'Indispensable': New Nonprofit Chamber CEO highlights sector's contributions to Alberta economy
Angie Gelinas' first week as the CEO of the Nonprofit Chamber started off with a bang.
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It was also the week of the chamber's second annual summit for leaders in the nonprofit sector. Focused on topics of funding for the sector and the nonprofit workforce, the summit convened 150 leaders from a range of nonprofits, government ministries, funders and private stakeholders across the province.
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'I took away from that, that there's a lot more work we need to do to think about how we change systems and policies,' she said.
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Gelinas is no stranger to the nonprofit sector. Her career, which spans a bevy of roles in arts and culture, the Saskatchewan government, the Calgary Stampede and public sector agencies, has placed her alongside the sector for decades such that her new role feels like a culminative peak of all that she has accomplished so far. 'It's a very unique role that takes advantage of everything that I've been doing so far,' she said.
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Her goal? To rebrand the nonprofit sector as 'indispensable.'
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'We're at this place right now with the nonprofit sector, where there's . . . both acute pressure . . . and there's this possibility all at the same time. There's rising demand for so many services, yet I think it's intersected with rising innovation,' she said.
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Positioning the sector as essential means strengthening relationships across government and the business community, 'maybe in ways we haven't done before,' she said, taking advantage of the organization's own move to rebrand last year as the Nonprofit Chamber, after being long known as the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations.
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'It enhances what the chamber has been doing provincially from a policy perspective,' she said.
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The non-profit sector, despite often acting as a provider and service in times of crisis, is not yet thought of as a contributor to solutions. 'Tariffs for example . . . we automatically thought about the government's response and the business's response, but the non-profit sector, which in Alberta contributes $5.5 billion annually, doesn't often get thought of at the same time,' she said.
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The most common narrative that gets pushed is the idea of a non-profit asking for money. 'I think we have to balance that narrative with everything we contribute to the Albertan economy,' she said. 'To make sure the work gets recognition, get the resources and the respect it deserves.'
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