OCVO

OCVO	The Ottawa Chamber of Voluntary Organizations
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About Us

The Ottawa Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (OCVO) is a coalition of community organizations working together to have a greater impact on the vitality of the Ottawa community. OCVO was officially launched on October 9, 2002. It is governed by a steering committee comprised of representatives of a diverse cross-section of the voluntary sector in Ottawa. It was established to:

Champion the value of the voluntary sector and raise public awareness;
Facilitate networking and the sharing of information and resources;
Articulate the views of the voluntary sector and have input into public policy;
Mobilize and engage the voluntary sector around issues of common concern; and
Dialogue with other sectors including business, local government and labour.

Until late 2005, OCVO sustained itself through seed funding, shared resources of the Steering Committee and in-kind contributions from the Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development (CVSRD). OCVO was innovative in its early efforts to establish itself in the community and to learn from its experiences as well as from those of other local or provincial voluntary sector networks. It has successfully hosted seminars, forums and roundtables with a view to sharing information, encouraging networking and raising the profile of the voluntary sector.Until late 2005, OCVO sustained itself through seed funding, shared resources of the Steering Committee and in-kind contributions from the Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development. OCVO was innovative in its early efforts to establish itself in the community and to learn from its experiences as well as from those of other local or provincial voluntary sector networks. It has successfully hosted seminars, forums and roundtables with a view to sharing information, encouraging networking and raising the profile of the voluntary sector.

OCVO recently received a three year commitment for funding from The Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Community Foundation of Ottawa. These funds will allow OCVO to move forward on many of the following priorities identified by its members.

Develop an organizational structure / infrastructure
Establish a membership
Build a profile in the community
Secure further funding
Exercise leadership

A three year funding commitment has allowed OCVO’s Steering Committee to hire a part-time staff member. The committee is delighted to announce that Brenda Gallagher was hired in December, 2005, to work 15 hours per week. This will enable the organization to offer consistent service to our members and to move forward on many of the projects that the community has requested. To contact Brenda or one of the members of the steering committee click here.