Why Apply?
For the arc of history to bend toward a future where the health of people and planet flourish, health care and community must rise to the calls of the day - a pandemic, climate change, and growing health disparities. These are not problems to tackle alone from the silos of professions or sectors, these are problems to take on together; like braiding sweetgrass, weaving wisdom and perspective.
Nourish is the program for organizations who are taking on these interconnected challenges in earnest.
The first Nourish Innovator Cohort demonstrated that together, they had greater capacity to experiment and innovate toward better futures than they did working alone. Through the Anchor Collaborative Cohort, we aspire to create the conditions and opportunities for health and community leaders to be more effective in their work and collaborations. Along with finding support to provide anchor leadership to their communities during a time of crisis, they will be supported to work strategically and with foresight to build back better over the longer term.
Participants in the cohort will benefit from:
New Relationships and Networks
Research and the 2017-2019 Nourish Innovator Cohort experience shows that a cohort-based approach increases the likelihood of an initiative being translated into sustainable action. The Anchor Collaborative teams selected for the cohort will be learning together and drawing strength and inspiration from each other over the course of the two-year cohort. Peer-based learning in a community of practice enhances individuals’ ability to see the system, accelerates learning, and de-risks innovation.
Mentorship and Coaching
The Nourish team supporting the cohort is deeply experienced in food systems sustainability, social innovation, organizational development, project design, and communications. Nourish’s network of advisors will accompany the Anchor Collaborative teams on an individual and cohort basis. Participating teams will join the existing network of twenty-five Nourish Innovator health organizations across the country who have helped to pave the way for this phase.
Innovation Education and Practice
Drawing from the multidisciplinary ecosystem of the Nourish team, advisors, and partners, the Anchor Collaborative teams will be introduced to different approaches to innovation, inclusive of Western and Indigenous systems change and innovation frameworks, including Awareness-Based Systems Leadership, Transition Design, and Traditional Foodways. The Anchor Collaborative teams will be supported to test, refine, and scale their work within, and potentially beyond, their communities.
Promotion and Recognition
Nourish will promote the cohort as Canada's leaders and champions in the food for health ecosystem, positioning them as drivers of innovation. Participating teams will be profiled in Nourish communications and social media, supported to participate in events and conferences to share about their work, and involved in emergent media opportunities. They will also be able to use the Nourish Anchor Collaborative brand in their own communications.
Formalization of Relationships and Informal Practices
Across Canada, there is already amazing work underway to promote food for health. Participation in the Anchor Collaborative Cohort will accelerate relationship-building, helping to formalize emerging partnerships that promote innovative place-based practices. Rather than being an “add on” to existing work, the participation in the cohort will support integration with existing mandates and initiatives to maximize impact.
Scholarship & Resourcing
Programming costs for teams selected for the two-year cohort will be covered by Nourish and its funding partners. In addition, fifteen small planning grants ($5,000) will be awarded to support the development of multi-stakeholder teams during the recruitment phase. Once the cohort is established, the Nourish team will support teams to leverage the cohort to open the door to additional partners and resources to expand the supports available for Anchor Collaborative teams as they refine their vision and projects. Nourish is asking teams to resource a 0.5 FTE Anchor Team Coordinator role if their full application is successful. Lead health care organizations are encouraged to resource this role through reallocation of job descriptions and through identifying additional funding.
Local Benefits and Systemic Impact
With Anchor Collaborative teams focused on place-based work and challenging the underlying structures holding the current system in place, Nourish will be sharing the cohort’s work nationally through convenings, policy work, articles, blogs, and other updates. Developmental and systems-impact evaluation capacity will benefit both cohort and national efforts, charting a path to a future of preventative health care and stewardship around the ecological and social determinants of health in Canada.