Community Organizers

Incubating Community Projects in British Columbia

Created by HIM

What is a Community Organizer?

Working toward HIM’s vision of “GBQ men and Gender Diverse people building healthy lives together” this initiative empowers members of our diverse communities to organize and lead community programs that will help address community needs.

Successful applicants enact projects which might be under-served under existing programs led directly by HIM. Community Organizers receive financial support to assist with costs associated with organizing and facilitating, and have HIM’s organizational backing to “Host, Support and Promote”:

Collaborate with its staff to develop programming ideas,
Utilize HIM’s space as a venue and;
Promote to HIM’s existing networks and audience.

The Community Organizers Program was created with inspiration and collaboration with fellow Alliance partner organization, MAX Ottawa and their Community MAXimizers Program.

Incubating Community-led Projects in British Columbia

HIM supports the development and implementation of eight Community Organizer projects each year - with four allocated to the Greater Vancouver Area and the rest of British Columbia respectively.

Past community impact projects include:

Featured

Get Kinky

Fast Friends

Unleash Happiness

Grey and Golden

Application Process & Project Selection

Community members are invited to submit their candidacy through an online portal. Candidates are then invited to submit a community program plan. In its initial application process, HIM identifies individuals who:

Are a member of (or an ally to) the GBQ men and Gender Diverse communities who is passionate about strengthening the health and wellbeing of the community
Have the capacity, willingness and drive to contribute time and effort into designing and leading community programming
Reside in (or willing to commute to) Fraser Valley and Vancouver regions
Have relevant and feasible community program ideas (or is willing to work with HIM to find community program ideas) and willing to lead the implementation of said ideas
Possesses leadership skills that enable them to lead, organize and facilitate community groups/programming that caters to diverse groups of GBQ men and Gender Diverse people in the community

Successful program plan submissions are followed by an interview with HIM’s Engagement and Outreach team to help determine the readiness and relevance of the proposed idea. The follow-up interview evaluates program ideas against a set criteria:

Be relevant: It addresses an evident need in the GBQ men and Gender Diverse communities
Feasible: The applicant and HIM have the combined skills, resources and expertise to deliver it in a meaningful way
Timely: It comes at an appropriate time and its implementation timeframe is realistic and sensible
Aligned to HIM’s Vision, Mission and Values
Serves the GBQ men and Gender Diverse communities within BC

Applicants are notified of the outcome of that evaluation shortly after the interview. With funding limited to an annual budget of $8,000, unsuccessful applications are encourage to resubmit plans in future cycles.

HIM’s Incubator Model: Host, Support & Promote

HIM Hosts Community Organizers (COs) by:

Providing the physical space for COs community program activities, either at HIM’s own spaces or by liaising with 3rd party community spaces within HIM’s network
Providing the institutional umbrella under which COs can carry out their community program activities
Secure necessary licenses and approvals for approved community program activities

HIM Supports COs by:

Providing cost assistance to the community program
Sharing talent resources and expertise
Lending the influence of the HIM brand and leadership raise the profile of the COs community programs

HIM Promotes COs by:

Providing marketing strategy and implementation support to help raise awareness about the COs community programs across HIM’s network
Raise the profile of COs in the community

Training & Resources

All Community Organizers attend HIM’s Institute Training - covering key concepts including harm reduction, sex work, gender diversity, shared knowledge and how to support communities in a non-stigmatized way that respects HIM’s values. Community Organizers needing further capacity building also attend Leadership Training to advance their program planning and implementation strategies.

Typical Community Organizer projects require 4-8 hours to evaluate and approve, with an additional 4 hours dedicated to training. More complex concepts often require more time, with upwards of 16 hours required for translation work with non-English speaking communities. As such, HIM’s costliest input for this program is paid staff time.

HIM also leverages its communications capacity during collaborative planning to produce promotional assets and strategy supporting each project.

Funding for Individual Projects

Through HIM’s strong organizational capacity with both a strong volunteer program and accessible community space, the direct financial needs of Community Organizer projects are often as low as $600. As such, HIM is able to fund 8 projects annually with a limited granting budget of only $8,000.

Most expenses are derived from food (to drive attendance) and venue rental (if outside of Vancouver). Honoraria for facilitators are also available upon request, and often donated back to the organization.

Fostering Ongoing Programming at HIM

A critical aim of the Community Organizers project is to address programming gaps unfulfilled by HIM’s ongoing work. As a result, several projects have developed into sustainable long-term components of HIM’s programming:

Beat the Blues, a workshop series on seasonal disorders and relationships during the holidays is extremely well received and fully registered annually.
TRANScendence, a group by and for gender diverse people, is in discussion to continue as a monthly group due to highly positive community feedback.
Inner Light Yoga Nidra, a yogic sleep workshop returned as Meditation & Existence - a five-week series on Vipassana technique and Existentialism ideas

Ongoing projects are often invited by HIM based on positive community feedback and existing unallocated funding for Community Organizer projects.