Toward a common vision

For  Calgary’s youth  to thrive, both public policy, professional practice and parent, child and youth serving systems need to shift focus. UpStart promotes this shift through information sharing among business leaders, practitioners, service providers, academics and community leaders. Moving research off the shelf and into the community activates lasting change.

We use four strategies to achieve measurable results:

1. Focus on root causes and workable solutions. This way, we can affect systemic change and address community issues before they become problems.
2. Influence policy and systems. UpStart’s community partners apply their personal, professional and collective influence toward ensuring that systems, policies and practices support children and youth.
3. Collaborate and coordinate. Working with partner agencies, funders, governments and donors, UpStart focuses on areas where community impact can be seen first-hand.
4. Engage community resources in many ways. Our strategies include engaging donors, supporters and non-traditional partners to build public support for evidence-based, community-level solutions.