It is an honour to be here today to speak on behalf of your national Board. And it has been an honour for me to serve as the Chair.

When I started my United Way journey at the United Way of Calgary and Area nearly 20 years ago, I never imagined, never intended to be in this role, I was simply looking for a way to give back to my community to help those who can’t help themselves, and to influence polices that impact the vulnerable.

I didn’t know much about United Way Centraide when I started, but I was quickly drawn to the incredible people who make up this Movement—to all of you. I have been, and continue to be, inspired by your passion and dedication, by the impact you are having in your local communities, and by the impact we are having on the national stage, exemplified by our collective response to COVID.

While it is easy to get caught up in the challenges that you face, that we’ve faced every day as leaders of this movement, while it is easy to be stressed and overwhelmed by the growing needs of the vulnerable and the requirements of our incredible partner agencies, while it easy to be discouraged by world events, while it is easy for those who have been in the Movement for a long time to feel like the issues we face in our communities and our Movement are repetitive and never ending, it is also easy but also wrong to forget about the impact that you have each and every day on real people, how you positively impact their lives.

United Way Centraide helps vulnerable people and without you their hope would be challenged, and their lives would not be the same.  Please never forget that you have an impact.  Let it inspire and motivate you every day.

So, thank you for all that you do. You are on the front lines. You not only see the challenges that we are facing as a society, the housing crisis, affordability, the fentanyl crisis, intolerance poverty to name but a few, you are often the first to see the impacts of the next challenges before they make headlines.

As community members, you work in your neighborhoods focusing on the issues that matter to you, often moving from one to the next, and it can often feel like we are alone – but we are part of something bigger.  A Movement that is united in our dedication to our communities and the challenges facing Canadians.  Let’s continue to share ideas, learn from each other, remembering that we are not alone.

We all know that we live in uncertain times.  The world around us is changing and challenging. Watching the news or following online can be quite frankly damaging to one’s mental health these days.

While political leaders lurch from one position to the next, it is you it is the United Way Movement that sees the real impacts on these decisions.

It is easy to feel helpless when facing geopolitical uncertainty, facing things that we cannot control, yet I assure you can make a difference, and you are making a difference every day in your communities.  Collectively we can and we must maximize this impact.

We are a community, we are a Movement, and it doesn’t matter how large or small the United Way Centraide you represent, for the people and agencies that you help, you are all huge.

But together we can be even bigger- while you are here to represent your own home communities, please recognize that you are part of a larger United Way Centraide community.  Tap into that network, share your stories, learn from one another not just impact strategies but also how we can work together across communities to share resources, find efficiencies so that we can get more resources for the people and agencies that need it the most.

Two years have gone by very quickly, and I have reflected a lot on what to say to you today, to those of you who are on the front lines.

And I am going to share a story that I told at the small and mid conference last month.

I was struck recently while attending my daughter’s grade 12 graduation ceremony and celebration. She is our eldest and like many of the parents, families, caregivers, and supporters in attendance, I was filled with pride, my mind flooded with memories of her childhood.  I also suddenly felt a little older and wondered where the time went but more than anything I had an overwhelming sense of hope.

My daughter attends a very large public high school in Calgary, and as I looked around the stadium where the ceremony was taking place everywhere I looked I saw that same hope all around me.

No more so than in the faces of the graduates themselves.

I know my family is privileged. But when someone has hope, it supersedes all challenges

We know at United Way Centraide, we all know in that room of excited graduates that there were those that face real challenges and overcame incredible difficulties to get to that day. But for that moment, all those kids, those young adults had hope in their eyes, for that moment, challenges at home, concerns for the future, the challenges in the world, were replaced by hope and optimism

My daughter joined new Canadians celebrating their first Canadian high school graduate, Indigenous graduates, transgender graduates having their chosen name called out loud, all with hope

It made me realize that because of the work that United Way Centraide and our partner agencies do, many of these young people are able to hope and dream, and it reminded me of the opportunity to help those who have struggled or are struggling to have that hope.

The United Way Movement is hope-all of you represent hope

As my time as board chair comes to a close, I am proud of the work we have accomplished together, but more importantly, I am motivated by what the United Way Movement will accomplish next.

I am proud of the work done to create our new strategic plan and I am proud of the work that we have done to bring the Movement closer together in the last couple of years.

I can say with absolute confidence that you have an incredible national Board and that Karen MacDonald will be a great next chair.

I want to thank you all for your guidance, input and mentoring.  Merci. I also want to thank Karen Young and the Board members past and present at the United Way of Calgary and Area for taking a chance on me.

Last but certainly not least I want to thank my fellow board members at United Way Centraide Canada.  You made my job easy, and it was great to work with you.

To Dan and the incredible team at the National office, thank you.

Dan, you are true Canadian national leader, and you are making remarkable impacts on our country.  Our Movement is fortunate to have you.

The United Way Centraide folks must remain locally focused, that is our local power, our proximity to community is our superpower.

I will leave you with a quote that I heard recently in the United Way Worldwide meetings that we just recently attended: “the only way for hate to happen is for love to get lazy”

So, share your work, share your stories, share your challenges, share your solutions.  Because your communities need you, your country needs you.

Keep creating hope.

It has been one of the honors of my life to serve this movement.

Thank you.