Who We Are

Metro Vancouver Alliance is an emerging broad based alliance of community groups, labour, faith and educational institutions working together for the common good.

MVA is an affiliate of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), which has over 60 active community alliances across the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia.

The IAF bases its work on the idea that a healthy democracy requires the active participation of ordinary people.

We build strong relationships amongst diverse groups in the community, who come together to listen to their members’ concerns and to agree on issues that can be worked on together. This ensures that the alliances are sustainable over the long term and that members work on those issues that concretely matter most to them. Members develop leadership skills and learn “the art of politics” through active engagement and participation.

MVA builds leaders.

Our main goal is to build leaders within our institutions who will become leaders in the community. We hold regular leadership training institutes which bring together individuals from diverse institutions to learn the universals of broad based organizing.

MVA organizes through relationships.

We build relationships both within and among our institutions to learn where people’s passions lie, build power, and remain accountable. Personal face to face conversations and meetings are the most effective way to connect with our neighbours and fellow citizens and discover their interests, pressures, and hopes.