Report from Heather Keachie
Joseph Patterson of Toronto was elected to the Oikocredit international board in June 2017.
At the June meeting of the Oikocredit Canada Board, I was elected Support Association President. Let me take this opportunity to talk to you about our activities and plans.
First of all, let me thank the former President, Jack Vanderkooy, who served in this role since 2013. I’m pleased to say that Jack will remain on the Board and will continue to provide Oikocredit Canada with the benefit of his long years of experience in the financial industry.
I also want to take this opportunity to bring you up to date on developments at Oikocredit Canada, and our plans for the future.
Earlier this year, we held several events in Toronto and Vancouver on the theme of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These supplemented a number of informal networking events and an expanding social media presence under the leadership of our Events and Volunteer Coordinator, Aysha Dawood.
On May 16, in Toronto we hosted Ging Ledesma, Oikocredit’s director of investor relations, and UN consultant Ned Rava in an event that drew 70 attendees and included an energetic discussion on SDG No. 1 – the elimination of poverty by 2030.
In Vancouver, on May 30, we held another panel discussion on how to engage the business and investment community in the SDGs. It featured Eugene Ellmen, Oikocredit’s national director in Canada; Helle Bank Jorgensen, President of the Global Compact Network Canada; and Michael Simpson, Executive Director of the British Columbia Council for International Cooperation.
Creating a local and national presence
We were also active participants at the Toronto Fair Trade Show May 13-14 along with Kindred Credit Union, our financial partner in Ontario. As well, earlier this year, Oikocredit Canada supported the national office in reaching out to 20 existing and prospective institutional investors at investor forums in Toronto and Vancouver, in cooperation with Oikocredit’s exempt market dealer, Deetken Asset Management.
These events complemented a number of country-wide conference sponsorships by the Oikocredit national office. Our national office was present at the Canadian Credit Union Association conference in Halifax in May and the Responsible Investment Association (RIA) conference in Vancouver in June. At RIA, Oikocredit hosted a keynote panel discussion on the role of social investment in advancing worldwide financial inclusion.
Our aim with these events is to raise important issues about the critical role that investment plays in fostering sustainable global development. We want to increase awareness of Oikocredit’s work around the world, and to support efforts by the national office to raise Canadian investment funds for Oikocredit.
We look forward to working more closely with our Atlantic Support Association colleagues, as Eugene continues discussions with credit unions that are considering launching an Oikocredit savings option in eastern Canada.
Building a strong organization
In June, I was one of the eight Canadians who attended the Oikocredit International annual general meeting, held this year in Accra, Ghana. Canadians continue to play an important role in the governance of Oikocredit at the international level. At this meeting, Joseph Patterson of Toronto was elected to the international board.
Also in June, the Support Association held its annual members meeting in Toronto and members adopted a new two-class membership structure. Members of the Board will now hold the voting memberships, and the broader Oikocredit community will hold non-voting memberships. The two-class membership structure was proposed to save costs and reduce the administrative burden of the SA, to free up time and resources to engage with the broader Oikocredit community across the country. We will continue to prepare unaudited financial statements, and these will be available to both classes of members through our website.
Members also elected a new Oikocredit Canada Board. To support our national outreach efforts, the Board welcomed Michelle Peterson from Vancouver, Andrew Nicholls from Victoria, and Joseph Howse from Halifax. Their perspectives will add a coast-to-coast perspective to our deliberations. They will join Abhishek Bhasin, Arlene Tober and myself from Toronto, Jack Vanderkooy from Collingwood, and Karl Braun from Waterloo. Speaking on behalf of the Board, we are honoured to continue to serve the Oikocredit community in Canada and look forward to an exciting year ahead.
Contact Us
We would be pleased to hear your suggestions for education and outreach activities. If you have any suggestions or need more information, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at our Support Association email, canada@oikocredit.org.
All the best,
Heather
