WorkInCulture is pleased to announce an Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) grant to support two new initiatives designed to enhance both the quality of life and economic health of Ontario by strengthening the business skills of creative professionals.  With this financial assistance WorkInCulture will be able to develop two new key enterprises over the next three years:  the Creative Business Hub and the Collaborative Network.

WorkInCulture’s ED Diane Davy says “The creative sector is recognized as having a major economic impact on the province. Our community is already highly skilled in their creative disciplines and will be able to contribute even more if they have the business skills tools that they tell us they want and need.”

Connecting the Creative Communities Across Ontario

The goal of the WorkInCulture Collaborative Network will be to build a strong, sustainable network of key communities, organizations and individuals across the province.  This will include folks from the creative, business and academic sectors. The network will look at local skills needs and training gaps; share existing resources and information on business skills training for the creative community; share best practices; provide peer to peer mentoring across the group; and foster partnerships in developing and delivering new programs and resources where needed. The OTF grant will help WorkInCulture strengthen partnerships in Sudbury, North Bay, Kingston, Cornwall, Guelph, Ottawa and Huntsville and their surrounding areas but will also work to ensure that the resources developed are shared across the province.

Developing and Delivering Business Skills Training

Across OntarioThe Network will connect the community and the WorkInCulture Creative Business Hub will build and share programs, resources and research that answers the need of the Network. Training will be designed, with local partners, to meet the needs of working professionals and will recognize that "one-size" does not fit all. Formats will include face-to-face workshops, online e-learning, blended learning, one-to-one mentorships, peer-to-peer mentoring, etc. Building on its existing roster of curriculum, WorkInCulture’s long-term goal is to provide the creative community, both individuals and organizations, with consistent, affordable access to business skills and career development training regardless of discipline or region.

ONTARIO TRILLIUM FOUNDATION
The Ontario Trillium Foundation is a leading grant-maker in Canada that strengthens the capacity of the voluntary sector through investments in community-based initiatives. An agency of the Government of Ontario, OTF helps build healthy and vibrant communities.