Network Engagement

VCC helped establish and is an active partner in the Alberta Living Wage Network, a province-wide initiative that calculates and advances the adoption of living wages as a key lever to reduce working poverty. Through this work, VCC contributes local data, research, and Calgary-specific insights to inform living wage calculations and policy discussions.

VCC sits on the advisory board for Calgary’s economic strategy, Uplook: An Action Plan for Our Economy, stewarded by Calgary Economic Development. VCC’s role on the Board is to help ensure that conversations about economic growth and competitiveness reflect affordability, connecting economic trends to their real-world impacts on households and communities.

VCC is a member of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, collaborating with the Chamber team on aligned policy priorities, research, and links to community needs and trends. 

VCC sits on the Strategic Advisory Committee for Aspire Calgary, a multi-sectoral collaborative of more than 20 organizations implementing financial empowerment as part of Enough for All. The organizations work together to design and deliver financial empowerment programs, influence policy change at multiple levels of government, and scale financial empowerment across broad systems. Aspire Calgary was formed in 2012, (then called the Calgary Financial Empowerment Collaborative) by United Way of Calgary and Area, the City of Calgary, Vibrant Communities Calgary, the Province of Alberta, Bow Valley College, and Momentum.

VCC is a member of the Tamarack Institute’s Communities Ending Poverty Network for Change, a group of over 400 municipalities and 90 regional roundtables dedicated to ending poverty in Canada. As part of our ongoing work with Tamarack, VCC collaborates with the institute on policy and systems change initiatives and participates in its Anti-Racism Community of Support group.

VCC is a member of the YYC Food Collaborative (YYCFC), a cross-sector network working to strengthen Calgary’s food system and improve food security. The collaborative was formed in 2021 to connect emergency food providers and help them work more collaboratively to address food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

VCC is a member of Calgary's Mental Health and Addiction Strategy Community of Practice, which helps build the capacity of local organizations to meet the mental health and addiction needs in the community through convening around common actions. The initiative aims to foster alignment and collaboration across non-profit, community, government, and academic sectors.

VCC is a member of the Calgary Foundation’s Anti-Racism Community of Practice, which brings together organizations to support shared learning, reflection, peer support, and accountability for anti-racism action. The Community of Practice provides space to navigate challenges, learn from lived and organizational experiences across the sector, and move from intention to action.

VCC supports Fair Calgary Community Voices (FCCV), a collaborative of community organizers, service providers, and citizens living on a low income, advocating for transit that is affordable, accessible, convenient and connected for all Calgarians. FCCV works with the City of Calgary and the community to address issues with equitable access to Calgary Transit.

VCC supports the Trauma-Informed Care Collective, a network of social service agencies in Calgary, committed to promoting trauma-informed care throughout people-serving organizations including government agencies, community groups and more. 

VCC regularly participates in community-based research to identify solutions to complex social issues and helps lead conversations on how community–academic partnerships can work better together. 
 

VCC’s research relationships extend across disciplines and academic departments, including the Cumming School of Medicine, the Health Equity Hub, the O'Brien Institute for Public Health, the Centre for Health Policy, the W21C Research and Innovation Centre, the Health Policy Trials Unit, the Institutes for Transdisciplinary Scholarship, and the School of Architecture, Planning, and Design.