Confidential Hotline for Canadian Social Sector Leaders
The Ever/Was Hotline summer pilot IS OPEN AND AWAITING YOUR CALL.
Our Trained Navigators Are Ready to Support Wherever You Are
What happens when you sense an ending might be near? You may feel it acutely, and still not know where, or who, is safe to turn to. If you speak openly about the challenges your organization faces, will it be turned back on you? Will someone lose trust in you? In the organization?
Ever/Was Navigators are trained to meet you at whatever stage you and your organization are. Whether you are navigating closure, merger, insolvency, succession planning, or program ending, we can provide emotional and practical support. The Hotline is a confidential space where you can slow down to carefully and strategically consider your options. These conversations are designed to enhance your leadership capacities, build stamina for navigating endings, and expand what feels possible.
If this sounds like what you need, we invite you to book a call with one of our Navigators. The Hotline pilot opens June 1st with 25 spaces available.
HOTLINE PURPOSE
Let's bring endings out of the shadows
Many of the crises social sector organizations face have long histories and far exceed the tenure of today’s leadership. The aversion to death and failure that are part of the economic system circulate within the social sector too. Endings are too often perceived as failure. They don’t have to be.
Silence and delayed decision-making have direct consequences on the viability of organizations and the Canadian social sector. Beginning endings conversations weeks, months, and even years earlier opens options that disappear once a situation becomes a crisis. One of the Hotline’s critical success measures is how far we are able to move the average timeline forward for organizations to begin planning for an ending before crisis forecloses their choices. Our vision is a social sector where knowing how to end well is as ordinary as knowing how to begin.
In addition to directly serving Callers, we also collect, anonymize, and share data that can contribute to the cultural shifts the sector needs. Our summer pilot is focused on three outcomes:
Deepening understanding of generative ways to support social sector leaders
Refining the practice of supporting leaders through organizational endings
Identifying the highest leverage opportunities to strengthen the sector’s capacity
Frequently Asked Questions
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Members of executive teams and board directors from non-profit, NGO, philanthropic, and faith-based organizations in Canada are eligible. The first step in booking a call is filling out our eligibility form.
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First off, we have strict criteria for this pilot phase, which may change as the Hotline continues. Your data will be safely stored, and also used to help assess sectoral needs. We have also posted a few resources below which may be helpful.
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A team of trained and experienced professionals with direct experience around endings and working with leadership teams.
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We can discuss whatever you would find most valuable based on your current leadership context. This might include discussing closures, mergers, insolvency, succession planning, & program endings. Note that the Hotline is not a substitute for professional advice, paid consulting, therapy, or coaching.
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Calls are scheduled for 60 minutes.
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If you are determined to be eligible, you will be invited to schedule a time with one of our Navigators. The calendar invitation will contain a link to join a video call. You may choose to keep your camera on or off.
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Given the limited space during the pilot, we are trying to prioritize reaching as many people as possible. However, if there is extra space and a need is expressed, we will consider it.
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Yes it is. We are trying to eliminate barriers to accessing endings support.
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All the Navigators are working pro bono for the pilot without funding. We are actively seeking seed funding to go from pilot to fully operational hotline, and in conversation with multiple funders across Canada currently. Opening the Hotline for longer and to serve more callers will be conditional on funding.
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Navigators will be taking and reporting detailed notes from the call. These will be stored on Canadian servers and be anonymized before publishing to ensure no attributable factors to you and your organization.
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This is a big and important question that we intend to publish statements about and with other Canadian partners. Research points to high degrees of pressure on organizations related to systemic strain. Some of this is caused and compounded by funders and their practices, which create cascading instability across entire sectors.
Additional resources
We’ve compiled a library of resources to support you during and after the Hotline call. A few that might be of value if you are deciding whether to embark on a call and sensemake your way into the possibilities of endings are included below.