2023 Priorities

2023 Areas of Focus

Community Partnerships and Engagement

1. Identify opportunities for relationship building, particularly with Vancouver School Board, City of Vancouver, and Parks Board.
2. Deepen collaborative approaches with community partners.

Action:

• Support the youth committee’s ideas and initiatives to improve direct communication with the Parent Advisory Committee (e.g. supporting youth in hosting a community day fair).
• Strengthen our understanding of responsibilities and roles of the Parks Board.
• Strengthen communication with various levels of partners in school communities, including VSB, staff, students and parents.
• Create opportunities for student representatives on the youth committee to provide updates to their schools around Britannia programming and updates.
• Engaging in mutually beneficial advocacy for youth in the Britannia community.
• Leverage our personal networks to deepen relationships with our partners and increase awareness of Britannia programming in our networks.

Staff & Volunteer Wellbeing and Support

1. Strengthen internal communication structures to improve cross-organization knowledge transfer across staff teams.
2. Assess staff and volunteer needs and capacity, to build a safe and caring work environment and manageable workloads for team members.

Action:

• Conduct an audit of current communication tools to validate assumptions about how our team and community members prefer to receive communications.
• Strengthen internal communication by adapting our communication systems based on staff and volunteer feedback, including providing information in more concise ways.
• Increase information sharing within the Board and between board and staff.
• Ensure that wellbeing is inclusive of all priorities and supported for staff and volunteers.
• Provide safe opportunities for staff to voice any concerns in an ongoing manner.
• Clarify expectations and responsibilities for current and new staff.
• Clarify expectations and responsibilities for current and new volunteers.
• Mitigate workload stresses by identifying priorities and a decision making framework that enables a proactive approach to crises.
• Strengthen team morale by consistently celebrating milestones and wins and building a culture of appreciation.
• Empower staff for success and ensure balanced workloads.

Renewal & Organizational Capacity

1. Advocate to the site partners and other key stakeholders to push for action on the Renewal.
2. Establish a fundraising plan for 2023, which will identify a plan for new funding sources.
3. Identify the Society’s direction on childcare for 2023 informed by recommendations from the incoming consultant.

Action:

• Build relationships with the new members of elected bodies to provide awareness of the renewal and support for the renewal.
• Plan an initial meeting with elected bodies  in early 2023.
• Continue relationships with key stakeholders in the school community, such as principals and Parent Advisory Councils.
• Identify key areas in Britannia programming that require fundraising.
• Identify opportunities for philanthropic organizations to support our funding needs.
• Consider establishing a subcommittee of directors to work with a consulting group to look at fundraising options.
• When we have more context around fundraising needs, build out a plan to hire a Development Director.
• Board members and community be supported to participate in the Britannia Hub Review.

Reconciliation

1. Establish the Elder in Residence program by 2023 through meaningful collaboration with Indigenous host nations, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh).
2. Enhance education offerings for board, staff, and volunteers on colonialism, decolonization, and reconciliation.

Action:

• Consider logistical details for Elder in Residence program, including:
  • Options for a public or private space
  • Staff support for the Elder
  • Budget considerations

• Build an outreach plan to connect with Elders that would be interested in the program.
• Work with the incoming Manager of Organizational Change to guide and develop 2023 education offerings.
• Maintain an action-oriented lens to educational offerings to ensure learnings are translated into action.
• Intentionally bring education offerings around anti-oppression to the Board.

Inclusive Programming

1. Establish accessible programming to serve specific, marginalized populations in the Britannia community, including low-income residents and elders.
2. Build out youth programming offerings that support and uplift young people as leaders in our community.
3. Utilize programming surplus to contribute to underserved programs.
4. Advocate for $10/a day childcare and elder care.

Action:

• Open Micro Footie and other programs to low-income families and residents.
• Expand non-sessional programming, such as drop-in hockey, chess, and ping pong to create accessible activities that are open on an ongoing basis.
• Increase recreation equipment lockboxes for community members to access.
• Increase awareness in our community of available activities.
• Maintain a lens of accessibility across all programs to accommodate visual, physical, and other disabilities.
• Develop structures for the youth committee so that it can be sustainable over the years.
• Outline roles and responsibilities for the rest of the board to ensure they fully support the young leaders on the youth committee.
• Establish ongoing channels of communication and feedback from the youth committee to the rest of the board.
• Explore advocacy opportunities for the Board to take around affordable child and elder care.

2023 Budget

The management team requested that the Board approve a planned deficit of $145,000 to achieve the 2023 priority actions. In the past 13 years the Society has accrued annual surpluses; the Societies net assets have gone from $1,784,410 to $2,937,343–which is a 61% increase of $1,152,933.

The request for deficit spending is a one-time occurrence to spend 7% of the Society net assets to:

• Achieve the objectives of the Board;
• Position the Society as a leader in inclusion, equity and diversity;
• and to move forward on reconciliation and decolonization.

Review the Summary of Financial Position here: Summary of Society Financial Position 2012 - 2022 PDF