Training & Professional Development

Our vision as an organization—the future we are working towards—is that of a society of strong, healthy individuals and families, and caring, inclusive communities strengthened by comprehensive, responsive, high-quality supports and services. To help us realize that vision, The Federation is committed to strengthening and supporting our members and BC’s community services sector more broadly through professional development, skill-building, networking, and leadership development opportunities. Learn more about learning and training opportunities below.

Transformative Reconciliation
Strategies for Dealing with Stress & Burnout
Cultural Safety Training
Support to Practice Supervision Training
The Community Social Services Training Fund

Transformative Reconciliation

The Transformative Reconciliation program has been designed to help Federation members to engage in transformative reconciliation through collaborative learning, design, and practice. It invites senior leaders to engage in difficult conversations in a supportive space in order to transform their practice and embody the calls to action. The program’s action-oriented design is ideal for leaders who are keen to create real-world approaches to reconciliation that are founded on decolonizing principles and Indigenous Knowledges in their local context.

Learn more and register to participate here.

Mental Health Support & Resources

These new custom-built workshops have been designed to provide Federation members Strategies for Dealing with Stress & Burnout. Participants will learn about different types of stress, the stress cycle, evidence-based methods of coping with stress and then explore which resonate most and might suit them best. There will also be opportunities to engage with the topic, the instructor, and each other by sharing past experiences, discussing personal practices and considering personal values as an approach for incorporating stress reducing methods more meaningfully.

Learn more and register to participate here.

Cultural Safety Training

It’s Not What You Think It Is: Stories and Strategies for Cultural Safety is a custom-built offering developed by The Federation’s Indigenous Advisor, Riley McKenzie. This three-day workshop will explore histories that weren’t taught in schools, uncover some of the origins of stereotypes and prejudices, explain how the impacts of colonization are manifesting today, and help those working in BC’s community social services sector better understand concepts like reconciliation and decolonization in order to create more culturally safe spaces where they work.

Learn more and register to participate here.

Support to Practice Supervision Training

Support to Practice supervision training explores and shares what we are calling a “Support to Practice” framework that is custom-built for all staff in supervisory roles and translates to a wide range of service delivery areas. This cohort-based workshop series will teach supervisors and managers how to understand the spectrum of supervisory responsibilities and help them develop the specific supervisory skills that enhance direct services—ensuring organizations are supporting their staff and meeting the unique needs, preferences, and circumstances of their clients and communities.

Learn more and register to participate here.

Community Social Services Training Fund

The intention of the Community Social Services Training Fund was to disburse grants to organizations delivering community-based social services in British Columbia. This funding supported support broad and inclusive training and development efforts that addressed foundational knowledge and core skill needs—including leadership and management—throughout the community social services sector.

Learn more about the training fund here.

Training: Goals & Intentions

Support, Connection, Understanding

Our learning and professional development initiatives inform, inspire, educate, and support the people and organizations that in turn support children, youth, adults, and families in communities throughout BC. There are three central goals behind the events and gatherings we offer:

To support our members through information sharing or learning opportunities.
To enable members to better connect with one another, thereby reducing isolation and strengthening relationships across the sector and across the province.
To provide opportunities for Federation members, board directors, and staff to better understand the issues facing our sector so that all of our work is done with the best practices, the most current knowledge, and in the most appropriate manner.

Reducing Barriers to Participation

The Federation has also committed to reducing the barriers to participation in our gatherings and events. We do this by:

Hosting our three major provincial events in three different BC communities each year.
Offering regular webinars to bring Federation members together from across the province to learn, participate in projects, and discuss issues.
Providing a travel subsidy to Federation members from small organizations and rural or remote communities so they can participate in in-person events.

Training & Professional Development

Transformative Reconciliation

Mental Health Support & Resources

Cultural Safety Training

Support to Practice Supervision Training

Community Social Services Training Fund

Training: Goals & Intentions

Support, Connection, Understanding

Reducing Barriers to Participation

Contact Info

Reconciliation

Resources

About The Federation