Vibrant Communities

You are invited to meet Paul Born, author, speaker and master storyteller, internationally recognized for his innovative approaches to community building, at a special reception on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. at the Hub Halifax.

A motivational, inspiring and informative speaker, Paul will speak about his work in forming Opportunities 2000, a program recognized as one of the 40 best practices by the United Nations, and about how it was turned into the national campaign of Vibrant Communities Canada. Paul will also read from his recently released book, Community Conversations: Mobilizing the Ideas, Skills, and Passion of Community Organizations, Governments, Businesses, and People.

When Paul was young, he and his family came to Canada as refugees, displaced persons seeking to create a new life for themselves. His experience of poverty in coming to a country and community of opportunity has shaped one simple guiding question in his life: if we cannot solve poverty in Canada, where can it be solved?

In 2002 he co-founded and became President of Tamarack – An Institute for Community Engagement, which develops and supports collaborative strategies that engage citizens and institutions to solve major community challenges, and to learn from and share these experiences. Tamarack has partnerships in Saint John and St. John’s and has worked extensively with organizations in Halifax.

Community Conversations outlines the model that made the Vibrant Communities initiative such a success. It speaks to the power of bringing together diverse groups of people with different backgrounds and needs – from community organizations, the various levels of government, and businesses big and small – and offers ten practical ways to host conversations in any community.

A second book, edited by Paul, entitled Creating Vibrant Communities: How Individuals and Organizations from Diverse Sectors of Society are Coming Together to Reduce Poverty in Canada tells the stories of each of the Vibrant Communities initiatives, including those in Saint John and St. John’s.
We hope you can join us for this exciting event!

Please RSVP to nancy@tamarackcommunity.ca