Having now offered 20 years of inclusive adventures, the organization welcomed Mike Waters as the Senior Manager of Programs last fall. A known advocate for inclusion and community engagement, Mike is supporting the Victoria-based program team to continue to offer inclusive adventures for participants. He is also helping to establish the Prospect Lake site as the core location for programs offered through the organization.
“And teamwork is at the core of what we do, from experiences had with working together in creating success with programming, to creating community connections,” Mike says. “It’s always been about working together to achieve a shared goal.”
Partnerships were a key factor for Power To Be when it reached the milestone of hosting year-round programming. Taking a step back from the traditional partnership relationship and looking at it from a community needs perspective, Carinna Kenigsberg, Manager of Community Partnerships says the organization will be focusing on establishing Power To Be as an anchor in the community to connect participants to other organizations and initiatives they may not have been introduced to or had access to before.
The Power To Be team is using this type of thinking as direction when forming relationships outside of the organization with a goal of connecting participants to their community in a way that encourages overall physical, emotional, mental health and wellbeing through inclusivity.
“It’s more than just adaptive recreation, it’s more than just kayaking,” Carinna says. “We are focusing on awareness beyond the recreational aspect, in hopes to build a community of inclusion to unleash abilities with a focus on individual strengths.”
