This week, the Victoria Foundation released the 2021 Summer edition of Pulse magazine, a publication I like to think of as the “what next” to our annual Vital Signs report. While Vital Signs digs into the health and vitality of our community, focusing on what’s working and what’s not, Pulse looks at how the Victoria Foundation and other organizations in our community are working to address the deficiencies Vital Signs highlights.
For instance, this summer’s edition shines a spotlight on a number of organizations that have received grants from the Victoria Foundation to assist them in their essential work in our community, particularly in this challenging past year. Peers Victoria Resources Society, for instance, received an Emergency Community Support Fund grant last year supporting their work to provide peer and cultural support to unsheltered individuals. And the Victoria Community Food Hub used a grant from the Rapid Relief Fund for 10,000 households in our region to plant their own gardens. Both organization’s stories are featured in Pulse, along with many others.
This year we’ve also devoted a considerable amount to space to highlighting some of the Victoria Foundation’s investment practices. To adapt to the ever-changing world we live in, the Victoria Foundation is constantly evolving, and so are our investment beliefs. Our donors are evolving too, as are local and global needs, all factors at play when we make decisions on how to manage the funds that we have been trusted with to, in turn, invest in the wellbeing of our community.
One of the ways our investment beliefs are evolving is through an increasing focus on responsible investing, a series of strategies in our portfolio allowing us to make sure our donors’ money is being put to good use no matter what stage of the investment/granting cycle it’s in. This approach includes using Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria and the UN Sustainable Development Goals when considering new investments, and also investing into companies, organizations, and funds that have the intention of generating measurable, beneficial social or environment impact in addition a financial return.
The Victoria Foundation has been working towards the betterment of our community for 85 years now. During that time, a lot has changed, and a lot continues to change. Throughout, our organization has evolved to meet that change and we’re committed to continue that journey based on community need and the needs of our donors and the organizations we support.
To learn more, I encourage you to pick up a copy of Pulse magazine out in the community, or to head to victoriafoundation.ca to read our online edition and find a list of FAQs.
Sandra Richardson is CEO of the Victoria Foundation.
