New Ways to Do Advocacy

Earlier this summer, advocates, volunteers and organizers from across the Prairies gathered on Treaty 6 territory at Van-Es Retreat Centre to reflect on eight years of the Stride Advocacy Program. Because beyond a retreat, it was a return to purpose; a space to pause, reconnect, and reimagine what advocacy looks like when it is rooted in care, solidarity, and collective power.

From legal advocates to frontline workers, people with lived experience, and long-time community organizers, every attendee brought their own story. Together, we unearthed the joys and heartbreaks of this work, not just the system navigation and policy work, but also the emotional labour that advocacy demands.

One of the strongest threads that emerged during the gathering was the need to shift from scarcity to abundance, from isolation to mutual aid, and from burnout to sustainability. Many shared the toll of systems that ask too much of too few, and how even the most committed advocates can find themselves running on empty. We reflected on how to refill our cups through mentorship, community debriefs, joy, and rest.

Over the past eight years, Stride has supported hundreds through complex casework, accompaniment, and systems navigation. But like many grassroots initiatives, it has been stretched thin. With limited resources and growing demand, the decision has been made to wind down the casework arm and stay centred on systemic advocacy and capacity-building — a painful but necessary evolution.

Participants emphasized that while casework addresses urgent needs, systemic advocacy addresses the root causes. 

Together, we imagined what a more sustainable and liberatory model of advocacy could look like. The result? A Community-Based Advocacy (CBA) framework rooted in:

  • Relational infrastructure: trust, joy, ceremony, and deep listening.

  • Team-based support: shared responsibility that meets legal, emotional, and survival needs.

  • Holistic education: creative workshops, accessible legal knowledge, and amplification of QTBIPOC voices.

  • Civic mobilization: fighting for housing justice, food sovereignty, and decolonized governance.

  • Solidarity over silos: resisting the urge to compete and instead building inter-movement alliances.

This model centres people’s humanity over productivity and builds collective care, not just service delivery.

Decolonizing, Dreaming, and Doing

A powerful session with Dr. Yannik Giovanni Marshall challenged us to ask: what does it really mean to decolonize our work?

We reflected on the legacies of resistance — from the Black Panthers to Indigenous land defenders — and how kindness, when rooted in community and paired with action, becomes a radical act of resistance. We asked difficult questions about trust, change, and the role of politicians versus people-powered movements. We named the discomfort, and we sat in it — together.

What’s Next?

At the gathering, one question kept surfacing: “If not us, then who?”

We don’t claim to have all the answers. But we do know this: systems won’t fix themselves. Advocacy must be ongoing, relational, messy, and brave. And while institutions may disappoint us, our communities never stop showing up.

This work is not for accolades. It’s for our children. Our neighbours. Our future.

We invite you to read the full Stride Advocacy Regional Gathering Report, share your thoughts, and join us in reimagining advocacy — not as a job or a program, but as a way of being. One that honours lived experience, prioritizes dignity, and refuses to leave anyone behind.

We would like to thank the McConnell Foundation for their support in providing this opportunity.


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