Vancouver Foundation’s new vision to create healthy, vibrant, equitable and inclusive communities

March 18, 2024

Over our 80-year history, change has been a constant at Vancouver Foundation. We are always striving to find new and better ways to support communities across BC and in recent years, we’ve come to ask whether our vision captures who and what we are, and where we’re going.

Our work and focus have shifted as we navigate a changing world marked by unforeseen challenges and systemic issues. Our new vision is to create healthy, vibrant, equitable, and inclusive communities across BC.

We know healthy, vibrant, equitable and, inclusive communities don’t just happen. Through a collective, intentional and relational effort, we can create healthy, vibrant, equitable and inclusive communities together.

In a healthy community, living organisms grow and thrive. Healthcare is accessed, clean air and water, and food is secure.

In a vibrant community, generations come together to honor the past and embrace new ideas and new ways of doing things.

In an equitable community, everyone is treated with fairness and justice and provided accessible pathways to access and participate fully. An equitable community actively removes barriers for its members who’ve experienced exclusion or denied access, decreasing their livability.

In an inclusive community, members feel a sense of belonging and are empowered to contribute to the well-being of the collective. An inclusive community ensures members feel supported, secure, respected and valued.

More Than Livable: Why We Changed Our Vision

What does it mean to be community-inspired? How can we shift our power and influence to amplify underrepresented communities? We’ve been asking ourselves these questions over the years, reflecting on our organization’s current vision to create healthy, vibrant, and livable communities in BC. As we reflected, we started to question, livable for who?

As a community foundation, we’re informed by the communities’ priorities, recognizing and responding to pressing issues and inequities. Through community engagement, we’ve heard the need for equitable and inclusive access to services like housing, food security, healthcare, and education that impact the living conditions of British Columbians, especially in communities who have been historically excluded. We’ve also heard directly from charities and nonprofits in the 2023 State of BC’s Non-Profit Sector report. They’re feeling overwhelmed by the increased need for their services while funding and staff capacity have decreased. They are doing more with less.

Through initiatives like the BIPOC Grants and Indigenous Priorities grants like Thriving Indigenous Systems Fund, Vancouver Foundation has made commitments to advance racial justice for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and to be in right relations with First Nations rights holders. By engaging and listening to community voices, we’ve learned that we can increase the livability of communities by providing flexible multi-year funding to address systemic issues impacting equity-deserving communities.

Our Formal Invitation

Vancouver Foundation’s renewed vision is a pledge to contribute meaningfully to a prosperous and just future. Join us in creating a world where everyone feels like they belong in a thriving community — now and for generations to come.

Here’s some of the work we’re doing

How Deep Listening and Engagement Informed Thriving Indigenous Systems Fund

Adapting Our Generosity: The Power of Unrestricted Giving in Unexpected Times

This year, we did things differently

Shifting power in philanthropy: our three-year journey

Stepping Up to Strengthen the Non-Profit and Charitable Sector

Representation Behind the Scenes in the Arts Matters

Rewriting Public Health Education Towards Action

Ideas for Rebuilding Community

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