VICTORIA, BC (July 14, 2021) - The VIATEC Foundation Fund has distributed $75,000 to support local organizations who continue to weather the impacts of the pandemic for equity deserving community groups. The VIATEC Foundation Fund, held at Victoria Foundation, is committed to working with Victoria Foundation to build resilience for local charities in the short and long-term. 

The $75,000 will be distributed as follows:

• $15,000 to Bridges for Women Society
• $11,641.34 to BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society
• $10,000 to British Columbia Black History Awareness Society
• $10,000 to Frontier College/Collège Frontière
• $10,000 to Indigenous Perspectives Society
• $18,358.66 to Surrounded By Cedar Child and Family Services Society.

“For VIATEC, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), is an ongoing concerted effort to ensure that it is ingrained in everything we do,” said Dan Gunn, VIATEC’s CEO. “It is the type of priority that demands that we look at every facet of our operations and strive to live up to our expectation of ourselves and serves as an example to our members, our community and our peers. Given the recent discovery of Indigenous children's remains at former residential schools, we deliberately concentrated on our Diversity and Inclusion focus area and gave projects directed at supporting and serving our local Indigenous communities the highest priority, along with organizations that serve women's and BIPOC DEI.”

In addition to the VIATEC Foundation’s support, VIATEC has made DEI the primary focus of its efforts this past year by providing:

• The Startup Visa Program
  A program to make it easier for new immigrant entrepreneurs to move to Canada by starting a business and creating jobs
• The W Venture Program
  A personalized 3-month intensive program delivering over 100 hours of instruction per venture for entrepreneurial women seeking to grow their business. 
• W CEO
  A leadership program for women that leverages a proven strategic execution framework, peer meetings and one-on-one coaching to help CEOs deliver predictable and measurable growth.
• 19 free DEI workshops (1,003 attendees)
  VIATEC invested money to hire expert speakers and offer a comprehensive series of free virtual workshops over 10 months that were offered to our entire community and beyond.
• Updated VIATEC Policies
  This included updating VIATEC’s mission statement to better highlight DEI, an Event Declaration about inclusivity and tolerance, a Partnership Conduct Agreement, Land Acknowledgement statements, and more.

HOW THE $75K IN SUPPORT WILL BE USED BY EACH SOCIETY:

Bridges for Women Society

Bridges for Women seeks to provide culturally safe and adaptable healing and employability programs for Indigenous women affected by trauma. Funding will be used to deliver the Indigenous Bridging Program for Indigenous women, The Bridges Employment Program is a six-month group-based program designed for adult women who self-identify as having experienced trauma, violence, abuse or neglect, and who want to reclaim their lives.

BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society (BCANDS)

The British Columbia Aboriginal Network on Disability Society is an award winning, Indigenous not for profit, charitable Society serving the unique and diverse disability and health resource / support service needs of Indigenous peoples across Canada. Funding will be used to replace outdated office technology to deliver programs.

British Columbia Black History Awareness Society (BCBHAS)

BCBHAS celebrates the achievements of Black people in British Columbia by creating an awareness of the history of Blacks in BC, stimulating interest in the contributions of persons of African ancestry to BC and Canada today, and celebrating historical and current achievements in the arts, education, government, sports, science etc. Funding will be used to support the salaries and program development of youth services in the Greater Victoria area.

Frontier College/Collège Frontière

Frontier College is a national charitable literacy organization that believes literacy is a right. They work with volunteers and community partners to give people the skills and confidence needed to reach their potential and contribute to society. Funding will support salary costs within the Community Literacy Catalyst Project which is an evidence-based, community-driven education initiative for children, youth, and adults, which puts Indigenous rights, knowledge, language, and culture at the heart of program design and delivery.

Indigenous Perspectives Society (IPS)

Indigenous Perspective Society (IPS) offers specialized training and services supporting indigenous children, families, and businesses while also providing consultation services under an Indigenous lens. Their expertise and knowledge in Aboriginal Social Work and Indigenous child welfare policy have allowed them to work and give training deliverable on behalf of the Government of BC. Funding will be used to develop digital business and communications management systems.

Surrounded By Cedar Child and Family Services Society

Surrounded By Cedars Child and Family Services provides child and family services strongly rooted in Indigenous cultural values and world views while ensuring urban Indigenous children and youth grow up connected to family, community and culture. Funding will be used to support the technology, telecommunication and renovation costs associated with an increase in demand for services due to COVID.

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ABOUT THE VIATEC FOUNDATION FUND

The VIATEC Foundation Fund was founded to encourage, support and enable the generosity of the Victoria tech community by bringing them together for greater impact, coordinating their efforts, collecting and sharing the amount and impact of their philanthropic activities, and reducing the time and effort of individual tech companies reviewing requests for support. It focuses its support on initiatives directed at Diversity and Inclusion, Access to Innovation, Social Impact through Innovation, Food Security and Education.

ABOUT VIATEC

VIATEC's mission is to cultivate the most cohesive tech community in the world by providing resources to tackle shared opportunities and challenges while boosting a sense of belonging and shaping our region.

VIATEC started in 1989, when a community of technologists and entrepreneurs joined together to share information on how to build companies and support the tech industry. Since then Victoria’s economy has changed dramatically and its brand has been transformed.

We work closely with our members to offer a variety of events, programs and services. In addition, VIATEC serves as the front door of the local tech sector and as its spokesperson. To better support local innovators, we acquired our own building (Fort Tectoria) where we offer flexible and affordable office space to emerging local companies along with a gathering/event space for local entrepreneurs. www.viatec.ca