2023 marked 15 years that I have been working with the non-profit organization Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). In 2006, my Dad passed away, and that year a lot of things changed for me. As a result, I made the conscious decision to pursue only work that makes me happy, in a word – creative, and what I think of as work that makes a difference. I have always had a strong drive to do work that makes a difference in people’s lives. In the late ’90s I worked with charities and non-profits that worked with kids, and eventually started working with other non profit organizations that were interested in making this world a better place. I used to quote what Katherine Graham of The Washington Post once said “To love what you do and feel like it matters, how could anything be more fun?”, and it IS fun, and very satisfying. Luckham Creative first began doing small jobs for WIEGO in 2007, and in 2008 I was contracted to work on the global Inclusive Cities Project, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
WIEGO’s mission statement reads:
“Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) is a global network dedicated to improving the working conditions of the working poor – especially women – in the informal economy. We strive for equal economic opportunities, rights, protection and voice for all workers.
Today, 61 per cent of the world’s workers earn their living in the informal economy – in jobs and enterprises that are not regulated or protected by the government but that provide critical economic opportunities for the working poor. In these jobs, poverty rates are high and respect for human rights and workers’ rights is low.”
The Inclusive Cities Project (2008-14) was designed to strengthen MBOs in organizing, policy analysis, and advocacy so urban informal workers had the tools necessary to make themselves heard in urban planning processes. Inclusive cities are those that value all people and their needs and contributions equally. The project defined “inclusive cities” as those that ensure all residents – including the urban working poor – have a representative voice in governance, planning, and budgeting processes. Inclusive cities ensure the working poor have access to secure and dignified. WIEGO coordinated this multi-country project involving nine primary partners with activities in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
I am very proud of the work I’ve done, and continue to do, for WIEGO. Ella Bhatt (7 September 1933 – 2 November 2022), one of the founders of WIEGO, once said “There are risks in every action. Every success has the seed of some failure. But it doesn’t matter. It is how you go about it. That is the real challenge.” If you are part of an organization that has taken on the challenge of making this world a better place, I’d love to talk to you about how Luckham Creative might help. Take a moment to check out the samples in the gallery below to see some of the work I’ve done for WIEGO over the years, including print design, web design, logo design and on location photography, and then give me a call and let’s talk about our shared interest in our world.
These are some of the non-profit organizations I have worked with, directly or indirectly, over the years:
- Andrew Fleck Child Care Services – Ottawa, ON
- Arc Poetry Magazine – Ottawa, ON
- City Hall Child Care Society – Vancouver, B.C.
- Contemporary Art Gallery – Vancouver, B.C.
- The Cook-Rees Memorial Fund For Water Search And Safety – Stratford, ON
- H.O.T. 4 R C.P. Kids Foundation – Ottawa, ON
- Inclusive Cities – Global
- Interval House of Ottawa – Ottawa, ON
- The Kiwanis Club of Ottawa – Ottawa, ON
- KKPKP – Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (Paper Glass Metal Workers Union) – Pune, India
- Nepean Little Theatre – Ottawa, ON
- One Boy One Van Foundation – Ottawa, ON
- On to Ottawa Historical Society – Vancouver, B.C.
- Ottawa Film Society – Ottawa, ON
- Pacific Songwriters Association – Vancouver, B.C.
- Physicians for Global Survival – Ottawa, ON
- Pink Ink Theatre Productions – Vancouver, B.C.
- SEWA – Self Employed Women’s Association – Ahmedabad, India
- The Singin‘ Dancin‘ Actin‘ Studio Musical Theatre Society – Vancouver, B.C.
- Tree Reading Series – Ottawa , ON
- The Vancouver Playhouse – Vancouver, B.C.
- WIEGO – Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing
Harvard University – Cambridge, MA, U.S.A. and Manchester, U.K.
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