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AROC Resources and Tools for Non-Profits | In this resource, we share the
story of how the AROC process
unfolded at Community Wise. | |
AROC- Anti-Racism Organizational Change | Professional quality anti-racism resources (particularly for organizations). AROC is a part of CommunityWise Resource Centre, a hub of non-profit and grassroots organizing in Calgary. | |
Action Dignity | Community empowerment and leadership development for ethno-cultural communities in Calgary. Action Dignity offers a variety of program for people of all ages and backgrounds. | |
BIPOC Mental Health YYC | Black, Indigenous and POC-Centered Resources in YYC and Beyond | |
Black Health Alliance | The Black Health Alliance is a community-led registered charity working to improve the health and well-being of Black communities in Canada. | |
Black-led and Black-serving Orgs in YYC | A comprehensive listing of Black-led and Black-serving organizations and collectives in Calgary AB, Canada. | |
Deeper AROC: More Tools & Resources | This companion resource looks more closely at our experiences of developing a Theory of Change and undertaking a Most Significant Change evaluation process. We focus more deeply on important concepts like race awareness, white normativity, and intersectionality. We share tools to help build awareness of race and social location, reveal organizational culture, engage in racial caucusing, and develop more accountable spaces. | |
The Unlearning Channel | Unlearning white supremacy, colonization and racism, one podcast at a time. Hosted by Jaqs Gallos Aquines and MelVee X | |
The Wells Collective | The Wells Collective is a collaborative of Diversity Practitioners specializing in Professional Development, Consulting, and Educational Coaching in the areas of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice. | |
White Supremacy Culture in Organizations | Many organizations that claim to be inclusive are actually requiring the people in them to act according to existing norms. Naming these, and putting them up for questioning, is a critical step in building an inclusive organization. | |
YYC Voices | YYC Voices was a coalition of People of Colour–both trans & cis, queer and straight–committed to advocating for racialized and marginalized communities in the City of Calgary. They disbanded formally but they continue to maintain an informative Facebook page. |
Board Topics
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Performance Excellence Through Cognitive Diversity in the Boardroom | Diversity of thought is implicit and omnipresent and is directly corelated to the dynamics of difference within a group. On any given day, teams are tasked with problem solving and they must tap into their mental diversity framework, which helps them define, analyze, assess risks, review processes, and ultimately have a positive outcome. Our life experience, history, genetics, and socioeconomic status all contribute to this framework. To achieve performance excellence, organizations must move away from the monocultural environment. | |
Boards & Governance: Building an "Integrity Board" | If there were no such thing as organizations as we currently know them, what would we build to accomplish social missions and propel social change forward? | |
3 Steps for Developing a Passionate Nonprofit Board | Your board members are the face of your nonprofit. They’re instrumental ambassadors and advocates within the community, and they ultimately pave the way for your nonprofit to thrive. In other words, keeping board members engaged is imperative to your success. | |
Community Development Programs | We offer services, such as strategic planning, board governance, building leadership capabilities, fund development and grant writing, evaluation, public and stakeholder engagement, developing partnerships, and collaborative relationships that are tailored to your community groups, non-profit organizations, and volunteer teams. | |
Reimagining Governance | An initiative exploring new approaches to governance for nonprofits. Complex times offer opportunity. When it comes to nonprofit governance, we need to be visionary. These are complex times that are shrinking or stretching resources, challenging organizations to do things differently, and presenting opportunities for innovation. | |
Board Engagement: A Checklist | A checklist of actions and qualities that characterize an engaged board. You might not be able to check them all right now, but working towards achieving these will set you up for fundraising success. | |
Recruiting for Board Diversity | As a Black man who has worked with or for nonprofits for most of my career, I’ve become very familiar with how nonprofit boards recruit for board diversity; by my count, I have been actively recruited by the boards of 13 organizations. | |
Reimagining Governance Map | This map aims to provide a bird's eye view of the various players, influencers, structures, and functions that interact together to form a nonprofit organization's governance system. It depicts governance as a
complex system. | |
Guidance For Arts Boards Confronting a Pandemic | How does the board’s role change in a time of crisis? Senior arts leaders and experienced board members Robin Cardozo and Helen Burstyn offer 10 Principles for Navigating through Critical Times – the first in our series of three Creative Champions webinars providing Guidance for Arts Boards Confronting a Pandemic. | |
Peering Into the Future | Peering into the Future, a new report from Mowat NFP’s Enabling Environment series, argues that focusing on the board as the only mechanism of governance may no longer be sufficient for an increasingly complex environment. | |
The Default Nonprofit Board Model is Archaic and Toxic | We have been in denial about the destructiveness of our sector’s default board model. Over the years, we have developed a learned helplessness, thinking that this model is the only one we have. So we put up with it, grumbling to our colleagues and working to mitigate our challenges, for instance figuring out ways to bring good board members on to neutralize bad ones or having more trainings or meetings to increase “board engagement.” | |
Equity, Power and the Future of the Nonprofit Sector | These are complex times that are shrinking or stretching resources, challenging organizations to do things differently, and presenting opportunities for innovation. Nonprofit leaders are beginning to see that the governance of organizations sits within a larger context of equity, power, and the future of the nonprofit sector. Nonprofit governance is not consistently meeting the needs of the sector and needs to be reimagined – but how do we get there? |
Fundraising
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Alberta Spotlight Fund | The Government of Alberta has pledged $125,000 to support an initiative that will pay musicians to perform online. Selected artists will receive a $1,000 grant to create a 3-song, pre-recorded, high-quality video to be shared as part of the ALBERTA SPOTLIGHT online series.
ALBERTA SPOTLIGHT is intended to support professional and semi-professional Albertan artists across the province through a online concert series to select artists who will participate in a series of recording 3-song performances that will be pre-recorded and shared virtually (via partner websites and social media channels). The performance will form part of a broader program that includes performances from artists from across the province. | |
Comprehensive FAQ on Arts Funding for Albertans | Based on the webinar held May 6, this document contains detailed information for artists and arts companies on CERB, CEWS, CEBA, CECRA, CADA, EAC, and Rozsa funding. | |
Canadian Heritage Emergency Fund FAQ | Details on Canada's Emergency Fund for Culture, Heritage, and Sport | |
Federation of Calgary Communities Resource Page | We want to provide support the best we can to both our members and other community non-profit organizations, so that they can continue to support their communities. These resources have been compiled from a variety of sources and will continually be updated. | |
Edmonton Community Foundation Rapid Response Fund | Edmonton Community Foundation (ECF) has committed $500,000 of its unrestricted funds to seed the COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund (RRF) to respond quickly to important needs not addressed by others. | |
Elephant Artist Relief Society Emergency Fund and Relief Fund | There are two emergency assistance programs available from EAR. Both have a maximum of $2500. The EAR Emergency Relief Fund is our standard program that has been available to visual artists in the Calgary region for over ten years. The Rebound Fund was inaugurated in response to the 2013 floods with hopes of continuing to offer this support to artists of all other disciplines. | |
Calgary Arts Development (CADA) COVID-19 Short-Term Relief Funding | As announced at Calgary Arts Development’s March 25, 2020 town hall, $1.15 million has been allocated toward providing immediate relief to some of the arts organizations as well as arts and cultural workers in the most urgent need due to COVID-19 impacts. These dollars will be directed in two ways: Arts Organizations and Artists & Cultural Workers. | |
Calgary Foundation Pandemic Recovery Program | The Pandemic Recovery Program supports all sectors serving our community. Calgary Foundation will redirect some of our discretionary granting resources to the Program, match new donations made to the Program (up to a maximum amount to be determined), and cover administrative costs/credit card transaction fees so that 100% of donations are directed toward charities. | |
United Way Calgary's COVID-19 Community Response Fund | You are eligible if your organization has a charitable number and is central to the provision of supports and services to meet immediate community needs related to the COVID-19. Funds may be used for response and recovery costs including, but not limited to: basic needs support, agency operations, staff and service delivery. | |
Edmonton Arts Council COVID-19 FAQs and Granting Opportunities | The Edmonton Arts Council‘s priority continues to be our relationships with artists, collectives and organizations in our community. Postponements or cancellations due to COVID-19 advisories and/or restrictions will not have an impact on existing grants or future applications to our programs. | |
Alberta Foundation for the Arts COVID-19 Information | The Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) is aware that Alberta?s artists and arts organizations may be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are committed to supporting members of the arts community who may be affected by the outbreak. As this is a quickly evolving situation, we are currently assessing what the potential impacts may be to our grant recipients and will take appropriate action to minimize disruptions to the organizations and individuals who rely on AFA funding. | |
Canada Council Digital Originals | The Canada Council for the Arts and CBC/Radio-Canada are teaming up once again, this time to launch Digital Originals, a new fast forward initiative to help artists, arts groups and organizations pivot their work for online sharing. Digital Originals offers a $5,000 micro innovation grant from the Canada Council. Funded projects will be housed on a dedicated CBC/Radio-Canada website. | |
Canada Council for the Arts COVID-19 Updates | At present, the Council’s priorities are to ensure the health and safety of people across Canada and around the world and to work towards the sustainability and recoverability of the arts sector. | |
How To Apply For CERB | This is information Young Associates has validated from government sources. We also discuss some of the questions we are receiving, for which we don?t believe clear, categorical answers yet exist. We hope to be able to update this tipsheet with additional information as it becomes available. | |
Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy Calculator | Why Not Theatre has created a Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy Calculator to help companies calculate how much support they would be eligible to receive | |
CBC Creative Relief Fund | In response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, CBC has launched THE CBC CREATIVE RELIEF FUND to provide immediate, urgent support to Canadian creators. The unprecedented new Fund will provide $2 million in development and production funding for a diverse range of innovative, original Canadian storytelling, including scripted comedies and dramas, unscripted entertainment, kids and young adult programming, podcasts, play adaptations and short documentaries. | |
Facebook-National Arts Centre #CanadaPerforms Fund | #CanadaPerforms is a $200,000 short-term relief fund that pays Canadian artists for their online performances. It was launched by Facebook Canada and the National Arts Centre to help ease the financial strain for Canadian artists impacted by the closure of performance venues across Canada related to COVID-19, and to lift the spirits of Canadians during the crisis. | |
National Theatre School Emerging Artists Art Apart Project | Through the Art Apart initiative, NTS continues to provide a voice and support to emerging artists. It’s a way to help minimize the impact of this crisis in the arts community and to provide much-needed assistance to artists who are in the early stages of their careers by rapidly injecting funds into the arts sector. | |
Actors Fund of Canada COVID-19 Emergency Fund | The AFC supports entertainment industry professionals working in TV and film, music, theatre, and dance. The AFC can provide short-term emergency financial assistance for essential household bills and costs that cannot otherwise be paid. The AFC does not provide compensation for lost earnings. | |
Unison COVID-19 Relief Fund | People from all walks of life are facing health risks and financial uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Musicians are unable to tour, leaving numerous entertainment professionals suddenly out of work, venue owners have closed their doors, and laid off staff and the trickle-down effect is extraordinary. | |
Canada's EI special benefits for self-employed people | Self-employed Canadians can access Employment Insurance (EI) special benefits by entering into an agreement, or registering, with the Canada Employment Insurance Commission. There are 6 types of EI special benefits: Maternity benefits, Parental benefits, Sickness benefits, Compassionate care benefits, Family caregiver benefit for children, and Family caregiver benefit for adults. | |
Canadian Heritage Funding Information | Information for Canadian Heritage grants and contributions recipients related to COVID-19: In light of current events, particularly the recent cancellations of cultural and sporting events, the Department of Canadian Heritage would like to reaffirm the government?s support for all the people affected, directly or indirectly, by the coronavirus. | |
Canada's COVID-19: for Business and Employees | Support for workers, considerations for businesses navigating COVID-19 disruptions, Economic Response Plan, guidance for federal employees | |
Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan | The Government of Canada is taking immediate, significant and decisive action to help Canadians facing hardship as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. | |
Alberta Emergency Isolation Support | The Government of Alberta is now providing a one-time Emergency Isolation Support benefit of $1,146 to bridge the gap before other federal supports are available. You will need an Alberta driver?s license or ID to apply. |
Finances
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5 Ways to Increase Nonprofit Financial Literacy | Unfortunately, financial literacy among staff is often a low priority, and while nonprofits should focus on accomplishing their missions, a little knowledge can go a long way; engaging everyone in understanding how their actions contribute to the financial health can help maximize the organization’s impact. | |
Non-Profit Financial Literacy Workshops | CPA Canada and your not-for-profit organization can work together to ensure board members and/or employees have the necessary knowledge to understand and oversee the organization’s finances. You can also utilize our sessions to help your employees, clients or members of the public work towards a bright financial future, whether it’s in their personal life, through family responsibilities or through work. | |
Financial Responsibilities of Non-Profit Boards | A guide to financial responsibilities, budgets, bookkeeping and financial statements. | |
Financial Literacy Assistance | Board members have a legal responsibility to ensure they have the appropriate financial oversight over their organization. At the Federation, we support volunteers with financial literacy – learning the language of financial statements, understanding what they are used for and how this information can be used at monthly board meetings. Visit our member’s resource library for tools to help you with executing your fiduciary duties. We also offer professional, lower cost public practice audits to non-profits and charities as well as assistance with tax, AGLC reports, financial compliance, and literacy. |
Human Resources
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Cultural Human Resources Council | The Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC) brings together cultural workers and employers to address training, career development and other human resource issues. | |
Core Digital Skills Webinar: Operating Digitally | So you've set up your digital platform(s) of choice, whether Office365 or Dropbox, Zoom or Skype, or all of the above. But running your organisation – teams, projects, partnerships and governance – ‘virtually’ is so much more than a technical challenge. | |
Rozsa Foundation and Agatha Starczyk: Working from Home | The most recent session of the Rozsa Executive Arts Leadership program (REAL) inadvertently aligned with the mysterious workings of the Universe, as we all gathered remotely from our homes to discuss the HR trend – now reality – of working from home with facilitator and HR adviser Agatha Starzcyk. | |
Sexual Harassment Resources for Non Profits | Because one in four women in fundraising experience sexual harassment. Join us in making change. | |
CPHR Alberta Webinar Series: HR Pandemic Essentials | CPHR Alberta is offering a free webinar series for Canadian HR professionals who are navigating work during the coronavirus pandemic. Our goal is to support you during these challenging times and help you manage your workplaces as effectively and empathetically as possible. | |
Introducing the New 2021 Canadian Nonprofit Sector Salary & Benefits Report JAN 28 | We’re pleased to be releasing a brand new, fully updated edition of our popular Canadian Nonprofit Sector Salary & Benefits Report – the most comprehensive of its kind in the country! Set to be published in January 2021, the report will provide the latest data related to compensation and benefits packages in the Canadian nonprofit sector and will include information on the impact of COVID on nonprofit salaries. |
Indigenous Relations
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Ten Things You Can Do: Kamloops Residential School | We wanted to share what you can do to ensure that every child is recognized and accounted for. There are many ways to support Indigenous communities every day, here is a list of what you can do today to show your support: | |
Non-Indigenous People, Here is What You Can Do | 7 ways to support Indigenous people grieving in wake of news about 215 children. | |
Indigenous Canada Course | Indigenous Canada is a 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada. | |
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action | In order to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission makes the following calls to action. | |
Where are the Children Buried? | Report by Dr. Scott Hamilton, Dept. of Anthropology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario | |
White Goose Flying Report | Report from the Calgary Aboriginal Urban Affairs Committee | |
Indigenous Ally Toolkit | Being an ally is about disrupting oppressive spaces by educating others on the realities and histories of marginalized people. | |
Indigenous Awareness Online Course by Naheyawin | Embrace diversity by learning about the culture, history, and contemporary roles of Indigenous peoples in Canada. | |
Online Cree Dictionary | This site is an excellent resource for looking up and learning Cree words. | |
A Culture of Exploitation – By Lindsay Nixon | This report considers the historic relationships between Indigenous artists and the Institutions of Canadian art. The report offers 15 Standards of Achievement that can serve as a guide for institutions and governments to begin reversing exploitation and renewing the relationship. | |
Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance | Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance is a government organization that works with and helps diverse Indigenous performing artists, arts organizations and allies. | |
Dreamspeakers Festival Society | The Dreamspeakers Festival Society supports and educates the public about Indigenous cultures, arts, and heritage. It also acts as a resource bank of Indigenous filmmakers. performers, and artists, and connects Indigenous people with training in arts and culture. | |
Indigenous Empowerment Collective | A collective organization that is composed of Indigenous fashion designers in Treaty 6 with various backgrounds such as Cree, Mohawk, Blackfoot, Navajo, Cherokee, Dene, Maori, and Métis.
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Ociciwan Contemporary Arts Collective | Ociciwan Contemporary Arts Collective is a non-profit organization that supports Indigenous contemporary artists and designers and their works. They are also engaged in contemporary critical dialogues and promote awareness of Indigenous contemporary art practices. | |
The Indigenous Artisans Market Collective (I.A.M.Collective) | I.A.M. is a collective of Indigenous artists, artisans, and makers in the greater Edmonton community dedicated to bringing awareness to the kinds of work available within the local Indigenous art scene. One of their activities includes selling locally made wares at Edmonton's Downtown Farmer's Market. | |
Billy Ray Belcourt Twitter | Billy Ray Belcourt is a poet, Rhodes scholar, and author from Driftpile Cree Nation whose work comments on a range of topics from decolonial love to grief. | |
IndigenousXca | This Twitter account is run by a rotating team of Indigenous youth who are active in the social justice space. | |
Sen. Murray Sinclair: How can Canadians work toward reconciliation | Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Murray Sinclair says Canadians can work toward reconciliation by reading the report and finding a call to action that interests them. | |
Treaties, reconciliation and Indigenous history in Canada | How well do Canadians know Indigenous history? What role did treaties play in forming our country? Are the stories told through truth and reconciliation changing our understanding of Canadian history? Join a live, interactive roundtable of Indigenous community leaders, educators and advocates. Moderated by award-winning journalist Duncan McCue, host of Cross Country Checkup on CBC Radio. | |
Lecture: Governance - Canada's Indian Act | Professor John Borrows lecturing on the impact of Canada's Indian Act on indigenous governance structures | |
Indigenous Law | Dr. John Burrows, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law, University of Victoria, provides an insightful overview and exploration of Indigenous law. | |
The Sacred Relationship | This documentary created by Native Counselling Services of Alberta explores Indigenous worldviews, Reconciliation, and the common ground between Indigenous and western science. |
Marketing
Six Ideas to help Marketing & Development Work Together | Both marketing and development departments are responsible for deepening patron loyalty at arts organizations. When they work together, everyone wins. | |
Five Must-Have Metrics for Ticket Sales | Ticket sales data. You are probably either swimming in it or wandering through the desert. Either way, it can be hard to know which data points are the most useful to track. | |
How Nonprofits Are Using the Google Ad Grant to Recover From COVID-19 | Six ways our nonprofits have been using the Google Ad Grant with us to respond effectively to COVID – not only to recognize the amazing work they’re doing but also to share the learning for any organization looking to adapt to “the new normal”. | |
Marketing Beyond Your Core Audience | How do you sell a product few people have heard of, many don’t think they need, and that costs a lot? What happens when your core audience is shrinking and lots of your content is available for free online? Where do you look for new audiences… and how would they find you? | |
The New Experience Economy Results | Stone-Olafson, in collaboration with community partners, developed a long-term research investigation to
evaluate how current conditions will reshape Albertans’ attitudes and behaviours towards social and group
activities, across a variety of sectors. The purpose of this work is to give leaders of community sports, recreation, arts & culture, professional sports, active living, heritage, tourism or hospitality sectors relevant facts about local audiences that they will need to bring life back to our communities. | |
New Series: Audiences During the Pandemic | My goal as guest editor of Lynne Conner’s ‘We the Audience’ blog for the next six months is to share and respond to what I’m seeing happening during this Coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis through the lens of the audience. |
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Other Resource Pages
Training, Facilitation, and Coaching Resources for Non-Profits | A list of some referrals so that if your organization is seeking services, you have some other leads. | |
Edmonton Screen Industries Office COVID-19 Information | COVID-19 RECOVERY AND THE EDMONTON SCREEN INDUSTRIES OFFICE
The ESIO recognizes that the screen media industry faces unique challenges during this uncertain time. We believe in the resilience and adaptability of our Edmonton community and are currently modifying and updating our programs and services to better serve our stakeholders and allow them to move forward with initiatives and projects. | |
Calgary Chamber Powering Up Tool Kit | We have compiled the below resources to support your business through the next phase of COVID-19. As this is a phased approached, business owners need to be flexible and prepared to close if cases of COVID-19 spike in the future. Learn more about the government approach here. | |
Momentum Resource Page | Full listing of all financial supports for people impacted by COVID-19, including those missing work due to self-isolation, those laid off or unable to work. | |
WorkInCulture Resource Page | A comprehensive list of resources that will be updated as we gather more information. |
Wellness & Mental Health
Zoom Burnout Is Real. Here Are 4 Practical Ways to Cope. | In all likelihood, Zooms are here to stay, even if we wind up using them less frequently than we do now. So if you haven't yet made peace with the reality of video calls in your work life, it's time. Need some help? We've rounded up some of the best advice we've learned from 2020 about making Zoom calls less stressful, more effective, and -- crucially -- a little less omnipresent in remote work. | |
Alberta Nonprofit Network Mental Health Resources | ABNN has started compiling workplace mental health resources to help organizations support workplace mental health. We will continue to add to this page, so please send us information you have found helpful to info@albertanonprofits.ca. | |
BIPOC Mental Health YYC | This is a living directory of community resources, BIPOC mental health professionals, decolonial and anti-racist educational resources, POC-owned fitness offerings, POC-centered self-care and relevant articles. Most of the community and mental health professional resources are specifically based in Mohkinstsis on Treaty 7 land (Calgary AB Canada), but there are several relevant resources with a reach and scope beyond Calgary listed as well | |
Why We Need Arts in Times of Crisis | What we put our energy and efforts into now will affect what our future looks like. In campaigning for arts support, the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts stated, “The values we support today will determine what we have when this is over.” This is a time to value the arts. Whether big or small, sidewalk chalk art or community murals, art makes a difference in how we live our lives. In a tumultuous world, art matters. | |
Broken Pencil Mental Health Reading and Crafts | Quarantine has taken a toll on many of our mental health. We dug through our archives for some reading and crafts that we hope help you feel a little less alone. Stay well and take care, everyone <3 | |
Canada Media Fund Mental Health Resources | An extensive listing of regional and national mental health resources | |
Wellness Society Coronavirus Anxiety Workbook | We felt it was necessary to put together a coronavirus anxiety workbook to provide our community with much needed support. This is an online version of the PDF workbook which you can download for free. The first thing to note right now is that it’s completely normal to be experiencing a wide range of emotions. Accepting your feelings is an important first step to building resilience. | |
Alberta Health Services | AHS is the provincial public health response agency and provides all official communications and updates. Content on this site include an online screening tool, COVID-19 statistics in Alberta, information on a free texting service for mental health, an outbreak tracker map, and Healthy Together - a guide to family and home life during COVID-19. | |
How the Coronavirus Crisis Will Lead to a Spike in Creativity | As a species, we lost the feeling of being in control from one day to another. The ground under our feet is shaking. Nothing is certain anymore. Routines are going out of the window. All of a sudden, we have to create new pathways in our brain since we can’t rely on the old ones anymore, creating room for the other C-word I wanted to talk about earlier: creativity. (requires free account with Ad Week online) |
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