Our History

Momentum was established in 1991 as an employment program of Mennonite Central Committee Alberta. Originally known as MCC Employment Development, its initial focus was on providing trades training to new Canadians. Over the next ten years, it significantly expanded its activities to include small business training, micro business loans, personal money management courses and access to computers. In 2002, MCC Employment Development became an independent, community-based, charitable organization, and in 2006 it adopted a new name that better represented the full scope of its work.

Today, Momentum provides a broad range of programs and services designed to help people in or at risk of poverty move forward in their efforts to achieve economic self-sufficiency. In 2009, Momentum offered 17 Community Economic Development programs and employed 40 staff. Toward the goal of sustained poverty reduction, Momentum works with a wide array of partners including the underemployed, business, government and other nonprofit organizations.

Momentum’s impact in the area of community economic development has been recognized internationally. In 2002 our work in the area of Financial Literacy was recognized by the Peter F. Drucker Canadian Foundation  for Non-profit Innovation, and in 2007 we were named as one of the Top 10 Charities in Canada by the Tides Canada Foundation. The United Way of Calgary and area recognized Momentum in 2009 with the Together We Can award.