IONS is situated in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded and ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaw people. Unceded means that the Mi’kmaq have never relinquished, sold, traded, or transferred ownership of their land to European settler colonies, yet land was taken over without their consent through various processes of settler colonialism. This territory is covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship, which the Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik people first signed with the British Crown in 1726. These Treaties did not involve the surrendering of rights to the lands and resources they had traditionally used and occupied. We are all Treaty People.

We further acknowledge that Nova Scotia is the birthplace of Black culture and heritage in Canada. People of African descent have shared these lands for over 400 years, and over 50 strong and resourceful African Nova Scotian communities exist here today.

We are committed to the struggle against systems of oppression that have resulted in profound inequities and the denial of self-determination rights. We are working actively to deepen our learning at an individual level, provide learning opportunities about anti-racism and decolonization, and to develop partnerships with organizations serving and led by underrepresented groups.

Building Burnout Resiliency In Ourselves & Our Teams Resources

Building Burnout Resiliency Resources

Resources shared in our 6-part virtual learning series.

Burnout in the For-Impact sector was at pandemic levels long before COVID-19 struck, though it was often associated with empathetic and knowing glances, shared sighs, and viewed as part of the work, or even worn as a badge of honor.

We are in this sector because we care, but when our ability to give exceeds our physical, emotional, and mental bandwidth, we can experience health challenges and burnout. Burnout is commonly seen as an individual’s shortcoming that can be mitigated by simply doing more yoga, more counselling, getting outdoors more, etc. As Burnout has been widely studied over the last decade, we now know that burnout is an “Organizational problem that requires an organizational solution” (Harvard Business Review, Beyond Burnout, February 2021).

Through April and May 2021, Impact Organizations of Nova Scotia (IONS) is hosted two streams of a Building Burnout Resiliency learning series (the first was held in April for Executive Directors only; the second was open to all volunteers and employees of the for-impact sector). Below we have collected resources from these sessions as well as other recommended sources for further reading from our facilitators. 

Series Facilitators:

Saralyn Hodgkin

Holon Leadership

Harman Singh

Breton Ability Centre

Ann Divine

Ashanti Leadership

Dorothy Spence

Imaginal Ventures

Setting the Context and Listening and Learning from the Field

Session Resources – Provided by Saralyn Hodgkin

Burnout from the Perspective of the Self

Session Resources – Provided by Harman Singh

Burnout from an Organizational Perspective

Session Resources – Provided by Ann Divine

Compassion Fatigue

Session Resources – Provided by Saralyn Hodgkin

The Blurry Lines Between Self and Work

Session Resources – Provided by Dorothy Spence

  • Blurring the lines Between Self & Work (Session Slide Deck) – Dorothy Spence
  • Edelman Trust Barometer: Link here
  • Links to a variety of Assessment Tools on Amanda Rocheleau’s website: Link here
  • Future of Good article “One Year into the pandemic, the social sector’s working Moms are not alright” – Link here
  • RBC article, “COVID Takes Drastic Toll on Women’s Participation in Labour Force” – Link here
  • Link to the Non-Profit Quarterly article, “Moving Beyond the Scarcity Mindset” as Dorothy discussed the importance of an Abundance mindset in her talk today.

Integration and Reflection

Session Resources – Provided by Saralyn Hodgkin