ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
INSPIRING HEALTHY FUTURES
INSPIRING HEALTHY FUTURES
Our Origin Story
Designing the network
Between September 2020 and March 2021, more than 1,500 people engaged in the Inspiring Healthy Futures initiative, representing a broad and diverse constituency of voices. Our guiding questions for Inspiring Healthy Futures included:
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What is most needed to create healthy lives for all children and youth in Canada?
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What are the urgent needs generated by the COVID-19 pandemic?
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How can we work together to shape and create new knowledge and translate knowledge into action?
A participatory action approach was grounded in generative dialogue and appreciative inquiry. The full engagement was conducted virtually, in three phases.
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PHASE ONE: SCOPING
October 2020 - March 2021
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Convene Executive Team to provide advice about creating a representative engagement process and share interpretive insights of emerging ideas
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Convene Core Team to provide advice on engagement process, interpret emerging ideas and conduct interviews in their own spheres
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Set up diverse engagement process
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PHASE TWO: POLLINATION
October 2020 - February 2021
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19 virtual focus groups, with participants across Canada, across disciplines and across generations
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Core team interviews with 150 participants
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Tweet chat sponsored by Healthcare Leadership online community
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“Big Questions” via social media and sponsor newsletters
PHASE THREE: STRATEGY HIVES
February - March, 2021
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Strategy Hives™ x 8
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Two-hour intensives to co-create aspirational direction and concrete actions
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Hope for a brighter future
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Love, safety and healthy childhood
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Basics of a healthy life
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Stronger health systems
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Racial and structural equity
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Learning, belonging and play
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Acceleration Agenda
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Endurance Agenda​
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Conducting this three-phase approach ​​​​​​​virtually enabled us to reach diverse participants. We engaged youth, parents, caregivers, educators, health and community service providers, youth-serving organizations, sector leaders, community leaders, advocates, policy influencers, researchers, and think tanks.
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I'm inspired to go back to my organization and discuss new ideas to encourage more voice and engagement and to create hope within the middle school age youth!
Founding supporters
Inspiring Healthy Futures wouldn't exist without the encouragement and support of both both the founding Executive Team and Core Team. Their input, insight, and inspiration ensured the network's success from the beginning.
FOUNDING EXECUTIVE TEAM
Julia Anderson, Canadian Partnership for Women & Children’s Health
Jocelynn Cook, Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada
Marie-Adele Davis, Canadian Pediatric Society
Brent Diverty, Canadian Institute for Health Information
Julie Drury, Parent partner; Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement
Vivek Gill, IHDCYH Youth Advisor
Jennifer Gillivan, Board Chair,
CCHF, Foundation President IWK
Rachel Gouin, Child Welfare League of Canada
Cassandra Hallett, Canadian Teachers Federation
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Julia Hanigsberg, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab
Katherine Hay, Kids Help Phone
Zain Ismail, Henry Ford Health System
Paul Kershaw, Generation Squeeze
Annie Kidder, People for Education
David Morley, UNICEF Canada
Jane Philpott, Queen’s University
Melanie Redman, A Way Home Canada
Leila Sarangi, Campaign 2000
Erika Shaker, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Katharine Smart, Canadian Medical Association
Nora Spinks, Vanier Institute for the Family
Bruce Squires, Children’s Healthcare Canada
Kelly Stone, Families Canada
Anjum Sultana, YWCA
FOUNDING CORE TEAM
Christine Alden, Lawson Foundation
Sara Austin, Children First Canada
Stephen Barbazuk, Maternal Infant Child and
Youth Research Network (MICYRN)
Susanne Benseler, Alberta Children’s Hospital
Research Institute
Susan Bissaillon, Safehaven
Eric Breton, Family Network Community Health Centre
Roger Chafe, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Jean Clinton, McMaster University
Bob Connelly, Pediatric Chairs of Canada
Kristin Connor, Carleton University
Devanshi Desai, Young Canadians Roundtable
on Health
Joanne Downing, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab
Julie Drury, Parent partner, Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement
Erika Dupuis, Young Canadians Roundtable on Health
Peter Gill, Sick Kids Hospital
Cassandra Hallett, Canadian Teachers Federation
Lynda Kuhn, Maple Leaf Foods
Thierry Lacaze, MICYRN
Don Lindsay, Teck Resources
Andrew Lynk, Pediatric Chairs of Canada
Sharif Mahdy, Students Commission of Canada
Rachel Martens, Parent partner,
CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research
Dwayne Matthews, Evangelist and Future of
Education Strategist
Steven Miller, Institute of Human Development,
Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH) Advisory Board
Taylor Morriseau, Youth Leader
Anne-Monique Nuyt, IHDCYH Advisory Board
Christine Hampson, The Sandbox Project
Mark Hierlihy, Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations
Clara Ho, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab
Kate Horton, Ronald McDonald House
Lauren Kelly, Dept of Pediatrics, University of Manitoba
Mobeen Lalani, Young Canadians Roundtable on Health
Frank MacMaster, Alberta Children’s Hospital
Research Institute
Shauna MacEachern, Frayme Representative
Annette Majnemer, Child Bright/McGill University
Joanne Maxwell, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab
Merryn Maynard, Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security
Jessica Nkongolo, YMCA Canada
Eki Okungbowa, IHDCYH Youth Advisory Council
Stephen Patrick, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Debra Pepler, York University
Niloufar Pourzand, UNICEF consultant
Alison Quigley, Trillium Health Partners
Susan Samuel, Canadian Child Health Clinician
Scientist Program (CCHCSP)
Mahendra Sheth, Regional consultant for the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (WHO EMRO)
Keiko Shikako-Thomas, McGill University
Jessica Stepic, YMCA Canada
Gina Uppal, Western University and Bowhead Health
Cecilia VanEgmond, Health Canada
Annika Waschke, IHDCYH Youth Advisory Council
Aminata Wurie, CanWaCH
Laura Wittman, YMCA Canada
Adrienne Zarem, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab