Yes indeed time flies and months go by without a new blog post in sight here at Ethos! Sometimes we’re mired in projects and writing - you know how it goes. At other times, we simply don’t take our own advice on good communications.

With the summer upon us, Catherine is visiting Haida Gwaii this week and I am preparing to attend a workshop at the Poverty Institute in Portland next week. I first met Dr. Donna Beegle, the founder of the Poverty Institute, in Prince George several months ago where I was co-presenting a workshop to public school teachers. Donna presented during the morning session and I have to say she captivated the room. She didn’t have a flashy multi-media show (there were technical problems in fact - every presenter’s nightmare) or a slick delivery. Donna literally wowed the room with her dead-on insights and a remarkable knowledge of best practice gathered from her extensive, US speaking engagements. Donna’s workshop helped us better understand the barriers people who live in poverty face when dealing with middle class institutions (like schools) and systems (like the justice system).

I thought, this is someone I really want to learn from! So I was happy to hear that she had launched a train-the-trainer series so off I go to the first session next week. I plan to tweet from Portland so if this topic interests you, please follow me at #helesialuke.

Helesia