Kevin McCort is President and CEO of Vancouver Foundation. McCort’s past work in international development often engaged Indigenous communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. When he moved to Vancouver in September 2013, one of the first events he participated in with Vancouver Foundation was the Walk for Reconciliation. He says, “that was where I really began to understand and appreciate the reconciliation narrative and to see how Vancouver Foundation was a part of that story.” From then on, he has been actively supporting Vancouver Foundation’s role as a donor and ally in supporting First Nations achievement and aspirations.
This year, Vancouver Foundation has embarked upon a series of Pilot Dialogues in collaboration with Reconciliation Canada. This work is a co-creation of a new tool for engagement within the organization, and for interactions with community and in personal settings. The Foundation’s staff attended Reconciliation Dialogues both to understand the critical role that they play as a Community Foundation, and to explore actions that could be taken at personal and organizational levels to continue this important work of reconciliation.
For McCort, the future of the Foundation’s journey involves doing more as an organization by being deliberate in supporting the reconciliation movement. He notes that working with a vision of reconciliation will improve various aspects of their work and even change the nature and fabric of their leadership.
McCort believes that reconciliation it is a collective and long journey that cannot be accomplished alone, for “reconciliation belongs to everyone”.
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