Announcement - Selected Organizations for Digital Skills for Youth

IMAA is pleased to announce that the following organizations have been selected to participate in the Digital Skills for Youth program following IMAA's designation as Delivery Organization.

Ada XX
Art & Science Experience Design inc.
Briskly Care
CARFAC
Cinevolution Media Arts Society
Ed Video Media Arts Centre
Ethelo Decisions Inc
FAVA
Funambules Médias, Coopérative de travail
Groupe Molior
Les Films du 3 Mars
National Campus and Community Radio Association
Pawzy Inc.
Podyssey Podcasts
Projet EVA
The Canadian Film Institute
The Quickdraw Animation Society
Trinity Square Video
VoxCell BioInnovation Inc.

These organizations will offer a variety of internships to underemployed youth across Canada throughout 2021 and 2022 as part of the national Youth Employment and Skills Strategy. For more information about DS4Y please contact Leyla Sutherland or visit https://www.imaa.ca/ds4y-program-overview/

Basic Income: An Artist's Commission

Saturday, January 30 and Sunday, January 31, 2021
12:30 - 5:30 PM EST via Zoom
Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_87NzF1XYSW6mf9HCBGOdvA
ASL interpretation will be provided

Can you imagine what your life as an artist would be like if your basic economic needs were met? How would it change your art practice? How would it change the way that you care for people in your community? How would it change your priorities in life? We asked 20 artists across artistic disciplines and geography these questions and more to better understand the current lived experiences of individual artists and cultural workers navigating precarity and income support programs. Basic Income: An Artists' Commission will hear directly from these artists on January 30 and 31, 2021. For more info visit: http://mano-ramo.ca/basic-income-a-peoples-commission

Second Anti-Racism Policy Clinic 
A few places are still available!

The Anti-Racism Policy Clinic looks to expand the sector's anti-racism work, not only by examining existing organizational policies, but by going beyond and exploring how these policies are enacted, or not; how they contribute to systemic change or how they might hinder real transformation. 

Facilitators will review a sample of existing policies from the sector, provide feedback and an action plan to see these activated by indicating milestones and wins in a process that is complex, takes time, organizational and sectoral buy-in and requires both human and financial resources. Particular attention will be paid to the challenges faced by organizations as well as strategies to move beyond diversity and into inclusion, belonging, equity and retention.

The session will be facilitated by Malissa Bryan and Jess Notwell from the Rainbow Diversity Institute.

-->> To sign up, please email Adriana at membership@mano-ramo.ca with the name of the person attending from your organization, their job or volunteer title/role, name of organization or group and email address. (Registrations will be managed on a first come-first served basis as we are limited to 24 participants nation-wide.)

If you would like to submit your anti-racism policies for review, please indicate whether these can be shared with the group at the clinic in an anonymized format, or not.

Date: Thursday, January 28, 2021
Time: 2 - 4 PM EST - (Free for IMAA and MANO members)
This session is offered in English

Cyber safe and sound

With this ressource, you’ll find everything you’ve ever wanted to know about cybersecurity and cybercitizenship. Enjoy this information with your colleagues and team! Visit the website to find out more.

This month, IMAA highlights two chapters from the the Cybersecurity HandBook. Try to find a moment to read them!

Chapter 7:  What risks do we face on social media?

Almost all of us have profiles on social media, whether on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or TikTok. If you are among the rare people who have managed to keep out of these networks, it’s highly likely that the organization for which you work has a social media presence and strategy. We better get to it!

We’ll discuss how social networks function and especially (this is, after all, a guide on cybersecurity!) how they can be used against you and your organization. [...]

Chapter 8: How to improve your privacy settings?

Data collection is a widespread business model on the web. Most social networks (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), many free services (different Google services), mobile apps, as well as many devices (smartphones and tables) function according to this principle. 

You’re probably already aware that in the “settings” section on your devices or directly on the online platforms of your favourite services, it’s possible to adjust your privacy settings. [...]

MARCH 16, 2021 — Save the date for the sharing and solving session of Cyber safe and sound in English! Come meet our cyber security experts and discuss digital risk management with media arts organizations and members of the cultural sector.

You have a cybersecurity questions? Contact Benjamin J. Allard at proj@imaa.ca. We want to create a FAQ that fits your needs, that’s why we base this section on your problems or conundrum. You can read all the entries here!

This resource is hosted on IMAASource.

Illustration@Maylee Keo 

Actions you can take regarding the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) repayment letters / CARFAC
 
Canadian Artists’ Representation/Le Front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC) provided last month an update on the ongoing situation regarding the recent letter (the Eligibility Letter) that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) sent to over 400,000 Canadians questioning their eligibility for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). Read the summary of the issue here.

Here are some actions you can take regarding this situation, such as signing the petition running until January 23rd and participate in the letter-writing campaign : 

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE 

• Write to your MP. CARFAC has provided a form letter (available here), and you can include a personal message. Alternately you can write your own letter, telling your MP what this issue means to you. You can find the name and email address of your MP here.
   
• Sign and share this House of Commons petition calling on the Government of Canada to retroactively allow self-employed Canadians to use their gross pre-tax income before business expenses when determining their CERB eligibility. The deadline to sign is January 23rd!
   
• Whether you are personally affected by this issue or not, you are encouraged you to stay informed and share information with your networks.
   
• Exercise caution when determining your next move. We know that many are seeking advice on the best way to remedy this situation. Unfortunately, experts in the field have conflicting opinions on what course of action to take, and everyone’s personal tax situation is unique. Therefore, CARFAC cannot provide recommendations for steps artists should take at this time. They aim to be able to provide more clarity as these conversations continue.