Regional Impact Committees

The Centre for Family Equity's policy change advocacy is led by community-based leaders with lived experience of the issues we address.

Our recent Justice at Work for Lone Mothers in BC project and first-of-its-kind research report, No Way to Escape: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Low-Income Lone-Mother Workers in BC were foundational initiatives leading to policy recommendations that would improve the lives of lone mothers and their families.

With renewed support from Women and Gender Equality Canada, the Centre for Family Equity has embarked on a new project: Our Way In: The Justice at Work Pathway to Economic Security for Lone Mothers in BC. This project consists of two years of knowledge mobilization and advocacy led by regional committees of lone mothers with lived experience of the issues we are addressing. The project builds on our research and aims to promote lone-mothers’ economic inclusion through policy change driven by our evidence-based recommendations.

We have 18 committee members and coordinators on four Regional Impact Committees in:

Northern BC
Interior BC
Metro Vancouver
Vancouver Island & Coast

Regional Impact Committees deepen our regional engagement in local communities. They carry out knowledge mobilization and present CFE policy recommendations to regional electeds and stakeholders. A pan-provincial Indigenous coordinator supports the regional committees. All committee participants receive monthly compensation for their contributions, and Child Care Allowance and Transportation Stipends as needed.

Regional Impact Committee members consist at this time of lone mothers and gender-diverse lone parents addressing economic inclusion for lone mother-led families. Committee members represent the diversity of the communities in which they live and include those living on disability or income assistance, impacted by intimate partner and family violence, and those with Indigenous, newcomer, racialized and 2SLGBTQIA+ identities, as well as those working precariously. Sharing a bio is optional for committees and some have chosen to remain anonymous. We invite committee members to share their bios, stories and passion for change in their own words.