The Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS) at the University of Regina has received $80,300 from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to establish a western hub of the national partnership-oriented research on philanthropy, known as PhiLab. This project will be led by Iryna Khovrenkov, assistant professor with the school, and Lynn Gidluck, acting community research unit coordinator with the faculty of arts at the University of Regina.
The Western Hub of PhiLab, also known as Funders in the West, is an online platform that will bring forward evidence-based research on grant-making foundations as well as educate and promote awareness about these organizations. Funders in the West will enhance current networks and facilitate new collaborations between funders, non-profits, charities, and academics in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. According to the Report on the Charities Program 2015-2016 authored by Statistics Canada’s Charities Directorate, the western provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia make up 35.3% of the charitable sector in Canada.
JSGS is proud to announce the launch of Funders in the West.
“This is an exciting initiative that will bring together philanthropic foundations, non-profits and researchers to grow the field of grant-making foundations with a focus on Western Canada. Funders in the West is the place to share knowledge about this field so that it can be accessible to different publics,” said Dr. Khovrenkov.
The website can be found at www.fundersinthewest.ca. A stakeholder consultation meeting was held in Regina on Thursday, January 24th that brought together funders, grantees, and academics to discuss the website and the needs in the community. The website will continue to undergo improvements while the project expands to serve the four provinces.
Western Hub of PhiLab is one of the four regional hubs, which are funded through a recent Partnership Grant of $2.5 million awarded by SSHRC to 43 researchers and 21 partners in Canada to explore the role and impact of grantmaking foundations. PhiLab is the national hub that was established to serve as a place for research, information exchange, and mobilization of Canadian foundations’ knowledge.