Welcome

Welcome to Samara. We are a new organization, founded last year to spark projects that support a culture of public service in Canada. And by public service we don't mean only those who work for governments, but rather, the spirit of providing service that benefits the public, either as individuals or through our institutions.

With the advice of several hundred people across the country, Michael MacMillan and I started this from a shared belief that we can do better. Michael and I come to this from different backgrounds - Michael from 30 years in film and television, which began as a small production company that told Canadian stories through film, and me through a more circuitous route that included management consulting and a founding role in Canada25 - however, we share a belief that how we approach our public life can make a big difference to the quality of life we all have.

I know it may not strike everyone as on the cutting edge of cool, but I'm increasingly of the mind that we can do more to create opportunities to discuss our public challenges and what to do about them in a constructive and inviting way, and where public and community service is something that becomes a part, large or small, of all our lives no matter what our age or background. You know... the easy stuff!

So in the near term, our goals are more modest. We're starting to develop a small set of projects in our three areas of focus: political leadership; connection of citizens, both to each other and to public ideas; and media's contribution to public affairs. We chose those areas because each, on its own, can make a big difference, and together, they influence and can reinforce each other.

Our core activities will be educational and participatory in nature, but above all, we hope they're practical and helpful to those involved as well as to others who share and work towards our broader goals.

With time we'll infuse our site with more content on what we're up to. As our projects develop, we'll share what we're learning here, and will also ask for advice as we invariably stumble or get stuck behind an unforeseen roadblock. We'll also be looking for people to help us, both in a staff and volunteer capacity, and will post information on that here.

We're glad you've stumbled across our site, and hope you will stay in touch. We will do the same if you sign up for our newsletter, drop us a line or post a comment below.