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Our Story

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At CANOE, we also believe that operations professionals are the unsung heroes of successful nonprofits. They wear dozens of hats, from HR manager to IT expert to pseudo bookkeeper/accountant. Ops gurus often have to become experts in these areas with few learning opportunities and resources.
 
CANOE aims to fill in these learning gaps, while elevating and rebranding what it means to be a nonprofit operations professional.
 
We aim to Create A New Operational Excellence (CANOE).  

How we do it

Serving as an exceptional, low-cost operations team for small nonprofits
 
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We fill in the gaps for executive directors so they can focus on achieving their mission. We hire amazing, highly-qualified individuals to work as a team to provide flexible, affordable support in the areas of HR, financial management, IT, compliance, and governance. Learn more.

Growing an online community of practice for nonprofit operations professionals​  

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We've established ElevateOps, a Slack community that enables networking, learning, and sharing of best practices, while elevating and rebranding the field of nonprofit operations more broadly. Learn more.

Becoming a worker cooperative and experimentation hub for democratic  governance  

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We're looking to challenge the status quo and reinvent traditional approaches to running an organization that have perpetuated the racial leadership gap. We will model and share what we learn as a cooperative with seamless internal systems to advance democratic leadership practices. 

Our Structure

CANOE is a public benefit corporation established in April 2021 that's in the process of becoming a worker-owned cooperative.

We are an antiracist organization committed to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. We understand antiracism to be intersectional and stand with all people subject to abusive systems of power and privilege. We center equity and inclusion in both our internal and external work and are committed to supporting a work environment in which all employees thrive. 

Learn about our mission and values here.

Interested in partnering or learning with us?

CANOE is a women-led collective of operations professionals who fiercely believe that nonprofits must be strong from the inside out before they can successfully fulfill their missions.
 
We partner with nonprofits on building the people-centered processes, infrastructure, and systems necessary to grow and thrive. Transformative change starts from within.
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