ENGAGEMENT REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Over the course of six months (from August 2019 to February 2020), the National Sixties Scoop Engagement Team spoke with, and heard from, hundreds of Survivors across Canada, as well as people with deep experience in Indigenous child welfare, mental health, and the charitable sector. The team asked five questions:

• What should the Foundation do?
• What values should guide the Foundation?
• What are the qualities, talents and skills required for governing the Foundation?
• How should the Foundation be made sustainable?
• How should the Foundation’s identity be expressed?
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The final report brings together all that was heard during this process to provide guiding direction to the Foundation and its leaders.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To learn more about the recommendations listed below, read the full report.

1: Areas of Focus and Key Priorities2: Organizational Values3: Board Composition and Core Qualities4: Board Diversity and Skills5: Board Recruitment Process6: Long-term Sustainability7: Naming and Branding
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Recommendation 1:

Areas of Focus and Key Priorities

The Foundation's mission and mandate should be inclusive of seven key areas of focus, aimed at serving Sixties Scoop Survivors and defining and exploring avenues for healing and reconciliation:

  1. Cultural Reclamation
  2. Mental Health
  3. Reunification and Supports
  4. Advocacy and Collaboration
  5. Education
  6. Commemoration
  7. Connection and Community Building
We should foster innovation and capacity at the local, regional, and national levels to advance efforts that benefit Survivors.

Recommendation 2:

Organizational Values

The vision, mission, and approach should be underpinned by the following values:

  1. Accountability and Transparency
  2. Honesty and Integrity
  3. Kindness, Compassion and Empathy
  4. Culture-based
  5. Inclusivity and Acceptance
  6. Accessibility and Equity
  7. Safety
  8. Holistic Multigenerational Perspective
  9. Survivor-centered
These values should guide decision-making, collaborations, and communications with those who we serve.

Recommendation 3:

Board Composition and Core Qualities

The board should be comprised of a minimum of 8 to a maximum of 12 individuals, the majority of whom are persons affected by the Sixties Scoop. The core qualities that should define board members include:

  1. Good Character
  2. Cultural Humility
  3. Strong Relationship Skills
  4. Strong Thinking Skills
The board should aspire to the wisest practices in organizational management and operations, including continued learning for board members—specifically cultural and trauma-informed training.

Recommendation 4:

Board Diversity and Skills

The board should aim to represent the vast diversity of Survivors, specifically in terms of geography, language, culture, identity, age, and experience. The following elements of diversity should be considered:

  1. Inuit and Métis Representation
  2. Francophone Representation
  3. Youth Representation
  4. Gender
  5. 2SLGBTQ+
  6. Urban, Rural, Remote, and On-Reserve Representation
Our board should aim to include individuals with the following skillsets:
  1. Policy
  2. Finance / Accounting
  3. Advocacy / Government Relations
  4. Governance
  5. Management / Human Resources
  6. Legal
  7. Fundraising
  8. Communication / Marketing
  9. Culture-based Program Delivery
In addition, our board should encapsulate a diversity of knowledge and skillsets, in particular, it should be ground in the reclamation of Indigenous and Culture knowledge.

Recommendation 5:

Board Recruitment Process

The  board recruitment process can and should play an important role in building a relationship of trust between theFoundation and Survivors. We believe a successful Recruitment Process must:

  1. Reflect the feedback from Survivors
  2. Run in an open, inclusive, and transparent way
  3. Engage a broad range of potential candidates
  4. Demonstrate credibility by mitigating risk of personal orpolitical bias
To conduct the process, we recommend that the Foundation Interim Board appoint an ad-hoc “selection committee” of 5 individuals with no interest in assuming board positions themselves and assembled for the sole purpose of supporting the board selection process.

Recommendation 6:

Long-term Sustainability

The Foundation should seek to operate “in perpetuity” rather than taking a spend-down approach. In order to achieve long-term sustainability, the Foundation should consider the following practices:

  1. Create a long-term strategic and operational plan with identified measurable goals
  2. Develop a mid-term business plan outlining key milestones and funding / revenue required
  3. Engage in annual fundraising efforts to achieve short- and long-term goals
Strong financial management, fundraising, and long-term investing (including considering an endowment model) should be key aspects of the Foundation’s operational planning.

Recommendation 7:

Naming and Branding

The Foundation’s board, once established, should undertake a branding process to define its visual identity and name. This process should include the development of a “Request for Proposals” (RFP) specifically targeting professional Indigenous designers, artists, and/or branding experts.

In developing the RFP, the Foundation’s board should acknowledge the recurring themes and concepts contributed by Survivors through the Engagement process, as inspiration for the brand:

Themes
  1. Reconnection
  2. Homecoming
  3. Resilience
  4. Renewal and Rebirth
  5. Duality
Visuals / Symbols
  1. Trees, Tree Roots
  2. Eagles, Eagle Feathers, Eagle Nest
  3. Medicine Wheel
  4. Children, The Child Within
  5. Fire, Flames
  6. Hands
To learn more about any one or all the recommendations listed, read the full report.

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