WALKING WITH COMMUNITY
Coady Institute’s Strategic Direction for 2025 to 2030
the opportunities to meaningfully work together remain limitless
Introduction
For nearly 100 years, St. Francis Xavier University’s Extension Department (established in 1928) and Coady International Institute (established in 1959), and now their successor, Coady Institute, have worked with communities to meet the challenges of the day through programs focused on asset-based and community-led development and adult education.
The world has seen seismic changes both locally and globally. While the central tenet espoused by leaders of the Antigonish Movement – towards a full and abundant life for all – has stayed firmly at the core of everything that we have accomplished, the outward expression of how this has been put into action has shifted and adapted to better serve the world around us.
We believe that development practice that perpetuates notions of charity while sidestepping the root causes of inequality hinders real progress, whether in our own Atlantic Canadian communities or on the international stage. We recognize our power, privileges, and responsibilities towards one another, and the need to contribute to agendas for positive social change. We recognize that the sources and potential solutions for issues such as poverty, climate change, inequality, conflict, and security are systemic, interconnected, and span international borders but are also nuanced by the unique or specific histories and contexts in which communities are located. Local and global
challenges are complex, and the urgencies are great, but the opportunities to meaningfully work together remain limitless.
Through adult education programs and knowledge cocreation for transformative leadership and system change, Coady Institute walks alongside people and their communities to understand their contexts, and support them to use their knowledge, strengths, gifts, talents, and connections to grow, survive, and thrive. We believe in local ownership, respectful partnerships, and sustainable solutions that are rooted in what we value. Together we strive to influence local and global actions and conversations through a systems approach – we are part of a network of like-minded communities and organizations working together to create opportunities and address the various challenges faced today.
This strategic plan outlines how Coady Institute will conduct its work over the next five years (2025 – 2030) and beyond. Our collective futures call for bold thinking and collaboration, and that is reflected here
Our Values and Our Commitments at Home
Coady Institute at St. Francis Xavier University stands on the lands of Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded home of the Mi’kmaq people. We acknowledge and express our deep gratitude and appreciation to the generations of Mi’kmaq who, since time immemorial, have loved and stewarded these lands.
Colonization is not just history; it exists in the present tense. While we work to decolonize ourselves and the Institute, we know there is still much for us to learn. Truth and reconciliation will guide us forward. We share the responsibility to respect treaty rights, advance reconciliation in Canada and globally, and acknowledge hard truths about the legacies of colonization and oppression. We are also mindful that, as an Institution based in Canada, we hold an inherent tension between grassroots and hierarchical work and spaces as well as complexities navigating our work in what is often called the “Global North and South”. We must continue to challenge our legacy by recommitting to intersectional and decolonial frameworks both locally and globally.
Our values are focused on respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility, and relationships, aptly reflected in the abundance of Indigenous scholarship and teachings. These guide the way we interact with each other and the work that we do.
As a team, we believe that:
Education ignites leadership and contributes to justice and equity.
We believe that education plays a critical role in addressing imbalances in power and privilege and can be a catalyst for social change. Coady Institute’s educational offerings embrace all participants’ knowledge and experiences and have practical applicability for community uptake.
We have a role in building on nurturing hope by supporting a focus on individual and collective assets, strengths, and aspirations. Change considered successful by community depends on our relationships and ability to collaborate. We can strengthen our capacities and develop innovative practice together.
All people and communities have strengths.
Histories inform our futures.
We believe that all that has come before us is important, has contributed to our foundation, and allows us to imagine possible futures. We are rooted in and shaped by, but not beholden to our history. We believe that we must be open about our stories, contested legacies, and understand how they inform how we think, reflect, and act.
We believe that only through active listening, respectful dialogue, and working together to build relationships for sustainable peace will communities, nations, and individuals be able to solve the challenges we are currently living through. Peacebuilding underscores and encompasses economic justice, political freedoms, and social inclusion.
Different
ways of knowing and doing enrich our understanding of the world.
Peace and understanding are achieved through listening and dialogue.
Our work is built upon the recognition of individual and peoples’ unique knowledge, lived experiences, and ways of knowing and doing. This is expressed in a spirit of colearning and engagement from a place of curiosity and reciprocity.
The challenges faced by communities around the world impact what happens here at home and vice versa. While contexts vary, we see the importance of sharing and contributing to local solutions to address global challenges.
• Peace and understanding are achieved through listening and dialogue. We are all connected.
Our Enduring Vision
Communities create a “ full and abundant life for all.”
Our Mission
We support and collaborate with community leaders, organizations, and allies through adult education, co-learning and knowledge exchange, promotion of transformative leadership, and support for collective visions for change.
Our Reach
Our international reach is significant, with approximately 11,000 graduates worldwide and countless community partners who go on to influence millions of others invested in social change. Our roots and engagement in Atlantic Canada remain key aspects of our identity, with the potential of growing and/or renewing this as
well as expanding our visibility across the country. Additionally, we have built relationships with Indigenous peoples from multiple nations on Turtle Island, including longstanding initiatives with Indigenous women leaders through our Circle of Abundance. Overall, we expect to build our community connections by 2030 through
focusing on increasing the accessibility and relevance of our educational offerings and our community supports. We will accomplish this through strengthened online educational offerings, and by continuing to build out partnerships for codeveloped and delivered local and regional learning activities.
Our Way Forward for 2025 – 2030
Our Areas of Focus for Change
Coady’s educational offerings and expertise focus on social, economic, and environmental change brought together by an asset-based and community-driven development approach and with intersectional lenses that amplify gender equality, diversity, equity, and justice.
Between 2025 and 2030, we will prioritize programs which align with key areas of focus identified by communities while leaving space for emergent issues based on rapidly changing times. According to partners, graduates, and key leaders in development fields, Coady Institute has a comparative advantage and expertise to accompany communities in the areas noted below. Innovative practice in these areas is enhanced by the experiences of Coady’s graduate and partner networks.
Governance
Coady Institute is part of St. Francis Xavier University and overseen by the University’s Board of Governors. Coady’s Executive Director reports to the StFX Academic VicePresident and Provost and is supported by Coady’s Director of Programs and other Managers. Coady’s work is made possible by a cross-functional team of Program Teaching Staff, who are members of the StFX Association of University Teachers (AUT), employees of the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union (NSGEU), and non-union professional program staff. We take pride in the connection we have with a range of Associates, Mentors, Coaches, and Elders who work alongside us in ensuring relevant support and context-specific programming throughout, as well as the range of StFX Faculty with whom we have built collaborations.
For our work to really be impactful, Coady Institute will rely on overall guidance on organizational sustainability and visibility from influential sector leaders. We will seek programmatic advice for our program team from a re-established Coady Advisory Group comprised of StFX Faculty, Indigenous leaders, Coady graduates, and other external and community-based advisors.
Between 2025 and 2030, we will focus on building a participatory and nonhierarchical approach where possible to decisions regarding our programmatic work. Four internal committees will be formed, reflecting our strategic outcome areas.
At minimum, the roles of these internal committees are to:
1. Determine what success looks like in the specific outcome area;
2. Conduct quarterly/yearly review and agenda setting, connected to strategic plan and frameworks;
3. Ensure integration of community and advisory committee feedback into decision-making;
4. Develop timelines for goal implementation;
5. Ensure collaboration amongst our teams to ensure we are consistently gathering data and documenting our consolidated work;
6. Engage in ongoing learning and reflection on the progress / goals of the specific outcome area; and
7. Advise the Executive Director and/or Director of Programs on human resources needs and/ or other resource gaps to undertake our work.
Strategic Outcomes for 2025 – 2030
How We’ll Get There
We will prioritize the following actions over five years to achieve these outcomes, building incrementally and engaging relevant community actors as we proceed.
Education
Our goal is to enhance the quality, relevance, and effectiveness of Coady’s educational programs and learning opportunities, teaching methodologies, and participants’ learning experiences, considering improved access for those who otherwise would not be able to benefit from these offerings.
Outcome:
Community leaders participate in and utilize knowledge gained from purposeful educational programs we offer.
Actions:
▶ Develop and launch a for-credit Graduate Diploma in Community Led Development, with specific tuition-based financial plan in collaboration with StFX
▶ Renew and/or expand existing signature programs – and explore their potential of professional and/or for-credit graduate certificates
▶ Build micro-courses, or workshops, related to our focus areas for change and skills for community engaged practitioners that can stack into achievement of a certificate and/or micro credentials, in partnership with StFX Online where appropriate
▶ Continue already developed short courses (online and off-campus inperson) pertaining to key thematic areas for communities
▶ Provide on-campus Fellowship promoting an intersectional and transdisciplinary learning environment across areas of focus
▶ Increase our curriculum design and teaching for select StFX undergraduate courses
Partnerships and Community Engagement
Our goal is to ensure clarity, focus, and greater impact through strategic community-centred partnerships, as well as to honour and build relationships with communities in line with our values.
Outcome:
Communities engage in values-driven strategic partnerships with Coady to co-create innovative solutions.
Actions:
▶ Develop clear mechanisms for defining who we engage with, how, and why, including partnership agreements and defined opportunities for graduates, staff, and interns
▶ Review partnership principles in line with our values and approach
▶ Ensure consistency in project management, partnership engagement, and reporting through clarified policies and procedures
▶ Deepen relations with African Nova Scotian, Mi’kmaq, and other Indigenous communities and offer dedicated programing when, and where, invited in
▶ Develop comprehensive People’s School(s) addressing current community priority issue areas and lessons learned through our partnerships, rotating between on-campus, online, and in-community engagements
▶ Participate and/or lead on redesigned Coady Fund for Social Justice with community and university partners
▶ Advance endowed initiatives in Atlantic Canada and deliver key events which strengthen collaborations for advancing sustainable communities
▶ Continue grassroots and/or feminist leadership “schools” building the capacities of current and aspiring community leaders who advance intersectional and decolonial approaches to community change
▶ Provide direct community support as a team in Northeastern Nova Scotia
Knowledge Co-Creation
Our goal is to co-create a strong body of knowledge that reflects community priorities, ownership and authorship, contributes meaningfully to advancing the identified areas of change, and is accessible to diverse audiences for their uptake.
Outcome:
Coady and community partners co-produce knowledge that enhances community-centered policy and practice.
Actions:
▶ Design and deliver a comprehensive collaborative learning agenda for the Institute’s key areas of work, looking at intersections of the priority focus areas
▶ Design and deliver an advocacy agenda around select issue areas, codesigned with community leaders and institutional partners for regional, Canadian, and/or global uptake
▶ Support the capacity building of community leaders as authors/ researchers (building on research for citizen-led change)
▶ Consolidate knowledge generated from project partnerships to ensure they feed into advocacy and capacity building as above
▶ Co-produce clear knowledge mobilization products to support community development, with accompanying case studies
▶ Support the enhancement or re-imagining of physical and virtual resource centres, connected to local partner resource hubs coordinated through the Marie Michael Library and/or through key strategic partners
StFX Connections
Our goal is to clarify and deliver on our unique role within the StFX University system and build mutually beneficial collaborations among us of benefit to individuals and communities here in Atlantic Canada and beyond.
Outcome:
Communities and StFX University mutually benefit from collaborations that are facilitated by Coady.
Actions:
▶ Develop and/or maintain youth leadership initiatives prioritizing further education, employment, educational wraparound supports, and local or global community engagement opportunities
▶ Strengthen our partnership with StFX Online for new offerings benefitting StFX and Coady constituencies
▶ Collaborate with key on-campus committees where appropriate to advance community connections and collaboration
▶ Regularly inform StFX graduates of our work (e.g., new graduate continued learning opportunities, graduate success stories, graduate awareness raising)
▶ Engage with programming goals outlined in Academic plan (i.e., healthy peoples and communities; climate and environment; cultures, societies, and development; public policy, government, and leadership)
▶ Intentionally integrate key Coady-led courses, activities, events in the (academic) calendar of the university, of benefit to students, faculty, staff, and community members
▶ Collaborate on relevant research and projects in partnership with other Canadian/international universities where they fit with our goals and enhance the reputation of StFX University
Networks
Our goal is to strengthen Coady’s vibrant, longstanding graduate and partner network to collectively expand our reach and our abilities for social change.
Outcome:
Coady Graduates engage in exchanges and movement building for equitable and inclusive social change.
Actions:
▶ Develop plan and parameters (including clear expectations) for graduate engagement in Coady-led projects and co-facilitation of Coady education programs
▶ Support formation and engagement of locally led and international graduate chapters
▶ Develop mobilization and recruitment plan for Coady programs involving graduate champions
▶ Develop targeted outreach with graduates and community partners on continuing learning opportunities
▶ Support for graduate communities of learning and practice which contribute to movement building
Sustainability
Our goal is to ensure Coady’s organizational sustainability for 2030 and beyond, especially deepening and diversifying financial support for our core educational work.
Outcome:
Coady’s organizational sustainability for 2030 and beyond is strengthened.
Actions:
▶ Continue to build a healthy values-based work environment that supports our staff wellbeing and career growth
▶ Develop a multi-year financial plan with a diversified funding base and educational portfolio, to ensure appropriate human and financial resources
▶ Clarify and unify Coady’s overall brand reflective of all elements of our work
▶ Develop and implement comprehensive communication plan tailored to university and external audiences reflective of our strategic direction
▶ Restructure current operational supports to better serve our programs and partnerships, to reduce redundancies, and increase operational efficiencies internally and with StFX
▶ Build stronger relationships with our funding partners and champions, ensuring they see the value of their support to our work and have consistent tailored communication
▶ Develop a framework and deliver a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan that demonstrates the impact of our programs and measures the success of our strategic direction
Coady courses are life changing. Not just because of what you learn but because of the interaction and conversations with other people. It gives you a whole new outlook and perspective on the world. It allows you to take a look at yourself and to see that you too can make change no matter what position you hold in your organization.
- LoL a Corkum 2025, L eading with a bundanCe
Coady Institute
St. Francis Xavier University
4780 Tompkins Lane
PO Box 5000
Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5
Canada
coady.stfx.ca
