Background

• EndPovertyEdmonton grew out of a task force launched in March 2014 by Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson and co-chaired by Diocese of Edmonton Bishop Jane Alexander. Over two years, thousands of Edmontonians generated ideas and inputs and helped shape a progressive and visionary Strategy to end poverty in a generation in Edmonton.
• A road map outlines 35 initial actions to advance the work to end poverty with the goal of lifting 10,000 Edmontonians out of poverty in five years.
• The new organization, EndPovertyEdmonton, is rooted in the Collective Impact model, mobilizing a broad coalition of community partners, orders of government and citizens with a shared vision to more effectively address the complex issue of poverty. (For more information on CI, please visit the Tamarack Institute’s website.)
• EndPovertyEdmonton, powered by a small backbone Secretariat, will oversee the implementation of the 35 actions listed in the road map as well as the establishment of the five Community Tables to guide and inform the mission to eliminate poverty in Edmonton within a generation. As it moves into the role of community convener, the new EndPovertyEdmonton organization and its staff will be housed at the offices of the United Way Alberta Capital Region.
• Already, 10 Road Map actions are currently underway in collaboration with the United Way Alberta Capital Region, the Edmonton Community Foundation and many other leading partner organizations in the community. This includes, among other actions, the All in for Youth and 1000 Families Thriving initiatives, a community Mental Health Action Plan, Financial Empowerment Collaborative, and YEG ShiftLab, a community led action to explore solutions to the intersection of poverty and racism.

Video: 2015 ATA Welbeing of Children and Youth Conference