News

SWOVA Welcomes Acting Executive Director

Introducing SWOVA’s Acting Executive Director We are delighted to announce SWOVA’s Acting Executive Director, Janine Fernandes-Hayden.  She will be stepping in for Kiran Dhingra who will be taking a 10-month parental leave until August 2019. Janine holds a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology and a BC Teaching Certificate.  She has experience in strategic planning and organizational… Read more »

SWOVA is looking for a new name!

  SWOVA is looking for a new name!   SWOVA is undergoing a transformation process which will help us to align more closely with our newly updated mission statement.   Thank you for your input in helping us choose a new name for our organization and for our new program that is being delivered this school year.  The… Read more »

Lobstick Foundation supports Pass it On Girls!

We are delighted to announce that #Lobstick Foundation has contributed $6,000 towards the Pass it On Girls Program! Our sincere gratitude to Lobstick for their generous support of the Pass It On Girls #MentorshipProgram.  In this program, high school young women provide structured group and individual mentorship for grade 8 girls. Throughout the school year… Read more »

Coast Capital supports Pass It On Girls!

Pssst! We’ve received $5,000 in funding from @Coast_Capital …Pass It On Girls! Our sincere gratitude to #CoastCapitalSavings for their generous support of the Pass It On Girls #MentorshipProgram.  In this program, high school young women provide structured group and individual mentorship for grade 8 girls. Throughout the school year adult women from our community are… Read more »

Respectful Relationships Re-design!

Grant cheque presentation photo

We are delighted to share news of recent funding from #SaltSpringIslandFoundation in the amount of $26,250!  Funds will be used to update and re-redesign the award-winning #RespectfulRelationshipsProgram which has served more than 10,000 youth across the Southern Gulf Islands over 17 years. The Program teaches youth to choose nonviolent behaviors; foster safe, stable, nurturing relationships… Read more »

Dec 6 Vigil – please join us

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women We invite everyone to attend a Candlelight Vigil Centennial Park Wednesday, December 6th, 2020  **4:30-5:00pm**  To honour and remember all women who have been killed by violence. We will meet at the Memorial Monument just before 4:30. Members of the public are invited to witness,… Read more »

#MeToo so #NowWhat? by Kathryn Anderson

“So you can see how the passive voice has a political effect. It shifts the focus off of men and boys and onto girls and women…it’s a bad thing that happens to women, but when you look at the term ‘violence against women,’ nobody is doing it to them. It just happens to them…men aren’t… Read more »

A transformative year…from caterpillar to butterfly – a blog post by Kate Nash

Caterpillar to butterfly graphic

Often the effects of a program like Pass It On are not ones you can easily quantify or even see. Yes, there are responses to surveys or the positive comments the girls shout out on the last day about missing the program or loving the time spent there. Truly, the effects of Pass It On… Read more »

Fall update/newsletter

Fall sunshine graphic

There are some exciting changes upcoming this year, learn more here: Newsletter Fall 2020 Did you know that only $10 gets you a membership to SWOVA that helps support the programs at our agency? It also offers you the power of a vote at our Annual General Meeting so that you can have a voice in… Read more »

We’ve been nominated for a Salty Award!

We are honoured to have been nominated for a Salty Award for BEST NON-PROFIT here on Salt Spring Island!  We hope you’ll vote for all the great people and businesses on our rock! You’ll find our nomination in the Business Awards section under Best Non Profit.  Everyone may vote twice and voting takes place from September 15th through… Read more »