Betty Kennedy is leaving the helm of the Ontario Native Women’s Association to captain the organization’s new charitable foundation.
“We really believe that with Betty Kennedy’s long-time experience and the wonderful work she’s done within the Ontario Native Women’s Association itself, she’s going to be the person we need to really get our charitable foundation up and running,” said ONWA president Dawn Harvard.
Kennedy will be the first executive officer for the new foundation, which Harvard said was created to give ONWA more freedom in funding education and legal supports for Aboriginal women.
“If you’re relying on government funding, our hands are often tied by the parameters of whatever the vision is of the current government in power,” said Harvard. “With the charitable foundation, we wouldn’t be so constrained and we would therefore be more free to meet the needs of more women.”
The foundation, scheduled to launch this fall, will first look at offering financial resources like scholarships for education and training and also for legal supports.
When the foundation is fully operational, Harvard said they’ll look at other ways they can use their financial
resources to support their clients.
In a release issued by ONWA Friday morning, Kennedy said while she has enjoyed her time as ONWA’s executive director, she is excited to take on her new role.
“I look forward to continuing my work with ONWA in this new role as we work together to improve the lives of Aboriginal women and their families,” she said.
With Kennedy heading up the foundation, that leaves her former position of executive director of ONWA vacant.
The search for a replacement is underway and Harvard said they hope to find another woman as strong as Kennedy who will be able to maintain all of the progress the association has made.
“We have lots of work to do, but we’ve made great strides under Betty’s leadership to become a solid, stable and ever-expanding organization, so I think there’s a lot of work to be done, but a lot of opportunity as well,” she said.
