A note from the Chair of the Halifax Chamber Board of Directors
Pictured Above: Joanne with Camp Tidnish campers, Kiera and Gabby. Camp Tidnish is the only barrier-free overnight summer camp for Nova Scotian children, youth, and adults who live with disabilities.
The first few weeks as Chair of the Halifax Chamber Board of Directors have been full of good wishes, meeting new board members, orientations, events, and establishing the exciting path forward in the search for our new Chamber President and CEO. I am a firm believer that I try not to fill the shoes of my amazing predecessor Ann Divine but to bring my own pair and set my stamp on my year-long tenure.
The Halifax Chamber is very much on the cusp of building on our reputation and in a solid strategic direction while forging the way for a new leader who will again, bring their own shoes. The Strategic Plan guides our work and is pillared by Affordability, Labour and Infrastructure—all relevant and timely focal points for our 2000 member organizations. Members can be assured their voices will be lifted through the work of the Chamber through submissions to government and other stakeholders on the issues important to them.
My personal motto is “if it matters, measure it” so we will continue to communicate with our members of directions sought and action taken.
The Halifax Regional Municipality has seen three elections in the last seven months which gives the Halifax Chamber and every level of government a tremendous opportunity to work together on issues that affect not only our quality of life but our livelihoods. Rest assured that the Halifax Chamber will continue its role of leadership on issues important to our members to all levels of government and our advocacy will be intentional and actionable.
As a leader in the nonprofit sector, I know first-hand the challenges that face my sector every day. That is why I am ceding this space over my time in the next year to highlight the work of other nonprofit organizations that you might not be familiar with in your community. I want to give space to small shops that do not have the resources or capacity to tell their stories but often perform critical work in our community and even for you or a loved one. My hope is that by doing so, their work garners attention, resources, and recognition. I also want to give space to nonprofits who do work which can directly benefit your business culture. (See next issue for an article about Engage Nova Scotia and their Quality of Life survey.)
I have been told that I am the first Chair of the Halifax Chamber from the nonprofit community. Whether you have crafted a Mission Statement on what your organization does or a Vision Statement on what you want your business to accomplish, the similarities between the nonprofit sector and the business community are far greater than their differences.
One of my favorite quotes is from Management theorist Peter Drucker who says “Management is about doing things right. Leadership is about doing the right things.” I have spent most of my career striving to do the right things. No sense stopping now.
