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Ongoing crowdfunding for the Doris Tretter Memorial Scholarship

On 12 July 2017, we launched a crowdfunding effort to raise funds to offer a new scholarship.

The Doris Tretter Memorial Scholarship for Diversity in the Fine Arts is our effort to help promote diversity in theatre, dance, visual arts, and music at the post-secondary level.

We are still accepting donations towards this scholarship!

My Mom always encouraged me and sister to do whatever we wanted. Music lessons, dance classes, scouting or guiding, and participating in the Greely Players were all par for the course for us, and I am very thankful that my parents were able to do that for us.

Mom also was an accomplished painter. I have this amazing milk can by my front door decorated like an old-church stained-glass window.

Because of this, the arts are a subject that I hold quite dear.

Mom passed away from cancer in June 2014.

Like any good son, I had been wracking my brain for ways I could do something special to honour and celebrate my Mom. Unfortunately, I lack the $100,000+ to have something like a new wing at the hospital named after her.

The Doris Tretter Memorial Scholarship for Diversity in the First Arts was born as my way of honouring Mom.

Please, donate today.
We are a non-profit organization but not a charity. Donations are not eligible for a tax receipt.

Crowdfunding
 

CDN$20
CDN$5,250












Journey to Diversity Workplaces Launches Crowdfunding for new Scholarship Program

The Doris Tretter Memorial Scholarship for Diversity in the Fine Arts aims to award $1,000 each to two students pursuing post-secondary studies in Ontario in May, 2018.

For Immediate Release

BARRIE, ONTARIO, 12 JULY 2017 – Journey to Diversity Workplaces (J2DW) is excited to announce the creation of a scholarship aimed towards promoting diversity and fair representation in dance, theatre, film, and visual arts. This scholarship is an incredible opportunity for people pursuing a Fine Arts degree to boost their career aspirations.

J2DW’s goal is to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We respect differences ethically, morally, and legally. We want a different kind of workplace where diversity is championed and so is the worker. An organization’s success and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and to realize the benefits of diversity. This is just as true in the fine arts as it is in municipal government or health care.

“According to Statistics Canada, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to increase by two hundred percent and account for approximately twenty percent of Canada’s population through 2017. Racialized and transgender groups are underrepresented in the fine arts such as film. It is important to take steps now to increase workplace diversity and inclusion that will allow for a better future.” said Peter V. Tretter, President & CEO of Journey to Diversity Workplaces.

Anyone who has gone to school in Ontario in the previous academic year and is taking a post-secondary fine arts program in the following September is eligible to apply.

Today, we launch our crowdfunding effort so that J2DW will have funds to award in May 2018. We are aiming to raise $5,000 to fund the scholarship to start off with. The additional funds will be used in future years. The campaign may be found at https://igg.me/at/dtretter

The mother of J2DW founder Peter V. Tretter, Doris was an avid painter creating various paintings over the years. As well Doris was an avid community volunteer, doing makeup and set painting with The Greely Players, leading the Parkway Community Kids Choir, both in Ottawa, and creating wonderful creations at the Gilda Club of Simcoe-Muskoka in Barrie. Doris was a registered nurse and promoted health to the congregants at both the Parkway Road Pentecostal Church before moving to Barrie in 2007 and then to Mapleview Community Church. Doris passed away from cancer July 2014.

Journey to Diversity Workplaces is a Barrie, Ontario based organization formed under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act in December 2013.

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Contact:

Peter V. Tretter, President & CEO
p…@j2dw.ca
Phone number

J2DW is crowdfunding!

Hello everyone,

We are excited to announce that we have taken the initiative to set up a crowdfunding campaign to make it easier for you to contribute to our causes.

Our team sat down a few months ago and came up with a number of goals we would like to achieve over the next few months, but we hit a dead-end in trying to achieve these goals because of a limitation of our financial resources. So that is why we set this campaign up, and we are absolutely confident that you will help us raise these funds.

To give you a better overview of the plans we have for the use of these funds, we have summed up three of our main priorities to achieve once we have the funds:

  • Acquire a service business and restructure it so as to serve as role model business for the message of diversity and good employee management. This business will be profit generating so as to contribute funds to other sectors of J2DW.
  • Campaign and raise awareness of the problem of diversity in the workplace. Too many people are still very ignorant about the issues that exist, and this is in our opinion, unacceptable.
  • Dive deeper into the research of the roots of the problem. Why is diversity still a problem in the workplace? We want to figure out the answer to this daunting question once and for all.
  • In addition, funds will also be set aside to fund a new scholarship that was recently created by the Board.

    The Doris Tretter memorial scholarship for diversity in the fine arts will help youth in our communities be able to access fine arts education at the post-secondary level.

    In addition to or instead of a financial contribution, you can:

    1. Post to Facebook and social media – The more people who hear about us, the more likely we are to meet our target. 

    2. Share with your community – Call your friends, tell your co-workers, make an announcement at your organization’s event to spread the word. 

    Generosity (the platform we’re using, run by Indiegogo) has zero platform fees, so your donation goes farther to help us reach our goal. 

    So please help us by contributing to the crowdfunding campaign. Any donations will be greatly appreciated!

    Join our crowdfunding effort today!