Photo above: Lisa Caton at Momentum's name reveal sign hanging, 2006

On behalf of the Momentum community, I wanted to share that Lisa Caton is transitioning from her role as Director of Strategy and Learning this September. Lisa is one of Momentum’s longest serving staff who has made many significant contributions to our organization and community over the last 21 years.

Lisa has guided us through significant change, as well as the achievement of many milestones as a community organization. Lisa started with Momentum in 2002 as the Director of Operations working closely with our founding Executive Director, Walter Hossli, to lead all program and community partnership activity. She led the start of many successful programs still in place today, including Savings Circles and Part-Time Self Employment (formerly Women’s Venture), as well as developing our published Financial Literacy curriculum now used for Financial Literacy Training of other community organizations. Lisa was integrally involved in the establishment of Vibrant Communities Calgary that is now the steward of Calgary’s Enough for All poverty reduction strategy. She was also critical to the launch and successful establishment of the Immigrant Access Fund, which has grown to become the largest microloan program in Canada now operating as Windmill Microlending.

Since 2009, Lisa has worked in several different leadership roles leading our organizational development as well as our strategic and business planning. She was integral in helping launch our public policy program that has contributed to positive change in our community, such as significant reform of high cost credit in Alberta. She has provided leadership to our human resource activity resulting in Momentum receiving recognition as a Great Place to Work. Lisa was instrumental in developing Momentum’s evaluation capacity so we can better understand the impact of our work, including the recent release of our first ever organizational wide long-term Sustainable Livelihoods evaluation report.

Lisa has truly had an unwavering commitment to our mission to create a thriving local economy for all in Calgary. We are deeply appreciative of all the hard work and dedication that Lisa has brought to Momentum and our community.

We want to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to Lisa and to wish her all the best into the future. This summer Lisa is moving to Vancouver Island for the next phase of her life journey, and we know that she will continue to make a positive impact in her next community. We will miss you, Lisa, and we look forward to staying connected and celebrating your continued success.