'indispensable': new nonprofit chamber ceo highlights sector's contributions to alberta economy
'so many people interact with nonprofits every day and don't always know that'
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angie gelinas, president and ceo of the nonprofit chamber, poses in the downtown calgary office space on may 29, 2025.
jim wells/postmedia
angie gelinas’ first week as the ceo of the nonprofit chamber started off with a bang.
it was also the week of the chamber’s second annual summit for leaders in the non-profit sector. focused on topics of funding for the sector and its workforce, the event convened 150 leaders from a range of non-profits, government ministries, funders and private stakeholders across the province.
“i took away from that, that there’s a lot more work we need to do to think about how we change systems and policies,” she said.
gelinas is no stranger to the non-profit sector. her career, which spans a bevy of roles in arts and culture, the saskatchewan government, the calgary stampede and public sector agencies, has placed her alongside the sector for decades such that her new role feels like a culminative peak of all that she has accomplished so far.
“it’s a very unique role that takes advantage of everything that i’ve been doing so far,” she said.
her goal? to rebrand the non-profit sector as “indispensable.”
“we’re at this place right now with the nonprofit sector, where there’s . . . both acute pressure . . . and there’s this possibility all at the same time. there’s rising demand for so many services, yet i think it’s intersected with rising innovation,” she said.
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positioning the sector as essential means strengthening relationships across government and the business community, “maybe in ways we haven’t done before,” she said, taking advantage of the organization’s own move to rebrand last year as the nonprofit chamber, after being long known as the calgary chamber of voluntary organizations.
“it enhances what the chamber has been doing provincially from a policy perspective,” she said.
the non-profit sector, despite often acting as a provider and service in times of crisis, is not yet thought of as a contributor to solutions.
“tariffs for example . . . we automatically thought about the government’s response and the business’s response, but the non-profit sector, which in alberta contributes $5.5 billion annually, doesn’t often get thought of at the same time,” she said.
the most common narrative that gets pushed is the idea of a non-profit asking for money. “i think we have to balance that narrative with everything we contribute to the alberta economy,” she said. “to make sure the work gets recognition, get the resources and the respect it deserves.”
non-profits doing more with less
gelinas took over the role as ceo almost exactly 21 years after the chamber was established on may 6, 2004. the organization, she said, has “grown in credibility over the past two decades,” amassing respect as a leader in political advocacy and workforce research and development.
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but work still remains to be done on making the chamber an integral force in assisting needs of provincial and federal policies.
“where i think we can make even more of a difference is working in the sector with our partners to develop stronger data collections and data systems to really understand our workforce and really understand where we’re at on the ground and serving our community,” she said.
“so many people interact with nonprofits every day and don’t always know that.”
non-profits are also doing more with less. the covid-19 pandemic saw a massive drop in volunteerism from 80 per cent of the community to 22 per cent, according to gelinas. while the number has since risen to 46 per cent post-pandemic, it is still not close to where it used to be.
“they’re struggling with greater demand with fewer resources,” said gelinas, thanks to the affordability crisis increasing costs not just for the organizations as a whole, but also for employees.
“(approximately) 78 per cent of people who work in nonprofits are women,” she added. “and their median salary is roughly $10,000 less than the average albertan salary.”
looking to help non-profits thrive
it comes back to answering the same question: “how can we as a chamber help drive policy and resources that help create conditions where nonprofits can thrive, not just survive?” she said.
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it helps that she has, in the past, sat on the other side of the table.
for four years, she served as deputy minister for culture, youth and recreation in saskatchewan, between 2001 and 2004. “it’s given me an insight into the process and what can motivate a government,” she said.
“having worked in the civil service, i understand the pressure they’re under and how can we as a chamber work together to get the outcomes we’re both trying to achieve for the sector,” she said.
it’s too early to name which policies are or aren’t helpful for the sector as yet, but gelinas said she’s working on identifying the rogues on the list. “but i know as a former civil servant, those are where we can make great changes,” she said.
when asked if there are relatively short-term goals she hopes to accomplish in her first year, gelinas replied, “policy is a long game.
“it’s slow work. it’s relational work.”
which means her first goal is to make herself available to members in the sector, whether that be holding listening sessions or directly convening with nonprofit members and business partners about the work they’re doing in the sector.
“it’s really right now time for me to do a lot of listening so that in the fall i can make coalesce or collate everything i’ve been learning and work on where that positions us at the time.”
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it’s hard to predict where the sector could be a decade or more from now, but gelinas sticks to her guns. “what i’ll work towards is a sector that’s healthy and viewed as critical to the alberta economy and that is also viewed as adaptable, resilient . . . and our communities and thriving because of it,” she said.
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