Involved in accounting since 2001, Jack Aude Pichette has worked with numerous community groups facing challenges in their accounting & financial reporting systems over the years and has come to observe that a common challenge faced by many is lack of access to resources & solutions available to the community sector. Often resulting in unsustainable working conditions, think burn out and interruption of services, organizational instability... it not only affects management & operations but also the users of these valuable community services.
In March 2023 they began putting together a training & mentorship program for directors & coordinators in the community sector, responding to requests for support services from various community groups and looking for teammates to work with. In September 2023 they put together the first sponsored Tax Preparer Training & Mentorship program finishing up in February 2024! As they prepared to incorporate more taxation into their scope of work, this inevitably meant their capacity for accounting support would diminish during the busy tax seasons so this required a team!
Not only did the team show up, but they showed up with initiatives and ideas of their own and here we are now!
Finally Incorporated in January 2024, The Community Capacity Building Initiative came into being in response to resounding popular demand, after years of careful preparation, and with the support of a number of solid partnerships without whose trust, guidance, and expertise this initiative would not have been possible!
On top of the normal anxiety that income tax brings up in nearly everyone, every community faces its own unique set of challenges. Our goal is to address those particular to the many gender
diverse communities across Canada.
While the taxation challenges unique to 2SLGBTQ+ communities are numerous, here are our top 3 (with a focus on the trans experience):
Starting in May!!
Community Initiatives
Many underserved 2SLGBTQ+ individuals struggle to find services that are accessible to them. As a result, many take it upon themselves to lead initiatives that make an impact in their own communities without capital or business management expertise, which eventually can become a barrier to personal and professional health & well being.
Our Community Initiatives Program is open to members of the community with project ventures aligned with our mission for developing, creating and delivering programming that prioritizes solutions for economic & employment wellbeing in Two Spirit, trans, non-binary and gender diverse communities.
Community Initiative 2024: Financial Literacy
The first of these programs is the Financial Literacy Initiative which will be running from May 2024 until October 2024 in 4 modules over 3 themes; general, freelance and grassroots & community groups.
These learning sessions are intended to make financial literacy accessible to more people in the underserved 2SLGBTQ+ community. Participants will learn about various financial management strategies and techniques that can allow members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community to thrive rather than simply survive.
As a subject that has to be sought out, many people don’t know where to start. These learning sessions are intended to make financial literacy accessible to more people in the underserved 2SLGBTQ+ community.
Designed and facilitated by Mikki Bradshaw, an activist, artist, and educator for 35 years and a business owner for 10 years. They started their personal financial journey in 2016. They have since done research and taken action to be well on the way to being completely debt free, as well as building their knowledge in financial literacy, and finally start building towards retirement, Which is better late than never.
We are now accepting sponsors & donors for our Financial Literacy Program. See our Benevity Causes for options!
Addressing urgent needs within underserved 2SLGBTQ+ community groups, the Community Capacity Building Initiative (CCBI) began addressing pressing challenges exacerbated by the pandemic and lack of resources within the community in February 2023. Presently, CCBI serves many notable clients, offering services from Audit support to government reporting and accounting system implementation.
In addition to our current mandate of accounting management & accompaniment to assist community technicians, management & governance create systems that work for their teams we expect to expand in July 2024 to include Financial management and compliance support for community groups & entrepreneurs;
At the moment, many grassroots and community organizations are currently depleted and under audit, facing fines & penalties, loss of funding and risk of closure due to pandemic-related programming instability and administrative shutdowns. We have the skills to be of service but due to recent diversion of funds from 2SLGBTQ+ frontline support groups to the 2SLGBTQ+ advocacy & humanitarian groups, our list of current and potential clients unable to access the services they need grows every week.
Our plans include the development of a compliance support program to review & equip organizations to better manage their legal & registry responsibilities over time. We will check the legal standing of the organization, its reporting obligations, assist the organization with reporting due and implement organizational tools, training and accompaniment to teams requiring additional assistance in
maintaining status and compliancy.
Coming Spring 2025!
Your generous support is the difference-maker that funds our mission and helps to improve the economic & employment wellbeing of 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
Seeking Financial Literacy Program Sponsors!
See "Get Involved" for more details!