Shortly after Don Iveson won his first bid to become mayor of Edmonton back in 2013, Joseph Doucet, who was still feeling his way around his new role as Dean of the Alberta School of Business, reached out and offered his help in any way the then first-time mayor should see fit.
“Quite quickly he got back to me and asked if I would join the Task Force for Poverty Elimination in Edmonton,” said Doucet. “It fit into my values and my wish to do something concrete about poverty within the city.
“I knew it was an important initiative for the mayor and the city, so I agreed to join.”
With his business acuity in tow, Doucet and the rest of the task force were swept up in whirlwind of engagement. Over the next two years, hundreds of Edmontonians from diverse sectors and backgrounds were engaged in seven working groups to analyze issues on poverty and develop recommendations for action in their areas of focus.
In the end, more than 80 recommendations and 400 actions were generated from the process that led to the formation of EndPoverty Edmonton, which has a concrete goal to pull 10,000 Edmontonians out of poverty by 2021.
“Poverty is really not a single issue, it is such a mixed bag of different conditions, pressures and reasons people are in poverty, as well as mechanisms to get them out of poverty.”
Doucet says he is particularly proud of the buy-in the task force was able to get from Edmonton’s Indigenous community, which is disproportionately represented in poverty.
“It was encouraging to see that we were able to get different Indigenous individuals and groups involved in helping find a solution, as opposed to us developing a city-hall-made or top-down approach and telling people ‘this is the solution to your problems, now go and do it.’”
Doucet points to the work done by Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) as an example of the nuanced complexity involved in ending poverty. He says amidst all the good work the CNIB does, two of its mandates are to overcome challenges people who are blind have in accessing education or getting integrated into the workforce.
“If you can’t get educated and integrated into the workforce you are more likely to face other types of challenges including poverty and mental health issues.”
Doucet says this is where the United Way is very effective in providing a unified front.
“The United Way helps gather people and the numerous social services agencies and groups that are trying to work on these problems together, and focalizes or directs the efforts of donors,” he said. “I think it achieves much more impact through its ability to leverage and bring groups together to look at problems more effectively.”
As a business professor, Doucet says he has an appreciation for organizations like the United Way that are effective at connecting and that bring good management to the stewardship of the funds. As an Edmontonian, he says organizations like the United Way pull us closer together.
“I consider myself to be incredibly fortunate — I’m healthy, I have a happy, healthy family and I’m well-employed in a profession that I love,” he said. “I feel a duty and responsibility to share some of the good fortune that I have and the United Way is a good way to do that.”
He also suggests the university’s importance to the city necessitates that it take a leadership role in promoting a universal prosperity.
“We help make Edmonton a better place by the contributions of our teaching and research. The United Way is a way to help make Edmonton a better place through our financial contributions but also the spirit of giving that helps make the community a better place longer term for a large number of people.”
The University of Alberta’s United WayThe University of Alberta’s United Way fundraising campaign runs from October 11–27, 2017. To learn more about how your can give, share, and uplift the community through your participation visit the U of A’s United Way website.give, share, and uplift the community through your participation visit the U of A’s United Way website.
Michael Brown — Media specialist and Writer, University Relations
Writing at the U of A for a decade, still thinks he’s going to make the NHL.