CBT Granting Update and Equity Pathway

We continue to reflect on key learnings from our UNESCO periodic review, our Vital Signs research, and the pandemic. We’ve committed to work with volunteers, First Nations, communities, and partners on making CBT a more equity-driven organization: in our granting program, in our organizational culture, and beyond.

Last Fall, staff, board, volunteers, and partners participated in Decolonize First alongside facilitators Kelly Foxcroft-Poirier of White Raven Consulting and Amanda Fenton of Amanda Fenton Consulting to grow our capacity to consider the differences and nuances of what colonized and decolonized processes look like in our lives, in our work, and in our community. This growing definition of equity emerged from our learning:

Equity is deep and complex. It works alongside justice, diversity & inclusion. Equity is about each of us getting what we need to survive or succeed—access to opportunity, networks, resources, and supports—based on where we are and where we want to go. Equity is about centering the needs & voices of those pushed out to the margins ensuring that each of us is supported in reaching our full potential.

This broad definition leaves space for us to continue to understand what equity means in different realms and to continue to learn in the context of CBT grantmaking. The grant update below explains how CBT grants are starting to change in 2022.

Granting Update

1) CBT staff will work with advisory committees to review the grant criteria and develop equity approaches for granting that are unique to each committee stream. Examples could be oral presentations vs written reports, re-imagining timelines, and reporting that serves, not burdens, the grantee. We will test and experiment with different approaches through the 2022 granting cycle.

We anticipate changes to all of our application processes and/or timelines from previous years. The application windows will be later, likely in mid-late spring. Stay tuned for updates!

2) Vital Grants will be changing. Vital Grants were a test of high-impact, transformational grants with a focus on sustainability and partnerships. Staff will review this grant stream by following up with Vital grantees 2018-2021. We are allocating the 2022 Vital Grant budget to reach out to past grantees in reciprocity to see what work they still need to do and allocate it in that spirit. The goal will be to continue supporting existing projects, while learning from project leaders about how our granting process worked for them and how to make it more equitable.

3) You are encouraged to join us on our equity pathway. We want to support further learning about the impacts of colonization in our lives, in our work, and in our community. We are seeking opportunities to offer further learning and training to our volunteers and grantees. Being in this learning and unlearning together will help to build a common collaborative language and community of practice amongst CBT staff, volunteers, and community partners. The CBT has allocated $20,000 to fund these workshops this year as we continue our steps on our equity pathway. Stay tuned for your invitation to learning events!