Art à la Carte recognized for thinking out of the box

In a widespread effort to both recognize and promote innovation in the non-profit sector, The Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (CCVO) launched a new award in 2011 – The Calgary Nonprofit Innovation Awards. Established criteria included creativity, risk-taking, and learning within the sector.

Low and behold, amidst a deluge of highly qualified applicants, Art à la Carte was chosen by the selection committee as a program that is: compelling, has made a large impact with limited resources, reflects out of the box thinking, and has grown significantly since inception. Now how great is that?

Board directors, colleagues and friends gathered for an intimate celebration and panel discussion at the Kahanoff Centre on August 31st that included commentary from his worship, Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

We are thrilled to have received this honour as it represents a first for the organization as a whole. Our heartfelt congratulations extend to the three other honourees for their extraordinary contributions to the Calgary community and beyond: HomeFront for their work in breaking the cycle of domestic violence; CAWST, the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology for providing training and consulting services to governments and NGOs that deliver water and sanitation services; and Momentum: Developing Productive Futures for providing programs and services designed to help people in or at risk of poverty move towards self-sufficiency.

The award included a beautiful glass trophy and $2,500 in cash. We are so grateful to CCVO for affording us this opportunity to share our innovation so that others may be inspired to “not only think outside the box, but kick the box to the curb.”

Click here for a pdf of the award brochure.