Meet the CCPA–BC’s new Director! Kevin Millsip

Hello,

My name is Kevin, and I’m the new/old guy at the BC Office. New, in that I joined this September as Director, and old in that I served on the BC Office steering committee for nearly 10 years, about 8 of those as Chair, and I’ve rented desk space from the BC Office over the years as well.

In fact, during my first Zoom call with the BC Office team this summer, I was sitting at my old desk with the same view into senior economist Marc Lee’s office. That desk was piled high, as it always was, with reports Marc has been working through, showing the same commitment to deep analysis, research and understanding.

In short, I have some roots with this wonderful organization.

One thing that the other projects I’ve worked with over the years—Katimavik, Check Your Head, Next UP, the Vancouver School Board, the BC Libraries Co-op and the Columbia Institute—have had in common is an element of capacity building. They all aim to support and help build the capacity of others, who are working to better their communities.

That same throughline of capacity building applies to the BC Office: building the capacity of those working for social and environmental justice by providing the research, analysis and policy pathways that those on the front lines can use, to build a more just and sustainable society.

For the last few years, I’ve been working in the library and co-operative sectors. That work has seen some strong results in terms of enhanced investments from the BC government, including $56M in one-time funding for public libraries and related services, and a new federal funding program committing $21M over three years for services for people with print disabilities. These successes only came about through the focused and joint efforts of different organizations working in coalition for a higher purpose.

Collective effort also underpins the work of the BC Office—one organization working in concert with others to advance bold and progressive ideas and agendas that ultimately help us to better care for one another and the planet.

Some questions I hope to explore in my work with the BC Office include: What sort of impact does the BC Office have, and how can we enhance that impact? What’s the role of a shop like this in a time of growing instability and uncertainty, with multiple crises demanding bold and rapid action? As the need for bold action increases, how do we respond with thoughtful research that keeps both long-term needs and shorter-term concerns in mind? Where can we push more, and how can we best do that? And finally, how do we support and build cooperative efforts to tackle our most pressing issues?

In 2006, I went to Denmark to visit an alternative business school called KaosPilots. The school’s tagline at the time was “Navigators for turbulent times.” The more I think about it, the more I believe that line also applies to the work of the BC Office—trying to help us collectively map paths forward through a time of deepening uncertainty, in ways that enhance justice, equity and ecological sanity.

It’s an honour to be here, working with this great group of people, in service to this work at this time.

Thanks for taking the time to give this a read, and thank you for the work that you do. I look forward to connecting with you.

Best to all,

Kevin Millsip, BC Office Director

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