Mark Holmgren's Blog
Last November I published a blog on the Edmonton CDC website and more recently repeated that posting here on Anticipate. Reading it first is, I suggest, of value to fully engage this posting. The title of this posting reflects my interest in getting language "right." Living Wage and Livable Income are not synonymous. The latter … Continue reading Livable Income IN a Livable Economy (Part Two: the Impacts of AI)
Originally posted in November 2018 on the Edmonton CDC Blog. In Edmonton, approximately 140,000 workers are identified as low income earners (earning below $16.31 per hour), according to the Edmonton Social Planning Council (source, page 79). Four in five of these workers are over the age of 20 and 60% are women. The Canadian Payroll … Continue reading Living Wage IN a Livable Economy
I have written in the past about what I call the pendulum swing or the bandwagon effect. I think this is what has happened with respect to collective impact over the past 10 years. I suggest it also occurred in the late 1980s when outcome measurement rode into town on its stallion named Logic Model. … Continue reading Collective Impact as Uprising
I have always been tall and husky. I was my current height, 6 foot 7 inches, in my freshman year of high school, and I was a basketball player and I was pretty good at that game. Back then a guy my size was automatically assigned the center position. And that's where my coach put … Continue reading My Basketball Coach
Funders should apply to community agencies to fund them. Can you get your head around that? What would that look like? Why would that approach be more impactful and cost-effective than current practice? Would this upside down version of funders foster more partnerships? Would there be a transformative power-shift? One of my favorite upside down … Continue reading Upside Down Thinking: Funders should be Rebels
When we look to another for wisdom, it is not data that we seek. We want more than information; we need more. We deserve more. Data sends signals, whether standing on its own before us or alongside of its counterparts on a trend line or a scatter diagram. Data may be objective, though I tend … Continue reading Data and Wisdom
Such a simple question, four small words that get at the core of our community change work. It's not a question confined to a step in a visioning or planning process. It's place is within us, no matter where we are going or if we are standing still. It's not just a question about purpose … Continue reading Why are we here?
Upside Down Thinking has a relationship with Disruptive Thinking and Disruptive Innovation, but they are not merely different descriptors of the same thing. You can read a previous posting I did a while back on Upside Down Thinking; this posting is about Disruptive Innovation. Disruptive Innovation has its roots in the private sector. The concept … Continue reading Disruptive Innovation: a Type of Upside Down Thinking
A few weeks ago, I received my first ever jury duty notification. It really is a summons and it speaks with authority, with warnings of serious consequences if you fail to respond or show up on the designated day and time at Court Room 317. Instructions and explanations were pretty good, but it was all … Continue reading Summoned to Jury Duty
I was at the gathering where Premier Notley and Minister Sabir announced legislation that would improve benefits to recipients of AISH. I support these improvements (read more). My math indicates a 6% increase to the AISH benefit. Some critics say it should have been higher, given the length of time since the last increase. Some … Continue reading THERE’S MORE TO DO TO IMPROVE AISH, ISN’T THERE?
Today I attended the announcement by the Alberta Government that it would be raising the AISH benefit by near $100 per month and indexing it to the cost of living from here on out. Premiere Notley spoke. Minister Sabir spoke. A gentleman on AISH spoke. Michael Phair, Co-Chair of End Poverty Edmonton spoke. You can … Continue reading A BIG fail of our Media
A recent headline: "Charity watchdog urges donors to think twice before giving to Calgary Flames Foundation." Read it here if you haven't already. The article does not paint the Flames Foundation in a positive light. That said, I am not here to debate if the foundation is a cash hoarder or an expensive charity. I … Continue reading Why do we love bad stories about charities?
<repost> The word "innovation" conjures up positive imagery. We see it as something we want to be known for. It's creative, desirable, inspiring, and we sense that if we can do it, if we can achieve it, we will lift ourselves up above the status quo, not to mention those who are quite comfortable in … Continue reading The Way of Innovation
