Dear members, friends, partners, and supporters,
I first encountered the City for All Women Initiative (CAWI) back in 2008, shortly after I began working as a Community Developer in Sandy Hill. I heard about CAWI’s neighbourhood-based civic engagement training for women and I immediately thought, “I want to be a part of this!” In 2009, I joined the program with five women from Strathcona Heights, and together we advocated for a community house and homework club. The rest, as they say, is history.
Since then, I’ve had the privilege of being involved with CAWI in various roles—from designing a community-led research analysis for Making Votes Count to volunteering as a facilitator, partnering on the Community Development Framework (CDF) training guide, and supporting our facilitators network. In 2019, I was honoured to take on my biggest role yet as Executive Director.
The past five and a half years as Executive Director, and then co-Director, have been a whirlwind of excitement, challenges, and deep learning. It’s with mixed emotions that I share my decision to step down at the end of January 2025.
Working with CAWI has been a true pleasure and a profound responsibility. Together, we navigated a pandemic, the trucker convoy occupation, and funding challenges. I’m especially proud of our Gendered Recovery Plan for Ottawa—the first feminist recovery plan focused on the municipal level—and our Caring Cities initiative, which integrates care into urban planning and design.
Deciding to leave has been difficult, but I feel it’s the right time.
I believe that for a grassroots organization like CAWI, regular leadership change is healthy. We’ve been working hard to build an organizational structure that promotes shared leadership and accountability. Our co-director model and collaborative decision-making processes involving staff, membership and the board have created more pathways for leadership, reduced hierarchy, and allowed us to embrace a more feminist approach to power. My hope is that these changes will further empower future leaders.
I also believe that organizations like CAWI achieve even greater success when members see themselves in their leaders. As a cis-het-white woman of settler descent, I recognize my perspective is shaped by my lived experiences. I’ve worked hard to create space for future leaders, putting in place supportive structures and conditions for the staff team to thrive. Burnout is a real issue in the nonprofit sector, especially for feminist organizations with women-centered workforces dealing with the double burden of care, and I am proud of what we have done to address it. With our co-director model, four-day work week (with no change in pay!), distributed leadership structure, and comparable benefits package, I believe we offer a unique environment that allows our staff and leaders to thrive. I’m confident the Hiring Circle will find an amazing Policy Director who will continue our mission of advocating for social justice and building a city that cares for all.
It’s my sincere hope that I’ve embodied CAWI’s motto, taken from the words of Rosemary Brown: “We must open the doors and we must see to it they remain open, so that others can pass through.”
In the coming months, Hana and I will work closely with the board, staff, and our members to ensure a smooth transition. One of the silver linings of a long notice period is the chance to say goodbye properly. I look forward to connecting with many of you in person before I leave.
In solidarity,
Valerie Stam
Interim Policy Director (co-Executive Director)