About
Moving Mountains Initiative
In 2021, Banff Canmore Community Foundation, Town of Banff and Town of Canmore assumed the guiding role for the implementation of the Moving Mountains Initiative.
The goals were to enable Bow Valley civil society to build capacity, collaboratively achieve greater impact and transform the flow of resources. The trifecta of partners worked to advance these goals by connecting collaborative projects and initiatives to each other, and connecting them with shared resource pathways to help them continue doing important work across Banff, Canmore, Lake Louise, Exshaw and Mni Thni.
People
Jeanie Macpherson
Jeanie Macpherson helps non profits build bridges, strengthen cross sectoral collaborations and build adaptive business and financing strategies for sustainable development. Jean brings over 20 years of program design, producing, research, content production and digital strategy experience to her work. Her professional background includes leadership, consulting and producing roles at Banff Centre (Banff), EmcArts (New York), ArtsPond (Toronto) and National Arts Centre (Ottawa). Jeanie is committed to advancing positive social, cultural, and economic change in the world, brings contagious enthusiasm for learning and sense-making, and is passionate about the role of the arts in spaces of difference, transformation and change.
Daryl Kootenay
Daryl Kootenay (he/him) is a Traditional singer, dancer, artist, speaker, youth leader, and film maker. He is from the Stoney Nakoda Nation of Treaty 7 Territory in southern Alberta and a member of the Dine (Navajo) Nation in New Mexico from his father’s Heritage. Daryl has traveled globally to volunteer in countries such as Peru, Nicaragua and throughout Africa working with Canada World Youth (CWY) first as a participant, then an intern and employee. In 2022 Daryl led a fourth delegation of youth from his nation and CWY at the United Nations World Conference of Indigenous Peoples and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Rights. He attended the Young Global Diplomat Forum in London England in 2019. He now dedicates much of this time to working locally with Stoney Nakoda youth and youth throughout the Bow Valley. He is a teacher of traditional art and dance, the co-founder of the Stoney Nakoda Youth Council, group leader for the Project Nakoda Outdoor Wilderness Experience (NOWE), and co-convener of the Mni Ki Wakan: World Indigenous Decade of Water Summit. Daryl recently worked as Co-Lead of Moving Mountains initiative, holding a particular area of focus and expertise in relationship with Truth and Reconciliation in the Bow Valley.
Core Team
Laurie is passionate about philanthropy, inclusive community and collaborating to achieve shared aspirations. Laurie brings to her work many years of experience in program innovation, community engagement, and strategic management in many sectors including post-secondary education, national retail, financial services, and public land policy advocacy. She has held program management roles at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Mountain Equipment Co-op. Laurie has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from McGill University and an MBA from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. She recharges by getting outside and loves to backcountry ski, run, bike, paddle and climb. Laurie and her partner and son live in Canmore.
Tara Gilchrist has worked for the Town of Canmore FCSS Department for 24 years, supervising the team for the last 16 years. Community development and support of the civil society sector has been a primary focus of her work. She believes strongly that building capacity in community and community organizations is the very best way to meet the needs of community.
Shawn is a Social worker by education, and has a professional background in Social work for over 25 years. Shawn started out working with “Closer to Home” in Calgary and was involved in the Family Resource Centre, Foster Parent Program, and Semi-Independent Living Program for youth. Shawn moved to the Bow Valley and worked in Child Protection Services for the provincial government for 5 1/2 years. Shortly after moving to the Bow Valley in 2000, Shawn started a family with his wife, and is the proud father of three children (including a set of boy & girl twins). Shawn has lived in Banff for 20 years and has been employed with the Town of Banff as a Family School Liaison Worker and now Manager for just over 15 years. Shawn enjoys living a mountain lifestyle with his family, and like many other Banff and Canmore families, our garage could be described as a rental gear shop, stocked with types of bikes, ski’s, kayaks and camping gear.
Learn and Try Group Leads
Makaylah Rogers (they/she) is a Social Impact Entrepreneur, Speaker, and Facilitator with over 8 years of experience consulting for business owners, executives, and start-ups. They co-founded Scale Naturally Inc and Frankie D's Donuts, both businesses sharing a focus on promoting mental wellness in community and workplaces, albeit through different approaches. Makaylah is a passionate Mental Health Advocate, sharing their own struggles with mental illness to raise awareness and support others. With a unique perspective as a queer, non-binary, and neurodivergent individual, Makaylah is driven to do their part to contribute to a more compassionate and inclusive world.
Cathy is passionate about helping others and easing food and affordability burdens in the Bow Valley. With a professional background in accounting, administration, project management and systems, she has worked in a variety of food security and affordability organizations and project initiatives in the Bow Valley, and is currently working as Administrator at the Bow Valley Food Bank. Cathy has personal experience with food insecurity and is grateful to the many folks who helped her along the way. She now enjoys giving back to her community in reciprocity, good relationship and in service of those who are in need.
As manager of the Be Local YYC community network, Philip Lozano works with locally owned and community-minded businesses in Alberta that have integrated the social and environmental impacts of their financial goals. With more than 10 years’ experience in social enterprise, he’s thought a lot about ways to build local economies that are sustainable, resilient and that work for everyone.
Dynise is a Gitxsan contemporary dancer, performer, choreographer, storyteller, workshop facilitator and certified holistic Nutritional Consultant. As founder of her company Glowing Holistic Wellness, Dynise provides personalized consultations for individual clients, couples, families or working teams. Dynise hosts holistic wellness talks and workshops for corporate businesses, as well as educational and community groups. As a facilitator, Dynise listens for what is important to people at the level of self, family and community and facilitates communication so that those who want to participate are able to join conversations. Taking a holistic approach to health, nutrition and wellness, Dynise meets her clients where they are at and supports them in accomplishing their personal and collective holistic wellness goals, informing them along the way various changes which could be implemented in their daily life.
Greves is a Stoney Nakoda artist, community organizer, facilitator and traditional drummer and singer. Born and raised in Mini Thni, AB, Greves has traveled the world extensively as a performer, drummer, and singer. In 1994, Greves and his drumming group, 'Stoney Park Singers’ were nominated for the first ever Juno category of ‘Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording”. The Stoney Park Singers are of the Nakoda tribe near Morley, AB. went on to win numerous world singing championships at Pow Wows nationally and internationally. In 2023, Greves co-curated and co-produced the first ever Indigenous Cultural Centre Pop Up event in Banff, AB. Currently, he is a member of the Indigenous Knowledge Circle (governing body) of ‘Mini hrpa’, an Indigenous Cultural Centre in Banff, AB.
Approach
Moving Mountains: A Civil Society Driven Strategy
The community change that civil society sought to advance through the Moving Mountains Initiative, were a series of complex problems that required a balance of sometimes opposing views and interests. The intersectional research approach adopted by the initiative team combined core aspects of Human Centered Design, Two Eyed Seeing and Co-creation. The intersectional research approach selected for the initiative amplified equity centered community research and thought leadership, applied an equity centered research lens to processes, and utilized a community centered knowledge framework to guide data collection and reporting processes.
Story
The concept for the Moving Mountains Initiative emerged from discussions between Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) teams at the Town of Canmore and the Town of Banff. The partners recognized that significant potential for positive impact could be unlocked through greater collaboration across community organizations and broader civil society. Also, there was a need to improve funding sustainability for civil society groups and remove systemic barriers to funding for some groups that are positioned to do important work. Four priority areas for community impact, as identified by BCCF’s Vital Signs research, provided a starting point for exploring opportunities: Truth and Reconciliation, health and wellness, environment and economy.
The Bow Valley’s civil society sector comprises over 200 formal and grassroots initiatives that weave with First Nations Tribal Administrations and provincial government services to provide a web of highly valued support and opportunities. When COVID-19 exacerbated funding shortages in the Valley’s most pressing issues – including high cost of living, low and precarious incomes, and access to fewer resources than in urban area – the community and government responded with new funding and the sector heroically pivoted to address new needs. Well-meaning groups worked hard within their mandates, but the pinch points inhibiting efficient flow of resources often lie elsewhere. With a diverse population (including 34% of the population of Banff are immigrants), some groups lacked connections or capacity to connect to these new supports. Insufficient resources dedicated to the Valley’s most intractable issues, including chronic resource shortages, capacity building, connection and sharing between organizations. The Moving Mountains Initiative aimed to reach new solutions to transform service delivery in the Bow Valley while improving financial sustainability.
The Moving Mountains Initiative, an initiative by and for the people living in the Bow Valley took a regional, Bow Valley-wide approach to strengthening civil society across the Valley, aspiring to create change in two core areas:
- Collaborating for impact – what can we do more powerfully together?
- Transforming the flow of resources – how we can connect meaningful resources to those doing impactful work?
There are four areas of focus in which we consider
our core guiding questions, as above. They include:
Truth and Reconciliation
Economy
Health and Wellness
Environment
Empowering a Connected Community of Care
