QM Institute

QMI is dedicated to encouraging and supporting citizens towards civic leadership. Whether it be roles in nonprofit groups, business, local government or a neighbourhood improvement project, British Columbia needs knowledgeable and capable people to make us the best we can be.

QMI is an independent non-partisan research and education initiative based in Vancouver, British Columbia that seeks excellence in civic leadership.

QMI believes that society must constantly cultivate and support new leadership to ensure good governance in municipalities, agencies, boards, commissions and non profit groups.

Some of our recent contributors have been:

[VIDEOS] Bradley Shende | Candy Ho | Kareem Allam | Judy Rogers | Michael Stephen | Mike Wilson | Natalya Brodie | Richard Walton | Yuen Paul Woo

QMI believes that good governance is one of the most important elements of a successful society and there is too much at stake to leave this to informal and casual processes. All of us benefit when those committed to civic leadership improve their knowledge and gain insights and wisdom from those who have already lived these experiences.

The QM Institute operates under the guidance of the Global Civic Policy Society which was formed with the insight that global problems and solutions often arise from the civic level. QMI has two core principles:

1. Respect for British Columbia institutions and history.
2. Social policy informed by economic analysis.

The Public Office Seminars originated from two political opponents Bradley Shende and Sam Sullivan of two different political parties who fought each other in a political campaign.

Afterwards they got together and agreed that encouraging people to serve in civic leadership and educating the public about governance issues was not a partisan activity. They recruited people from all parts of the political spectrum and hosted their first exploratory meeting.  Here are some highlights of the meeting:

We must encourage citizens to understand the importance of civic leadership and provide those who are interested with learning opportunities. QM Institute offers a Semester of learning opportunities designed to fit into busy schedules.

This Semester will be different from the previous one in that it will make use of Zoom video technology and feature four elements:

1. Three Friday afternoon Seminar/Receptions with several Guest Speakers.
2.  Four hours of video instruction that explores shared narratives of BC history and provides insights into how economics can inform governance issues.
3. Five hours of live Tuesday evening instruction on governance issues with guest instructors using Zoom.
4. Individual visits and interviews.

Are you considering serving in non-profit leadership or municipal elected office? Do you have an interest in public service? Do you wish to expand your leadership skills? Or do you want to understand our governance system better from those who have lived it?  If so then the Public Office Seminars are for you.

QM Institute recognizes that formal classroom learning has important but limited value in understanding the politics of elected governance. This is a subject that is best learned from the experiences of practitioners. For this reason the Seminars will have some formal teaching but will be mostly insights and case studies from those who have experienced elected governance first hand.

Each semester of QM Institute seminars will have ten weekly sessions designed as flexible opportunities appropriate for prospective candidates who are already fully engaged in work or community service.

The first hour will feature Guest Lecturers who are former elected officials. They will share their insights and experiences, successes and failures and lessons learned. The lecturers will be mostly former public officials, but will also include campaign professionals and engaged academics.

Videos and Notes from Previous Seminars

Session One: March-April 2019

https://qminstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/POP-Session-One-Notes.pdf

Class Notes from Session One

Session Two: September-November, 2019

Videos from Session Two