OASIS 20th ANNIVERSARY
There can be no doubt that Ontario is now a much better place for individuals with Developmental Disabilities than it was before OASIS’s founding 20 years ago. In that time, our membership has grown from 6 members to 191, and we have transformed from an organization focused on “Surviving” to one that is “Thriving”. Now, 20 years later, it’s time to renew and refresh our organization and vision. To do so, OASIS is developing a new strategic plan to guide the Board of Directors, its committees and its membership towards 2020.
Through consultation with our target audiences, the OASIS Board of Directors is establishing a strategic vision and road-map called “OASIS 20-20”. This initiative will help align our voices and priorities so we can better define the future of the developmental sector and help our Member agencies become stronger and healthier. We continue to engage all stakeholders ‚Äì our members, our partners, and our government ministries ‚Äì to discuss our role and our shared future supporting people with special needs in Ontario. While some aspects of OASIS will change, our core belief that Agencies Matter will not.
OASIS’ 20th Anniversary Conference was a tremendous success!
As a community, we can help improve the lives and futures for people with disabilities and we can move our society from one that is Surviving to one that is Thriving. In efforts to learn more about best practices and advancements that went beyond our immediate communities and our province, OASIS 2017 Conference took steps to help broaden our collective learning to an international level.
During the conference, we were delighted to host an international panel of experts from Germany, Australia and Canada and honored to have Minister Carla Qualtrough share stories that ignited our passions and raised awareness of possibilities. Many thanks to those that helped us to make this happen.
Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities Carla Qualtrough has been mandated to pass the Canadians with Disabilities Act, and recently released a report entitled, “Creating new national accessibility legislation: What we learned from Canadians.” The report summarizes the input received following Canada-wide consultations to inform the development of new planned federal accessibility legislation.
Some 502 people attended the Annual General Meeting and 20th Anniversary. By category, they included:
