An Evening of Inspiration with W. John Patterson On June 6, 2018, ICA Canada members, friends and our Board of Directors gathered at our Annual General Meeting to reflect on our work over the past year and to celebrate our achievements, in particular, the IL Ngwesi project, Courage to Lead course offerings and our annual Courage to Lead Award event. The evening kicked off with a speech from our outgoing Chair, Suzanne Jackson, who also introduced our keynote speaker, W. John Patterson. John Patterson is a long-time supporter of ICA Canada who has been recognized by many for his valuable contributions to society. Needless to say, it was truly an hounour that he was able to join us to share his experiences on how he utilized the power of participation (Technology of Participation methodologies) to create thriving and sustainable enterprises such as Kanbay, a global IT firm that operated in India and Abbey Gardens, a not-for-profit charity whose mission is to enhance sustainable living in Haliburton, Ontario. While there were numerous takeaways from John’s talk, one comment worth highlighting that spurred a great discussion in the room, was the idea around values-based

AGM 2018: Environmental Sustainability ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of ICA CANADA Wednesday, June 6th, 6-9 pm at 401 Richmond Suite 409 With W. John Patterson speaking on “Sustainability” – RSVP here We are excited that W.John Patterson has accepted our invitation to present at this year’s AGM on ‘Environmental Sustainability.’ The presentation shares stories of John’s life and career in which ‘community’ is instrumental to powerful social change. John Patterson is a past Chair of ICA Canada with deep ties with the work of ICA internationally over several decades. John, and his wife Thea, were very influential in developing ICA’s partnership with the community of Il Ngwesi. They currently live in Haliburton, Ontario where they have founded the Patterson Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at Abbey Gardens with the Canadian College of Naturopathic medicine. Please RSVP to attend the AGM and John Patterson’s presentation on Wednesday June 6th at ICA’s training room suite 409 at 401 Richmond St. West Toronto. Light Refreshments will be served.

IAF North America and Caribbean conference in Ottawa 2018 The International Association of Facilitators IAF conference is hosted this year in Ottawa. ICA CANADA is here, stationed at the ICA Associates/Canada table and selling Courage to Lead to delegates. The conference brings together group process facilitators full of ideas, stories and technology. Some of the presenters include Stormz.com and InnovateorDinosaur.com who have interesting new methods of group facilitation.  Lots to see and do.

International Women’s Day 2018 As General Manager of ICA Canada I get to work with colleagues in Canada and Kenya working to assert the rights of girls and women as a means of building greater, stronger, communities. This International Women’s Day, I am especially proud of the work of Josephine Ndirias in Il Ngwesi Kenya for leading a community towards positive social change for women. Courage Josephine! Courage ladies! David Buwalda – ICA CANADA

In memory of Dennis Devor This Fall we received a donation in memory of Dennis Devor from one of our longtime supporters. Dennis attended an RS1 course in the early 1970s. This was a course that was rooted in religious studies and was a precursor to our current (not religious) Courage to Lead studies. 1000’s of people around the world took this course. Dennis introduced his brother who met his wife at the course shortly after. We are glad to be reminded of how ICA was a catalyst in people’s lives decades ago and are encouraged to imagine who we might meet in years to come. We are an even older organization than we look; we were legally incorporated in 1976 but our history stretches back to the 1950s. Back then, the organization had a religious component. Over the decades, the trainers and course developers worked with data collected world wide to find and share course components that come from a diverse point of view. We also appreciate the donation. It helps us to offer the Courage to Lead and other ICA Courses to people in communities around the world, only now we are doing it online.

#endfgm Feb 6 2018 In these images the community of Il Ngwesi is together declaring their commitment to the protection of girls and women for now and for future generations. The ‘Bless the Curse’ event held in late November brought 700+ residents from the community and representatives from across the nation. Young girls and boys, old men and women, and everyone in between shared a community commitment to END FGM and raise the status of women. We are very proud at ICA CANADA of our partners in Il Ngwesi courage to take on an issue that has a very deep context. The linked article here is not about Il Ngwesi precisely but it is a nice description of a similar context.