Leadership in Focus: Beverley Wybrow
By Elisa Birnbaum
March 2, 2009
This month in our Leadership in Focus series we feature Beverley Wybrow, president and CEO of the Canadian Women's Foundation (CWF), the first and only national public foundation dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls in Canada. One of this country's most impassioned advocates for women, Beverley has been working tirelessly in this position since 1991. Over the years, the CWF raised over $31 million and supported more than 825 programs dedicated to eradicating poverty and violence from the lives of women and girls, fostering empowerment in their stead. And, as a result of Beverley's inspirational leadership and hard work in the 30-plus years she's dedicated to the nonprofit sector, she was recently named the 2009 YWCA Woman of Distinction for Community Leadership.
CharityVillage: How has the nonprofit sector evolved over the years and what do you see as the main challenges facing it today?
Beverley Wybrow: Well, I've worked in the sector for 30 years and I've seen many changes. I think there are more charities these days but with less resources. There's certainly a decline in government support and support for core operations, which has created some real challenges. So, fundraising and the need for funding and support is one of the main challenges the sector faces. Then there's competition for funding and the lack of capacity, particularly of smaller organizations, to be able to fundraise. We see that with the women's groups we work with, who are small and under-resourced in a lot of cases anyway. Having the capacity to fundraise is a real challenge.
Another change over the years is the greater emphasis today on impact and the desire for evidence-based solutions, which is creating challenges in the sector. And it's also a confusing time for donors. I've witnessed in our work in philanthropy that donors are really confused about what different organizations do and how they can support the work most effectively. There's a large number of charities around and people get approached by so many different ones. The other part of it is that the issues the sector works on are very complex and, like everybody, donors want simple solutions to complex problems. If you want to reduce poverty, for example, sometimes it's very challenging to understand the best ways to do that when there are so many different approaches out there.
In terms of leadership, CWF was started by a group of women in order to promote women's leadership in philanthropy. I think that's a really important thing to be aware of because women are coming into their own; [we] have more money than we've ever had in history. And we're coming into our own in terms of looking at how to use our philanthropy to create the kind of changes we want to see in the world. And when you help to change women, you help to change the world, because women go on to help their children and their families and their communities. There's a real ripple effect from investing in women and girls. I think that's an important change in the sector we've seen over 20 years. There's been a growth in the whole area of women's leadership and philanthropy.
CV: Do you think a leader in the nonprofit sector faces challenges that differ from those faced in other sectors?
BW: The issues we work on are complex and it's not simple, for example, to measure impact on some of the issues. So it's a challenge for leaders to have the capacity in their organizations to do evaluations that measure impact, to communicate that information effectively, and to help people understand how changes and steps along the way lead to long-term change.
I think one of the other differences is doing more with less, and having to be very creative about how we get all the skills and experience we need with fewer resources to do so. We could get some of that from volunteers, but even having the resources to manage volunteers effectively can be a challenge in the sector. I base a lot of my comments from what I see with a lot of the smaller women organizations that we work with.
"It is a privilege to do work that really matters in people's lives, but it's also challenging in terms of the nature of some of the issues." |
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Another difference is that it's both a privilege and a challenge to work with difficult issues. It is a privilege to do work that really matters in people's lives, but it's also challenging in terms of the nature of some of the issues. That's a challenge to both the sector and its leaders because they're the ones that have to manage staff and volunteers, making sure people don't burnout, and then also celebrating what we're able to do and the privilege of being able to do this kind of work.
CV: What would you say are the main challenges facing women today? Are they different from those facing women a decade or two ago?
BW: Some of the issues are the same; they're continuing challenges. But there are differences as well. Poverty is a major continuing issue for women. One of the things that's different, though, is we're applying some new learnings to try and find more effective ways to address women's poverty. CWF, for example, has worked with the groups we give grants to and our consultants to develop more effective and holistic way of working with low-income women. It's more effective because it's longer-term and helps women build on their strengths, rather than focusing on their weaknesses or problems. So the challenge around new ways of dealing with women and poverty is really critical.
Violence against women and girls continues to be a major issue. But we did see a change in the past couple of decades. A couple of years ago, we did a consultation across the country with 200 people who work in the field of violence against women in order to develop a strategy for private donors on the issue. One of the things that really struck me was to hear people say work on the issue was harder now since people think we're finished with it because we have shelters. That's like saying you only need a healthcare system that has emergency rooms. There is this public perception that we're done because, if abused, a woman can just go to a shelter. But, of course, that's not true. Obviously those kinds of services are critical, but there's still a lot to be done in terms of preventing the issue in the first place. And helping women and children rebuild their lives after they've experienced violence. Those are the two ends of the continuum where there has been the least investment by both government and private donors: prevention and helping rebuild lives. So it's an interesting context for that issue.
The third challenge for girls today is media messages. I think it's one of the most pressing issues. Hyper-sexualization is a new term that's being used in relation to girls. Again, when we did some research in the area, one expert informant said it's really important to remember that the challenges 13- and 14-year-old girls faced 20 years ago are the challenges nine-year-old girls are facing today. So, providing support for girls, media literacy, critical thinking skills are all absolutely essential for girls in terms of helping decode the messages they see around them and be realistic.
The last challenge I would mention is work-life balance. This continues to be a major issue for women; we've made some progress but we still have a long way to go. Childcare remains a major issue, support for women who are caring for elderly or disabled family members, and just the whole issue of work-life balance. These issues haven't necessarily gotten worse but they sure haven't gotten any better over time. We need some really big solutions, like a much better childcare system and much better support for families.
CV: Can you briefly describe a couple of initiatives of the Canadian Women's Foundation and how they're impacting the lives of women and girls?
BW: We've established a permanent Girl's Fund and we're very excited about it. We conducted a pilot phase for three years and now we've established a permanent fund that is funding programs for girls aged nine to thirteen. Our research shows that it's right around that age that things start to change for many girls and, overall, they become less happy than boys and remain so from there on. Today, almost half of girls are dieting by grade six and lots of girls wish they were someone else, which I think is really sad.
The programs we're addressing through the fund are: leadership, science and technology, developing critical thinking skills, communication skills, physical activity - which is really important for self-esteem, the ability to be connect to adults other than their parents, also critical, and the ability to try new things and feel successful. Along with that, as part of our new fundraising initiatives, last fall we launched Canada's first charitable IPO, which stands for an "Immediate Public Opportunity" to invest in the Girls' Growth Fund. It's a way of allowing people to buy $100 shares and to raise support for our work with girls. It's very innovative. So far we've raised more than $350,000 toward our goal.
A second area is our work with women's poverty. We are in the process of launching a new five-year initiative in our economic development work. And we will actually be establishing the Canadian Centre for Women's Economic Development, a virtual centre. Also, for the first time, we will be providing grant support for programs encouraging and supporting women in the areas of skilled trades and technology because that's where a lot of the well-paying jobs will be in the future. Yet, women only make up 21% of technology jobs and 3% of skilled trades, with a lot of those hairdressing. So there really is a major job to do in terms of supporting that work. We will be funding programs that encourage women to get apprenticeships in those areas, to support them while in apprenticeships, and then help retain them in trades and technology jobs once they get into the field.
CV: Do you feel organizations in the nonprofit sector are doing enough to foster young leaders? If not, what do could they be doing better?
BW: No, they're not. I think there are a lot of reasons. A lot of smaller organizations, in particular, can't afford professional development. They often can't even afford to have enough staff to allow younger staff to move up in the organization. So they have to be more creative - it's a critical issue. And the issue of young women leaders is something that's been identified by the women organizations we work with. Last year, we received feedback from more than 100 women organizations that we work with in the economic development area. They said that skills and leadership development was a major area of concern, the whole concept of how to build in mentoring and do it more effectively.
There's also a challenge for a lot of the smaller organizations to be able to pay competitive salaries in order to attract younger leaders. One of the things that can be looked at in that area is offsetting what you can't do around salaries by offering flexible workplaces, which, for young women in particular, is often really attractive in terms of trying to balance all the demands in their life. We are in the process of developing a leadership development program for women in the economic development area to try and address some of these challenges. It's definitely something that needs to be focused on and that we need to find creative ways of dealing with. And providing support for work-life balance is really critical in being able to attract and retain women leaders.
CV: With that in mind, what about the role of women? Do you think the sector is doing enough to foster their roles as leaders?
BW: There are a lot of women who work in the voluntary sector, but in terms of senior leadership roles - both paid and voluntary - women are not as well-represented as they are in the rest of the sector...for some of the same reasons I discussed before, such as work-life balance and lack of professional development. It's not because of education; there used to be more of an education gap between men and women but there isn't anymore. One of the main reasons for the continuing wage gap between men and women now is the presence of children and having to care for them. And the same is true in the voluntary sector. So, again, we need creative solutions, we need mentoring, we need flexible work places, good work-life-balance policy, etc.
CV: What traits make leaders great?
BW: First of all, having vision and the ability to bring people from different backgrounds together to work toward common goals is a critical trait. Also, being open to different viewpoints and new ideas. Leadership stagnates if you're not open to different ways of thinking and new ideas. The ability to have a strategic focus is also critical; it's not just having a vision but working toward that vision and keeping focus on what's really important. And remembering to say thank you. Really great leaders say thank you very often. It's really important; it's a way of building community and making people feel valued and part of a movement.
More about Beverley... |
First nonprofit job: Community Information Centre of Metropolitan Toronto
(now called "211")
Education: Masters of Social Work, University of Toronto, with a specialty in community development
Annual budget of the organization he oversees: Last year $5.6 million and growing.
Number of employees: 12 full-time and 4 part-time. Staff in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto.
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CV: Do you have any practical advice on leadership?
BW: The first thing that came to my mind is: remember you didn't get there alone. And that goes back to saying thank you, but also to teamwork and collaboration. Leaders are leaders because they empower people to accomplish things together and it's really important to remember that. Remember you are part of a team, stay true to your values. Keep your eye on the big picture, but also on the steps along the way that help you reach your goals. Have a sense of perspective and remember why you do this work and what a privilege it is to do work that really matters. And make sure to communicate that feeling. Very often I think about why we're doing what we're doing and it's enormously important for perspective and balance to do that. I honestly believe the work I do is a privilege and I get up every day and love what I do because it matters.
CV: Can you name any mentors who've inspired you over the years?
BW: First of all, I learned a lot of my skills doing volunteer work at the YWCA in the 80s. So I really had some great mentors there in terms of volunteer leadership etc. My other mentors have primarily been women who were presidents or co-chairs of the CWF board. They've come from a variety of backgrounds and I've learned from all of them. For example, Julie White, our founding president. She came out of the corporate sector but also has a strong background in philanthropy. Valerie Hussey was the publisher and owner of Kids Can Press for 31 years. She had great ideas and is a very exciting, intellectual thinker, always open to new ideas. Pat Baxter, a consultant who works on Aboriginal issues. From her I learned a lot about Aboriginal issues, collaboration, teamwork, and how to move things forward. Margot Franssen was the president of Body Shop Canada and from her I learned audacity, passion, big ideas, always being open to new ways of doing things, and having a strong commitment to the cause. Deb Bartlett: she and I have worked together in various capacities for close to 30 years. I learned a lot about philanthropy and strategic thinking from her. We also have great co-chairs right now, Mary Mobray and Carol Oliver. I actually work in partnership with them as president and CEO.
I've also learned enormously from the organizations we fund and the women that they work with. It amazes me every day, when I look at the work being done across Canada with women and girls, at how much can be accomplished for not a lot of money, and the commitment, innovation and skill that goes into that work.
Elisa Birnbaum is a freelance journalist, producer and communications consultant living in Toronto. She is also president of Elle Communications and can be reached at: info@ellecommunications.ca.
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