Toronto West LIP Year-End Event

March 16, 2018 @ Rexdale Community Hub

Service Excellence through Partnerships: The Story of Small & Large Organizations

On March 16, 2018, Toronto West Local Immigration Partnership (TWLIP) delivered its Year End Event – Service Excellence through Partnerships: The Story of Small & Large Organizations. The main objective of this event was to enhance the capacity of small, ethno-cultural organizations to initiate and sustain mutually beneficial partnerships with larger immigrant and refugee serving organizations in Toronto West, in order to better meet the need s of immigrant and refugee communities.

This full-day event was attended by representations from both large and small organizations, including ethno cultural organizations, and was facilitated by Amanuel Melles, Principal at Aman Consulting. The day began with a very informative opening remark from Kemi Jacobs, Executive Director of Delta Family Resource Centre, on the importance and benefits of having small and large organizations working together. Kemi also shared various experiences of Delta Family Resource Centre working with small and grassroots organizations/groups.

The event also included a panel discussion that was joined by the following three panelists: 

  • Zeena Al Hamdan, Programs Manager, Arab Community Centre of Toronto
    Trusteeing grassroots organizations
  • Purnima Gupta, Community Health Facilitator, WoodGreen Community Services
    Outreach to Seniors’ project
  • Ikem Opara, Strategy Lead, Connected People, Ontario Trillium Foundation
    Funding smaller organizations/ community groups 

The panelists provided great insights and learning from their work which led to a meaningful discussion with the participants. Later in the day, a very useful group discussion and activity was facilitated to address the topic of Interplay of Power, Trust & Results which focused on:

  • Navigating Power Dynamics
  • Building Trust in Partnerships
  • Evaluating the Effectiveness of Partnerships

Overall the event was very successful, 99% of the attendees incited they had a better understanding of how to initiate and sustain effective partnerships with organizations of a different sizes and the event increased their confidence in their ability to initiate and develop effective partnerships with smaller/larger organizations.

The work of the TWLIP was presented during lunch time, including the select 2016 census data of the TWLIP catchment area.