Endow Manitoba pilot project builds capacity for province’s community foundation movement

Collaborative initiative sees community foundations sharing staff

For Immediate Release: In a first for our province, five distinct Manitoba community foundations are benefiting from the expertise of a single, shared staff person to help support their work and their communities. Lynda Lambert is the first incumbent of Endow Manitoba’s Regional Staff pilot project. The project is a unique and innovative approach to advancing our province’s community foundation movement with professional, place-based staff, while also creating meaningful employment opportunities across rural Manitoba for people wanting careers in the community foundation movement.

This five-year pilot involves the collaboration of participating community foundations in the South-Central region of Manitoba, including the Morris Area Foundation, Morden Area Foundation, Plum Coulee Community Foundation, Miami and Area Foundation, and the Pembina-Manitou Foundation.

These foundations are pooling their financial resources and, through a $10 million Endow Manitoba trust funded by the provincial government, are able to employ a full-time staff person who will undertake many of the partnering community foundations’ core operational activities. In turn, this will allow the volunteer board and committee members currently undertaking these activities to focus their limited time on additional community foundation priorities.

“The Plum Coulee Community Foundation has created many wonderful opportunities in our local region thanks to guidance from talented community builders in the foundation movement,” says Heather Unger, Plum Coulee Community Foundation Board Chair. “Endow Manitoba reached out to us with the potential to take our foundation to new heights. We know from past experience an employee’s focus is highly beneficial. We look forward to this initiative, and to working with Lynda.”

“We, at the Morden Area Foundation, are so excited to be involved in the Endow Manitoba Regional Staff pilot project for the South-Central Manitoba Region,” says Allison Braun, Morden Area Foundation Board Chair. “Bringing us all together under the leadership of Endow Manitoba can only make us stronger and more successful in supporting the needs in our communities.  I look forward to sharing and learning from each other.”

Prior to joining Endow Manitoba, Lynda worked for more than six years in the Manitoba community foundation movement as the part-time Executive Director of the Morden Area Foundation. Raised in Morden as the daughter of small business owners, community development and support have always been a top priority for Lynda and her family. She loves bringing people together in the community to work collectively towards the “common good” and is excited for this opportunity.

“I simply love Manitoba, and it absolutely thrills me to be part of the community foundation movement,” Lynda says. “Through the combined efforts of these participating community foundations, we are building a stronger South Central Manitoba, for current and future residents.”

“Community foundations contribute to the resiliency of their local communities,” says Alan Goddard, Director of Endow Manitoba, an initiative of The Winnipeg Foundation. “With 56 community foundations across our province, Manitoba leads the nation in terms of sheer number, and from a per capita basis leads all of North America. While each Manitoba community and community foundation is unique, there are consistencies and opportunities for collaboration; it makes sense to share operational expertise and best practices, so the community foundation volunteers can get down to what they do best – developing ways to help their communities thrive. We are excited by the opportunity this staffing initiative presents.”

Endow Manitoba represents the network of our province’s community foundations. An initiative of The Winnipeg Foundation, Endow Manitoba works with the province’s 56 community foundations to increase their impact and to advance the movement.