New Round of Funding Launched for the Impact & Leadership Development Program (ILDP)

Niteo Africa

Antonia De Boer
Executive Director, Niteo Africa

At 14, Antonia De Boer boarded a plane from Edmonton, AB, to West Africa, where she learned how to live in community with others and developed a true passion for equity. That early spark of global awareness shaped a career working with children and youth, first for over 12 years in the nonprofit sector in Edmonton, and now as an Executive Director for Niteo Africa in Kelowna. What drew her to the organization was its unique blend of global partnerships in Uganda, equity-rooted literacy work, and, more recently, programs for newcomer families right here in Canada. “It felt like it combined all the things that I loved – a focus on literacy, equity, and relationships.”

As Niteo’s local programs gained momentum, families began asking for more, especially summer programming. Antonia and the team wanted to respond and meet this increasing demand, but knew they had to build something that would last. That led them to ILDP and their partnership with Purppl’s Entrepreneur in Residence, Kim Mangan.
“We didn’t just want to offer another free program,” Antonia explains. “We wanted to think about sustainability, but I was wrestling with that. How do we charge money? We’re a nonprofit. Kim helped us sit with those questions and find a path forward that felt aligned.”

Together, they designed a new summer literacy program that respected and honoured the dignity of the families, the value of the service provided, and accessibility for the students who would attend. “We ended up doing a pay-what-you-can model,” Antonia says. “It allowed us to recognize the value of what we were offering, while still making it accessible to families who might be struggling to pay for groceries.”

With Kim’s support, Niteo built a theory of change, clarified outcomes, and shaped internal systems that would support growth, not just this year, but into the future. “We’re a small organization. Outside of our summer staff, I’m the only employee,” Antonia shares. “So, even thinking through hiring and HR, we didn’t have all those systems in place yet. Now we do.”
When asked what stood out most, Antonia doesn’t hesitate. “It’s possible I could’ve done a lot of this on my own,” she says. “But it made the process so much more joyful to do it in community. It was richer. Kim asked great questions, cheered me on, and helped keep me on track. It also gave the board reassurance that these weren’t just my ideas and that someone else was there to ask the hard questions.”

As Niteo looks ahead to expanding its reading clubs in Uganda and exploring a global youth fellowship program, Antonia is holding onto the core principle that has guided Niteo’s actions since its inception: “We need to make reading and learning fun and rooted in community – because that’s part of making it accessible.”

Fraser Valley Addiction Recovery Hub (FVARH)

When Aida Tajbakhesh started her work, she didn’t expect to build one of the Fraser Valley’s most comprehensive addiction recovery hubs. A refugee and mother with lived experience of addiction in her family, Aida understood firsthand the complex needs of people navigating trauma, housing insecurity, and substance use. Fraser Valley Addictions Recovery Hub (FVARH) offers a wraparound model that meets people where they are – offering not just opioid agonist therapy, but food, housing, mental health care, and simple acts of dignity like a snack or cigarette. “Whatever gets them through the door,” she says.

As stigma and public pressure mounted, Aida realized she needed more than grit – she needed the tools to tell her story. Through the ILDP, Aida connected with Purppl Entrepreneur In Residence Selena McLachlan, a former Chief Marketing Officer with an impressive track record. Selena worked alongside Aida for months, providing strategic coaching and communications support to rebrand the organization (from Food For The Soul), sharpen its messaging, and strengthen its voice. 

Selena, who also lost her sister to the opioid crisis, brought deep empathy and expertise to the work. Together, they reframed the narrative, emphasizing FVARH’s evidence-backed, human-first approach and helping Aida speak with clarity to funders, media, and policymakers.

“I finally feel like I have the words to explain what we do,” Aida says. “Now I can speak up with the ministry, with funders, with the community – and they’re starting to understand we’re part of the solution.”

With support from Purppl, Aida was able to rebrand FVARH clarifying their messaging, and strengthening their communications strategy, helping to shift public perception and build stronger relationships with funders, media, and policymakers.

Today, FVARH supports more than 250 people at a time, offering care rooted in trust and respect. And it works. Hundreds have stabilized, reintegrated, and reconnected to the community. This approach stands in stark contrast to traditional programs where people receive methadone and walk out the door. As Aida puts it, “We’re not just keeping people alive. We’re helping them live.”

OCCA Communities Association

Fei Liu, Executive Director of OCCA Communities Association

At the helm of OCCA Communities Association, Executive Director Fei Liu inherited a legacy of community service and a pressing need to bring structure, strategy, and visibility to the work. OCCA had evolved from its origins as the Okanagan Chinese Canadian Association into a multicultural hub offering immigrant settlement services, after-school programs, senior support, and cultural events.

Yet despite more than a decade of impact, the organization struggled to articulate its purpose, connect with decision-makers, and align its board and staff around a shared vision. “We were already doing meaningful work,” Fei says, “but we didn’t have the language or know-how to tell our story.”

Through the ILDP program, OCCA was paired with several Purppl Entrepreneurs In Residence, including Segun Fatadimu, an expert in impact strategy, measurement and engagement models; Melissa Blair, a communications strategist passionate about equity and social justice; and Morgan Brannon, who takes a human-centred approach to partnership development and revenue development. This team was able to help guide the organization through a strategic reset. 

One of the most transformative areas was board development. Many board members were deeply committed community members and visible minorities who brought valuable lived experience and passion to the organization. However, few had formal governance training when they first joined. “They had a strong spirit of volunteerism,” Fei explains, “but limited experience in organizational leadership.” The board received governance training, learned how to work together strategically, and began seeing their unique strengths as contributors. They also received help to introduce a formal orientation process for new members, giving Fei more confidence in leading and the board more clarity in their role.

Today, Fei is leading OCCA with renewed purpose. The team has just finished recruiting two experienced board members while expanding staff capacity and building stronger partnerships across the region. Perhaps most importantly, OCCA is no longer just doing the work quietly but instead has stepped into the spotlight with pride, clarity, and a call for shared responsibility. 

“Equity-deserving communities can’t be the only ones supporting other equity-deserving communities,” Fei says. “We hope more people can walk alongside us in the same way that Purppl has.” 

With a stronger understanding of how to communicate their mission and values, OCCA is showing up with clarity, building bridges across cultures and deepening community connections.

Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury Through Research (SOAR)

Karen Mason, Co-founder & Executive Director of SOAR

Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research (SOAR) isn’t your typical startup charity. Backed by nearly a decade of research and rooted in both community and academia, the organization emerged from a growing recognition that traumatic brain injury is a widespread but often invisible consequence of intimate partner violence. Co-founded by Karen Mason and her partner, Dr. Paul van Donkelaar, SOAR is the only organization in Canada solely focused on this intersection.

Dr. Paul van Donkelaar, Co-founder and scientific advisor for SOAR

For SOAR to deliver on its powerful mission over the long term, Karen knew they needed to invest early in building the startup’s operational infrastructure. Through the ILDP, SOAR worked with Alyssa Tataryn, one of Purppl’s longest-serving Entrepreneurs In Residence, to lay the foundation, with a particular emphasis on financial modelling. 

“This was a great opportunity for us to do the stuff that seems boring but is so important – such as HR policies, financial planning, and strategic planning,” says Karen, who previously served as executive director of Third Space Charity and Kelowna Women’s Shelter, and spent many years working in the private sector.

One breakthrough came in pricing their fee-for-service offerings. “Previously, I had a number that seemed appropriate to create and deliver a day-long training workshop. I’d throw it out there, and I’d hope that people could afford it. And if they couldn’t, well, I’d charge less – or we’d do it for free,” Karen says. “The process we followed with Alyssa has allowed us to create a financial modelling system where we can just plug some numbers in, and we get what we need to generate a quote for our work. It’s going to save us time, effort, brainpower and angst.” 

Kelsey Helm, Director of Operations for SOAR

Kelsey Helm, SOAR’s operational lead, adds: “She (Alyssa) pulled us out from the myopic focus on grant obligations … into thoughtful, strategic conversations about where we want to go as a social enterprise and how we can create the infrastructure to get there.”

That shift has already positioned SOAR to lead nationally and collaborate globally. With demand growing across healthcare, research, and government sectors, as well as upcoming engagements in Australia and beyond, the team is focused on sustainable growth.

Kelsey shares: “By aligning estimating documents with our goals, and ensuring that our strategic plan is reflected in the services that we’re delivering, [ILDP] has allowed us to put grant administration and overhead into the background, which is what should happen.”

IndigiNews

IndigiNews is an Indigenous, women-led independent media outlet that tells stories from across the Indigenous homelands of so-called North America while practicing trauma-informed, culturally relevant and respectful journalism. IndigiNews applied to ILDP to access support to explore new business models and incorporation/ownership options that contribute to the long-term sustainability of independent Indigenous news in Canada.

With EIR Katie Green walking alongside, IndigiNews has taken significant steps towards financial clarity and organizational restructuring, building her confidence to lead and make critical decisions. Together, Katie and Publisher Eden Fineday created a flexible financial model, as well as systems and a cadence for financial management. These in place, Eden was able to make remarkable strides in advancing a new business model for the organization, doubling down on its mandate to advance Indigenous-led storytelling and leadership.

Caetani Centre

The Caetani Centre is a vibrant and innovative arts and culture centre dedicated to nurturing artists, enriching community and inspiring people through the power of art and story. Boasting a designated heritage home, gallery, exhibition space, and arts facilities, the centre is located on a beautiful 1.3-acre property in the heart of Vernon, BC, and showcases the world’s largest collection of works by celebrated Italian-Canadian artist Sveva Caetani.

Through ILDP, EIRs Kim Mangan and Hilary Henegar led a strategic planning process that clarified the organization’s purpose and priorities. Kim also provided governance training for board members, strengthening the Executive Director Laisha Rosnau’s ability to build and execute an operational plan aligned with the organization’s new strategic plan. Ongoing coaching throughout the engagement has emboldened the ED to advocate for board and staff training in decolonizing, diversity, equity and inclusion, with a vision to create a “safe space” for equity-deserving artists and community members to learn, work and gather.

ASK Wellness

From housing to health to employment, ASK Wellness Society provides a host of support services for people who are marginalized and at risk across Kamloops, Merritt, and Penticton in the B.C. Interior. With a vision of a society that recognizes the value and potential of each individual, the client-centered non-profit is currently building out its employment services to provide a more structured, sustainable and inclusive program for those accessing ASK Wellness Society’s wraparound services and living in their housing facilities. The program’s first employers are ASK Wellness Society’s staff needing, for example, maintenance support for the buildings they operate; later the program will open up to include external employers from around the community.

To get buy-in, the team needed to develop and activate an internal strategic marketing and communications plan. Together with Purppl EIR Hilary Henegar, ASK Works Director Cher Doolan and ASK Wellness’s Director of Communications and Quality Improvement Andrina Tenisci built an internal communications plan, brand guidelines, and key messaging to boost awareness and trust. An impact measurement framework is also being developed to track the success and growth of the program.

People Employment Services (PEOPLE)

“When I began the journey with Purppl, we had few operational systems in place and were really a small startup nonprofit, with me trying to do almost everything myself or with volunteers,” said Wes Zarwertailo, Executive Director of People Employment Services, or PEOPLE, which stands for Paid Employment Opportunities for People with Lived Experience. “At that time I could see where we wanted to go, the impact we wanted to create, but wasn’t sure how we’d get there.”

Serving the Central Okanagan region, PEOPLE provides employment opportunities and wraparound supports to often marginalized folks looking for work, as well as services to employers who are looking to hire and keen to support the community while doing that. The talented people that PEOPLE matches with employers use their life experiences in addiction, homelessness and mental health challenges to contribute economic services to the community.

Through the ILDP, Wes was matched with Purppl EIR Susan Smith, who worked with him to transition PEOPLE from a program of Urban Matters CCC to become its own nonprofit society with a functioning board, strong operational processes and consistent financial management practices. During that time, they doubled the number of workers employed through PEOPLE and began to build educational programming for the host-employers.