CCI launches new four-year plan

Career Connections Inc. has unveiled a new four-year strategic plan designed to strengthen its programs, elevate community awareness and diversify revenues.

The plan emerged from months of consultation involving staff, board members, community partners and other service providers, executive director Rushana Davy, who joined the nonprofit in March, told the Sun on Friday.

The plan, finalized in September, lays out four main priorities that will guide the organization from 2025 to 2029, she said: building sustainable revenue, improving community awareness, enhancing programs and staff and increasing organizational excellence and efficiency.

“These are what will drive and propel our action for the next four years,” Davy said.

Diversifying funding is a central focus. Currently, 95 per cent of CCI’s funding comes from the province’s Department of Business, Mining, Trade and Job Creation, with five per cent from the Department of Families.

“As a nonprofit, it’s not just about what we can get from the government, but also what we can do in our own networks and with our own partners to raise some funds,” she said. “Plans include expanding the annual April event and creating a sponsorship package to engage businesses and philanthropists.”

Davy said the business community is a natural fit. “Basically, because we have a relationship with the business community in terms of our clients, we get employment from the businesses. We also partner with the businesses for volunteering opportunities,” she said.

Increasing community awareness is another key goal. Despite CCI operating for more than 54 years, Davy acknowledged that the organization is not widely known.

“There are residents in our community who would benefit from our services, but they just don’t know the services that we offer,” she said. “Initiatives include the new Book a Tour from Nine to Four program, which invites residents to visit CCI’s offices, meet staff and learn about programs.”

The organization also plans to attend more community events, increase its presence in newspapers, and expand social media through a marketing strategy with Brandon-based Intra Tech.

Davy emphasized the importance of connecting with municipal leaders.

“I had a meeting with Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett a couple of months ago, and he has a fair knowledge of what we do,” she said.

“He was invited to our AGM … he did mention that whenever we’re having any events like a visit to space, we should invite him, and he’ll try his best to attend,” she said.

The recent Bring Your MLA to Work Day initiative demonstrated the potential of these outreach efforts. “It does show that word is reaching out of who we are and what we do,” Davy added.

Staff development is another pillar of the plan. “A part of our strategic plan, too, is enhancing programs and staff. So we’re prioritizing our staff, and we’re going to be creating a consistent messaging that we want all the staff to kind of use when they’re communicating information about CCI,” she said.

Staff will also receive training on building relationships with businesses and community partners, and be more visible at career symposiums, job fairs and community events. Davy explained, “We’re breaking away from that and putting our staff on the front lines as well.”

A major internal change has been the overhaul of the Vocational Development Program, which supports individuals with intellectual disabilities. “When I came in, we had very low referral numbers … There was really no structure to the program, and so persons were clients, were coming into the program and just being thrown in with everybody else,” Davy said.

Davy said that while CCI has strong community partnerships, funding remains a challenge. “One of the biggest things is we want to host more employer events … that will take a bit of money. And so the challenge that we may face is access to funding,” she said. She added that the organization is exploring additional provincial and federal funding opportunities to support these expansions.

Despite these hurdles, Davy remains optimistic. “We haven’t taken off too much that we can’t chew … this plan will drive and propel our actions for the next four years — and position Career Connections where it needs to be for the future,” she said.

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