Monthly Archives: February 2014

by Jini Stolk Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property. Jean de la Bruyere From The New York Times, Jan 29, 2014: The Nederlander Organization recently settled a federal lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act, agreeing to increase access for disabled people at the nine theatres […]

by Jini Stolk When I think about evaluation these days I’m less interested in what we measure or how we measure than in why. What’s the ultimate purpose of the effort we put into evaluating our work and projects? What are we trying to learn? How are we using this information? I believe that the […]

by Jini Stolk My farewell task for a board I’m retiring from is to look at our governance practices and policies and lead a discussion about our strengths and where we might need to make improvements. As with all my board experiences, it’s a great learning opportunity. More and more I believe that the crux […]

by Jini Stolk A good friend told me about a fascinating interview on CBC’s The Sunday Edition with the Director of the Self-Development Laboratory at the University of Toronto. (minute 47, for keeners) Maja Djikic’s work is on the transforming effect of art on personality. It’s an old idea that’s become lost in our material […]

by Jini Stolk Kudos to The Canada Council for instigating an online sharing of ideas around public, audience and community engagement in the arts. I was honoured to be asked to help launch the Council’s new blog series which they hope will stimulate an ongoing conversation on what’s working and what’s not; how companies are […]

by Jini Stolk Last week’s Staging Sustainability Conference was a pleasure to attend and another example of an important community conversation. It was also an opportunity to seriously examine our values. Are we really being asked to contribute to the sustainability of our environment? to make a difference to the well-being of our planet? to place […]

by Jini Stolk I’m not sure if I agree with this piece by Charlie Hulme, nor am I sure I agreed with Dan Pallotta’s TED Talk The way we think about charity is dead wrong, but I do know they raise important points worthy of thought and discussion. They both argue against the “myth” that small […]

by Jini Stolk I’ve been meaning to tell you that I’m taking Improv classes in the Fringe’s Creation Lab at the Centre for Social Innovation, but my computer’s spell-correct keeps changing the word to “improve.” Maybe it’s trying to tell me something. It may seem an unlikely after work activity for me (and I’m not hoping […]