s access to employment and training services. We also described our efforts through the Putting Women in the Picture initiative to raise awareness on women’s employment issues as the Labor Market Development Agreement is implemented in Ontario.
> more: http://actew.org/blog/2008/02/economic-security-of-women-un-focus-for.html

ACTEW’s Latest Employment Fact Sheet: Rural Women

ACTEW and the Rural Women Making Change Research Alliance have released a fact sheet and policy newsletter on employment issues for rural women. While national unemployment rates for women are lower than men's, rural women in Ontario are the exception; those over age 24 are more likely to be unemployed than rural men. Rural women are more likely to be self-employed or working seasonally or part-time than their urban counterparts, and rural women are also less likely to be able to access EI. Other employment issues include the lack of child care, little access to training and well-paying jobs, and dependency on transportation. These challenges are compounded by ill-fitting policies developed in urban environments.
> facts: http://www.actew.org/projects/pwpsite/snapshots/rural.html
> policy: http://actew.org/InFocus/feb08.html

actew welcomes our newest member!

We are pleased to welcome YWCA Niagara Region as new Associate ACTEW member. Find out more about the YWCA Niagara's work at http://niagara.cioc.ca/details.asp?RSN=3475

Become an ACTEW member! For more information visit: http://www.actew.org/about/membership.html

 

International Women's DaY: “Equality Once and For All”

According to the new report prepared by the Canadian Labour Congress for International Women’s Day “Women in the Workforce: still a long way from equality”, women in Canada earn, on average, 70½ cents for every dollar earned by men for in full-time, full-year jobs. In response to these findings, the CLC has launched a year-long campaign “Equality Once and For All” to highlight solutions to the ongoing economic inequality experienced by women in Canadian society. The CLC has also produced fact sheets on wage inequity, the gender pay, employment insurance, pensions, the role of unions and child care.
> campaign: http://canadianlabour.ca/index.php/womens_economic_equa
> report : http://canadianlabour.ca/index.php/Women/1345

Maytree Foundation’s ‘Scholarship for Protected Persons, or Landed Immigrants who were Protected Persons’– Deadline: March 28

The Maytree Foundation is accepting applications for their 'Scholarship for Protected Persons, or Landed Immigrants who were Protected Persons'. The focus of this scholarship is to provide both economic and social support to students who will be attending university or community college in Toronto in the fall of 2008. The foundation looks for students who have a sense of civic responsibility and who possess a successful academic, work and/or service record.
> more : http://www.theconstellation.ca/actew/news.shtml?x=125454

PARO’s 2008 Northern Opportunities for Women Survey

PARO invites you to complete the 2008 Northern Opportunities for Women (NOW) survey. NOW works to bridge gaps in self-employment and employment and training supports for women in Thunder Bay and the Region. The program also provides links to personal and career development information, support for existing PARO Peer Circles, new PARO Peer Circle start ups, small business loans, and ongoing support to members. The NOW 2008 survey is designed to update and expand on the program and to build on research compiled in 2004.
>more: http://www.theconstellation.ca/actew/news.shtml?x=124139

 

More news available on ACTEW's web site: http://www.theconstellation.ca/actew/news.shtml

Events

 

Focus Group: Survey of Non-Profit and Voluntary Sector Organizations

The Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration recently announced a five-year, one million dollar initiative to explore ways in which to help non-profit organizations manage and reduce their liability risks and get the right insurance coverage. Dr. Agnes Meinhard, Director of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies at Ryerson University, will be conducting a the study Insurance and Risk Management in Ontario Nonprofit Organizations. This focus group is part of the study designed to broaden understanding of current insurance practices in Ontario's voluntary sector.
> more: http://www.theconstellation.ca/actew/events.shtml?x=127201

Job Skills 2008 and 2009 Professional Training Courses

For the first time, Job Skills has partnered with The Corporate Schoolhouse, ONESTEP and The Ontario Alliance of Career Development Practitioners (OACDP) to provide various levels of certification for individuals in the Employment Service sector. Through its new certificate programs, The Corporate Schoolhouse is now offering individuals the opportunity to receive a General Employment Services Professional Certificate or a more Specialized Employment Services Professional Certificate, based on their own particular interest. The courses are designed to provide additional skills, enhanced learning opportunities and recognition for specialized training for individuals working with clients in the sector.
> more: http://www.theconstellation.ca/actew/events.shtml?x=125931

City of Toronto Information Session for Agency Staff Serving Newcomers 

The City of Toronto is holding two one-day information sessions for Agency Staff serving Newcomers on services offered by the city to serve their clients. Information will be available on the following services: Public Health, Social Services, the Toronto Public Library and Parks, Forestry & Recreation.
> more: http://www.theconstellation.ca/actew/events.shtml?x=127185

 

More events available on ACTEW's web site: http://www.theconstellation.ca/actew/events.shtml

Inter-Agency Service Collaboration Project 

The Inter-agency Services Collaboration Project authored by Joan Roberts and Pauline O’Connor examines collaborations among NPO agencies that directly or indirectly enhance service delivery. Examples of such collaborations include shared administration, budgets, or administrative staff, shared infrastructure, joint service planning, or joint program delivery such as single intake and information-sharing. The project investigated the characteristics of service delivery collaborations in Toronto, critical success factors and barriers, and similarity of NPO collaborations with public sector and business sector collaborations. The full report and additional publications are available on the Wellesley Institute website.
> more: http://wellesleyinstitute.com/interagency-service-collaboration-non-profit-sector

Online Professional Development for VAW Workers: Understanding Family, Immigration and Refugee Law

Springtide Resources Inc, in cooperation with Division of Continuing Education, York University, is offering a professional development course "Understanding Family, Immigration and Refugee Law: E-Learning for VAW Front-Line Workers". This is a professional development course offered online to introduce violence-against-women workers to family, immigration, and refugee law issues for women leaving abusive relationships. The course will provide participants with current, relevant and accessible legal information so that they can assist their clients in navigating the legal system.
> more: http://www.theconstellation.ca/actew/events.shtml?x=127665

 

More resources available in ACTEW's Resource Library: http://www.theconstellation.ca/actew/elibrary.shtml

Refugee Sponsorship Training Program (RSTP) Coordinator
Catholic Cross Cultural Services
view posting: http://www.theconstellation.ca/actew/jobs.shtml?x=127655

Supervisor, Community Crisis Response
City of Toronto, Social Development
view posting: http://www.theconstellation.ca/actew/jobs.shtml?x=127232

RFP: Advisory Committee Facilitation -
New Coordinated Language Assessment and Referral System
Settlement and Intergovernmental Affairs Directorate, Ontario Region
view posting: http://www.theconstellation.ca/actew/jobs.shtml?x=127193

 

More jobs available on ACTEW's web site: http://www.theconstellation.ca/actew/jobs.shtml