As we continue to establish our partnership with the OVOT organization, I will be sending out updates from the meetings I have with them. We are currently meeting weekly as things get established, and will move to monthly meetings as things progress and the program becomes a little more sustainable/substantial.
Here are some of the updates from this weeks meeting:
– Preparations are underway for a school presentation to be rolled out for the end of February. This will be a feature on Black History month with an indigenous influential twist. More details to follow!
– OVOT is re-branding itself with a great new logo. The roll-out of this logo is to follow, which we will have an update on soon. I have to say, it speaks volumes to the vision of this program and what we as an organization believe in.
– OVOT is working on a partnership with Retail-U, which is an organization that provides training for those entering the retail industry. 50% of the course fees that are generated by the general public registrations will be donated back to the OVOT Manitoba initiative. This program will also provide youth the opportunity to enter the course programs and once complete, will provide them with an internship in Ardene stores in Manitoba. More details will follow as this partnership grows.
– discussions have taken place with musician/song-writer Don Amero, an indigenous artist here in Manitoba. Don is looking to partner with the OVOT organization to utilize his platform as a means to spread the message about our programming.
– OVOT is meeting with our marketing team (Sam and Kelsey) next week to establish a plan moving forward for media releases, communications etc. for the project.
– OVOT has been in touch with Markus Chambers, city councillor and chair of the Winnipeg a police Board, to gain an understanding an perspective on how we can collaborate with the Winnipeg Police Service moving forward. Those discussions are on-going.
– OVOT is inviting partners to our standing meetings to engage in discussion about further enhancing our partnerships.
-Jermaine from OVOT has submitted his application for membership to our club. This is great news as he will be able to provide us further insight on the direction of the project and what the team has been working on.
– An invite was extended to the OVOT crew for attending our founders night. The main purpose of this invite is to allow them into our circle to better understand who we are as an organization. In many circumstances, they will be our voice as they continue to communicate our message to the community. Having perspective on the significance of our Kin “birthday” while understanding who some of our other partners are and how we impact our community is an important part of this partnership. They are thrilled to be attending and look forward to the opportunity of connecting with us on this level.
– Orlando has had meetings with and presented to the Dental association of Manitoba. They are looking to partner with us by offering free/reduced rate dental services for youth. More details on that partnership to follow as they work out some of the specifics.
– applications for summer camp grants have been submitted, awaiting confirmation of any funding available.
As you can see, there are many exciting things in the works and things are progressing well. The first disbursement of funds will be going out for Q1-Year 1 this week.
Any questions please feel free to reach out.