Advocates Alliance Gathering: Jan. 30

Over the years, we have seen an increase in the number of individuals coming to our organization (John Humphrey Centre) with human rights related concerns. Since we are an education organization with no legal counsel, we have not been able to support these people effectively and feel a sense of unrest simply referring them somewhere else where they will likely get lost. We are often a place of last resort. For example, we have people coming to us who have been discriminated against and need guidance and support navigating the human rights system.

A few months ago, the Centre pulled together a community roundtable with advocates and other individuals in the community to talk about developing a strategy/plan to effectively support people in Edmonton with not only advocacy, but also in terms of identifying municipal strategies to address and remedy human rights violations and concerns.

At our last community advocacy roundtable it was agreed to create a monthly informal space for advocates in Edmonton to come together. It would be a space to hear from each other what is going on in the city, what other advocates are up against, and make connections across our ‘sectors’. The idea was to meet in a public place, where we can have a drink and exchange about our daily work to stand up for people.

Our first Gathering will be on January 30th from 3 PM to about 5 PM (we can stay as long as we want) at the POURHOUSE Bier Bistro on Whyte Avenue - open to all ages (10354 82 Avenue). Consistently, on the last Friday night of every month, this becomes our space to create a greater collective impact by connecting with each other. The John Humphrey Centre will make sure connections are made ;)

At the first meeting we could speak about how we want to create these meetings, if we want to have something like a topic each time, or if some people/institutions will talk about their specific work or if we
want to keep it very informal. We'd also like to make this a space where we have a special guest each time who is from public office so we can bend their ear :)