Thriving Non-Profits testimonial: Esquimalt Military Family Resource Centre

Four staff from Esquimalt Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) participated in the Thriving Non-Profits cohort this past year.  We were thrilled to be selected and the timing of this opportunity could not have been better for our organization.  Our Board of Directors has had “diversification of funding” on their radar for several years and we were in dire need of information and motivation!

We found that the leaders of this program had such a wealth of knowledge and deep understanding of the not for profit world.  Our mentor met with our team and encouraged us to think outside of our “comfort zone”.  We are very keen to reduce our organization’s grant reliance and explore the possibility of creating additional impact through social enterprise.

Our team appreciated the chance to network with other organizations in the cohort and enjoyed learning from them through the homework and presentations.  I feel that we made some long-lasting ties with our colleagues in the cohort.

The course has taken our organization to potential new ways of being that we had never considered.  For example, we are fledglings in the area of social enterprise and as a result of the course and mentorship we feel confident to move forward in this direction. It was good to learn more about win-win partnerships, mobilising underutilized assets, fee for service and achieving scale and impact.

Our team really came together throughout the course.  We enjoyed learning together, sharing our views, and getting excited about the opportunities. We are now champions within our organization.  Truly this course lit a fire under us and we are very excited about our potential as a not for profit and our ability to better serve military families in this community.

Jackie Carlé is the Executive Director of Esquimalt MFRC.