KENORA – Long-time resident and health care advocate Shannon Robinson want to provide Kenora with the best possible way to meet their goals and live their dreams.
Last month, Robinson took over as president of the Kenora & Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation after Dennis Alvestad, who served nine years as president, departed from the board.
“I feel so fortunate to be the president of the Community Foundation,” Robinson said. “We have such a strong board of directors. Those that have been with us for years, and we have some new recruits. We have incredible volunteers that support our communities and events with countless hours and energy throughout the year. I am really looking forward to working with them”
With big shoes to fill, Robinson is working hard to ensure that Community Foundation maintains its goals to support local charities and off leadership advice to the community.
“Dennis has been a great support to me over the years. I severed in my last term as vice-president, so I worked alongside him,” acknowledged Robins. “I think he set the stage well for us to continue with the good work that we do and I know he plans to continue in anyways that he can.”
Born and raised in Keewatin, Robinson acquired her master’s degree in Health Sciences specializing in Science and Health promotions. For the past 18 years, she has worked in public health with the Northwestern Health Unit in Kenora. Currently, she is with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit as the director of health promotions.
In 2016, Robinson joined the Community Foundation board as a secretary and worked her way up to Vice-President last year.
“I was drawn to the Foundation at a time when I was looking for ways, I could use my skill and knowledge and experience to give back to the communities,” said Robinson. “Looking at how I can contribute. Looking at how I could make a difference. And the Community Foundation really represents that for me. It’s a way to give back and a way to help make Kenora stronger.”
Some of the plans Robinson and her team are tasked with creating a new strategic plan. A lot of the work being done at the Community Foundation over the last couple of years was geared towards the pandemic. With a new strategic plan to put forward, Robinson’s goals are to push ahead into new areas that will improve community living and increase the quality of life for the communities of Reddit, Minaki, Sioux Narrows/Nestor Falls, the Indigenous Communities of Treaty 3 and the unincorporated areas surrounding Lake of the Woods.
“We are really excited to take on a project called Vital Signs this year,” Robinson explained. “That is a community-based data collection and conversations with stakeholders around what is the data telling us, what should our priorities be, and we are looking at using that information from vital signs to help guild out granting programs for the future. So, we’re looking at can we doing targeting impact grants that will make a difference in our community based on the needs identified through the Vital Signs process.”
Robinson also wants to look at enhancing the Community Foundation’s granting option to make it easier for charities to access. She also looks forward to hosting their various event like the Festival of Trees in Dec, and maintaining the Community Foundations vision – “Build Forever, together.”
“We’ll be connecting with doners. We want to highlight the meaningful and impactful work that the Foundation grants that support the communities,” said Robinson. “We want to attract new donors and supporters that want to give back to their communities and help leave a lasting legacy.”
