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April 2023 – March 2024


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Message from the Chair  4   Strategy  5   Structure, Culture and Governance  12
Design Erika Rathje
Photo this page; back cover 
Mike Graeme
Dogwood brings people together 
to transform our democracy, 
uphold Indigenous rights and 
defend the climate, land and 
water that sustain life in B.C.
Finances and Fundraising  14   Financial summary  15


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Strategy
Decarbonize
In 2023, we aimed to deepen Dogwood’s contribution 
to the growing movement against the most potent 
climate changing fossil fuel: methane gas. Our great­
est strength has always been the tens of thousands 
of supporters and hundreds of long-term, dedicated 
volunteers committed to Dogwood’s mission. 
People power helped increase Dogwood’s participa­
tion in the Frack Free BC coalition, keep up the pressure 
against gas pipeline projects in Northern B.C., and 
kickstart the campaign to get gas out of homes.
Roughly 10 per cent of the gas fracked in B.C. is 
piped into our homes and buildings, where it increases 
the risks of childhood asthma, heart disease and 
cancer. The rest is exported to Alberta to power oil 
sands extraction, to the U.S. or soon, new West 
Coast LNG terminals. 
A major problem in B.C. is Fortis and its green­
washing campaign. The fossil fuel giant uses dogged 
corporate lobbying to influence policy-makers while 
portraying itself to the public as a “green” alternative to 
other fuels. But thanks to new funding and alliances, 
Dogwood was able to hire a Fossil Gas Campaigner 
to take on Fortis and fight for a phaseout of fossil gas. 
Frack Free BC started upping pressure on the 
provincial government in the spring and summer 
of 2023 with a day of art action that reached 40+ 
communities, and dozens of constituent meetings 
with MLAs, or rallies outside their offices if meeting 
requests were rebuffed. Among activists, allies and a 
growing public audience the message that ‘fracked gas 
is B.C.’s biggest climate problem’ started to catch on. 
In November, hundreds of Dogwood volunteers 
and Frack Free BC activists held a rally outside the 
BCNDP convention, calling on delegates to support 
an NDP-member-sponsored anti-fracking reso­
lution. Delegates wore ‘NDPers Against Fracking’ 
buttons, and, under pressure, party brass went to 
great procedural lengths to avoid a floor vote on the 
resolution. 
We rounded out 2023 with several community-
building events where volunteers gathered at Fortis 
HQ and locations throughout Vancouver and Victoria 
to sing such hits as ‘Jingle Bells — Fracking Wells’. 
This year we’re continuing to publicly highlight the 
massive cost overruns, embarrassing mismanage­
ment and economic failure of the TMX expansion, 
and support the enduring Indigenous and grassroots 
opposition to this disastrous project. It has been a 
long journey of triumphs, tragedies and twists in the 
fight against TMX, and we took some time to grieve, 
reflect and honour the movement that was built 
around fighting the pipeline that was ultimately 
completed and operational in spring 2024.
In the Field
With a new Director of Organizing, the field team 
undertook learning and updating their practices and 
approaches this year. Dogwood’s Organizer in Surrey 
deepened the organization’s partnership with Khalsa 
Aid and, with other South Asian community leaders, 
developed a unique roundtable organizing approach 
to connect with the diaspora community in the lower 
mainland. 
Our Vancouver Organizer increasingly brought 
creative art practices as a fulcrum for connection, 
action and strategic impact that have motivated new 
and long-time Dogwood volunteers. 
The combination of our South Island Regional 
Team, and our team of door-to-door fundraisers and 
canvassers made Victoria and surrounding areas a 
Message from the Chair
This was my first year having the honour of serving as 
the Chair of Dogwood’s Board of Directors. 
Our role on the board is to help steward Dogwood 
and support the hard-working, talented, dedicated 
staff as we carry out our important mission. 
The board was part of the process three years ago, 
alongside staff, to revise the organization’s guiding 
principles and develop a new strategic framework. 
So much has changed in the world since we did that 
work, so this year it was time to consider important 
strategic adjustments. 
The most notable shift in strategy has been mov­
ing away from governmental elections as a central 
focus of Dogwood’s work. This change allows us 
to stay more focused on expanding and deepening 
coalition-based work under the Beyond Gas banner, 
and the deepening of commitments to Indigenous 
ally relationships and solidarity work.
Shifts in strategy also means new and different 
fundraising prospects. It is encouraging to see inter­
est in Dogwood’s work from more foundations and 
increased commitment from current funders. 
Individual donors continue to be the foundation 
that supports the organization. Dogwood cultivates 
these important relationships with donors and is 
always looking for ways to reach more people to keep 
us grounded. 
I want to congratulate union members and our 
management team on negotiating a new collective 
agreement that values and protects our all-important 
staff. Past years have tended toward an employees’ 
and not an employers’ job market, and we could not 
do our much-needed work without retaining and 
recruiting bright and committed staff.
Finally, I want to thank my fellow board members 
for their dedication to serving this organization 
in our key governance role. In particular, I want to 
thank Dhaneva Skosdad and Cassidy Crowe who 
left the board this year. At our 2024 AGM we will say 
a fond farewell to Secretary/Treasurer Aman Jhuty 
after serving two full terms on the board. Aman has 
provided his calm expert financial guidance to the 
Dogwood Executive Team for more than six years. 
We will miss Aman’s wisdom, compassion and corn­
hole prowess, and wish him all the best.
Thanks to all the supporters, volunteers, donors, 
funders and partners who fuel Dogwood’s success. I 
look forward to another exciting year.
Warmly,
Ingrid Kastens
Our greatest strength has 
always been the supporters 
and volunteers committed 
to Dogwood’s mission
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In September, Wet’suwet’en chiefs Na'moks and 
Woos traveled to New York to pressure KKR, the Wall 
Street private equity fund that is majority owner of 
the Coastal GasLink pipeline. They also connected 
with other Indigenous leaders at NYC’s climate 
march and Black organizers from the frontlines of 
gas expansion in the U.S. Gulf Coast. Then, in April 
of this year, Dogwood lent support to Indigenous 
leaders who traveled to attend the AGM for RBC, the 
number one financer of fossil fuel expansion projects 
in Canada.
In early 2024, Dogwood turned towards work with 
local residents in Northwest B.C., including Gitxsan 
and Gitanyow house groups, to highlight concerns 
about the PGRT project meant to feed the proposed 
giant Ksi Lisims LNG export facility in Nisga’a ter­
ritory. This sprawling gas export complex would be 
on the same scale as Coastal GasLink and LNG 
Canada — but even more heavily subsidized by the 
B.C. public as the economics of LNG falter. 
In addition, we also set out to further cultivate 
Dogwood’s relationship with W̱ SÁNEĆ leaders 
and organizations, particularly by connecting staff, 
volunteers and donors to local land restoration, 
supporting the annual Yellow Wolf Powwow and 
donating to land back initiatives. Dogwood’s Head 
of Communications, who lives in the territory, has 
led this work and penned a report last spring on 
the lessons learned from the project that we hope 
will inspire and guide other organizations seek­
ing to deepen their commitment to decolonial 
relationships. 
major source of new donors and supporters this last 
year. SIRT continues to be a force in local climate 
action, operating with its own internal structure and 
leadership. The work of these two teams helped 
anchor and energize volunteer outreach and Frack 
Free BC events in the South Island.
Decolonize
Between fracking and overseas markets lie several 
proposed pipelines and liquified natural gas termi­
nals. Dogwood’s work to resist these risky projects 
comes largely in the form of support for Indigenous 
leaders and communities on the frontlines, who live 
with the destructive social, economic, cultural and 
environmental impacts of corporate (and govern­
ment)-funded megaprojects. 
This year we continued our commitment to Gitxsan, 
Wet’suwet’en and Gitanyow leaders contending with 
these gas projects — and the police violence that 
accompanies them. We provided staffing and material 
support for the annual Peace & Unity gathering in 
August. The proceedings were livecast and captured 
on video, allowing organizers to share the wisdom of 
gathering participants with people throughout B.C. 
and beyond. 
On the heels of the victory against Enbridge’s 
West Coast Connector gas pipeline, with comple­
tion of the Coastal Gaslink (CGL) Pipeline looming, 
Dogwood donors and our Director of Campaigns & 
Communications helped bankroll, staff and publicize 
two important trips by hereditary Chiefs to confront 
the companies behind CGL and the proposed Prince 
Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline.
Dogwood’s work to resist 
LNG projects comes largely 
in the form of support for 
Indigenous leaders and 
communities on the frontlines
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Reflecting on Intentions
Every year, we see Dogwood’s commitments to jus­
tice, equity, decolonization and anti-racism further 
embedded into all the work we do. Increasingly, the 
"3 D’s” of our mission — decolonize, decarbonize, 
democratize — overlap in our organizing, campaign­
ing and solidarity work. 
At the same time, we continue to grapple with the 
challenges of reaching new audiences, diversifying 
our base of supporters and articulating our strategy 
for building people-power without electoral organizing 
as the central driving force of our work. We will carry 
these tensions into our priorities for the current year 
through continued collaboration, experimentation 
and adaptation.
Democracy, Justice 
and Solidarity
Corporate influence on government is getting in the 
way of all our work towards a just and safe future, 
and corroding our democracy. In 2023 we published 
original research about the intensity of corporate 
lobbying in the province and the revolving door 
between government and industry. Dogwood vol­
unteers confronted MLAs about this issue as they 
returned for the fall legislative session, prompting 
2,000 people to ask MLAs for stronger lobbying 
regulation in B.C. 
We sought to deepen our commitment to justice, 
equity and solidarity in our communication practices, 
broadening the scope of stories and opportunities 
for action we share with our audience. Building on 
Dogwood’s support for the grassroots advocacy 
group Defund C-IRG, we continued to share import­
ant information revealed about RCMP abuse in the 
raids on Wet’suwet’en land defenders and the tragic, 
discriminatory pattern of Indigenous people dying at 
the hands of police — without any accountability for 
those responsible. 
We also shared calls to action from worker and 
migrants rights organizations, including hosting a 
climate meetup at a Status for All rally. We highlighted 
the story of international student and climate activist 
Zain Haq who was threatened with deportation 
because of a record of civil disobedience in defence 
of the planet. At the 11th hour, Zain was spared 
deportation, thanks in part to the increased public 
scrutiny and pressure from fellow activists, including 
about 2,000 Dogwood supporters. 
Like most of the world in 2023 – 24, the horrific 
ongoing violence in Gaza impacted Dogwood staff, 
supporters, allies and members of our communities. 
As an organization dedicated to decolonization and 
democratic rights, Dogwood joined other organiza­
tions in calling for a ceasefire, and has shared oppor­
tunities for solidarity actions with our volunteers and 
social media audience throughout the year. 
These wider and intersecting narratives attracted 
new social media followers, inspired our existing 
supporters, and gradually became embedded into 
the everyday flow of work and priorities at the 
organization. 
Corporate influence on 
government is getting in the 
way of all our work towards 
a just and safe future
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Photo: Mike Graeme


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The new agreement also makes a reduced work 
week permanent at Dogwood. Going forward, all full-
time staff will work a 30-hour week without reduction 
in salaries. We were able to find creative ways to 
implement this work culture shift while still offering 
flexibility and advancing Dogwood’s mission in the 
world.
Reflecting on Intentions
Dogwood’s ongoing goal is to become a place where 
people of diverse identities, backgrounds and abil­
ities want to work, and feel safe as staff and volun­
teers. While the shift to a 30-hour work week and 
new collective agreement make progress towards 
this goal, we still have a long way to go and this year 
saw us falter in some areas.
Over the course of the year, three different staff 
members were on leave — a critical (and sometimes 
legally required) option for a healthy workplace 
to accommodate. At the same time, because we 
decided to temporarily adjust workloads rather 
than hire temporary staff, this left the organization 
shorthanded. The JEDI team was on hiatus for sev­
eral months, staff were under additional stress, and 
certain priorities and tasks had to be set aside. 
In part because of this, Dogwood neglected 
important structural, cultural and workplace safety 
measures for the newest members of Dogwood’s 
staff — our door-to-door fundraisers. We took steps 
to address and repair these issues in early 2024, but 
should have done better.
Structure, Culture 
& Governance
Everything we do at Dogwood relies on cultivating 
collaboration and a healthy work environment. This 
year we invested in three in-person staff meetings 
to reconnect, build trust, and spend time working 
together on critical strategy and organizational cul­
ture questions. 
A meeting in Victoria in June mixed strategic 
planning and discussions of building resilience in 
social change work with plenty of fun. In the fall, we 
gathered in Vancouver to revisit and revise some 
of the core assumptions at the heart of Dogwood’s 
strategic framework. These conversations built 
towards Dogwood’s annual staff-board retreat in 
February, our second year at Loon Lake Lodge in 
Katzie territory.
Based on the burnout prevention work the pre­
vious year, Dogwood piloted a four-day work week 
starting in May 2023. Working through our Labour 
Management Committee, and based on case study 
research, our team adjusted schedules and practices 
to accommodate the shift. We surveyed staff 
throughout the year to assess impacts on our work 
and our people. Feedback was overwhelmingly pos­
itive and we extended the pilot to continue until the 
completion of collective bargaining.
Dogwood’s first collective agreement with the 
BCGEU expired at the end of 2023, so union and 
management bargaining committees were back at 
the table for negotiations in early 2024. We ratified 
a new agreement just in time for the start of our new 
fiscal year that brings well-deserved salary raises 
that fell behind in recent years of unprecedented 
inflation, and additional benefits and commitments 
to develop important changes to workplace safety 
policies and workload management practices.
We were able to find creative 
ways to implement this work 
culture shift while still offering 
flexibility and advancing 
Dogwood’s mission in the world
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Finances & 
Fundraising
As you read this, there is a good chance you are one 
of the 4,157 people who stepped forward to make a 
gift to Dogwood this year. On average, that gift was 
$56.84 — a testament to the power of people coming 
together to make a difference. 
These individual gifts are important because 
of who we’re up against. Business interests in all 
industries, particularly oil & gas, are lavishing money 
on lobbyists and public relations teams to influence 
our government, and sway community opinion in 
favour of a truly dark future. One-time and monthly 
donations fuel the work to stop them, and without 
Dogwood’s donors, there would be little push-back 
against industry’s nihilistic message.
The foundation of Dogwood’s work is our circle of 
more than 2,000 monthly donors, who collectively 
contributed over $425,000 last year — $10, $15, and 
$20 at a time. Monthly gifts, at whatever amount, 
really add up!
Without generous people investing in our future 
and sustaining this work, we would surely be lost. 
Thank you for being a part of our success.
Reflecting on Intentions
Because it is our main interface with the capitalist 
system, fundraising can be a challenging aspect of 
our work to bring into alignment with the principles of 
justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. It starts with 
people helping people. That’s another good reason 
why your support matters, in whatever form it comes.
$637,491
$785,197
$245,982
$55,053
$1,723,723
$227,212
$328,254
$56,124
$9,966
$976,547
$23,191
$1,621,294
$102,429
 $(16,527.00)
$100,000
$18,210
$204,112
Financial summary
Revenue
Grants
Individual Contributions
Fee for Service
Other
Expenses
Overhead
Communications/Campaigns
Special Events
Travel
Human Resources
Amortization of Assets
Operating Income (Loss)
Gain (Loss) on foreign exchange
Loan Forgiveness
Equity Income
Excess of Revenue over Expenditures
Summary of revenues and expenditures
Year ended March 31, 2024
Revenue
Other
3%
Individual 
Contributions
46%
Fee for 
Service
14%
Grants 
37%
15 
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dogwoodbc.ca
Vancouver office
312 Main St, 2nd Floor
Vancouver, B.C.
 604-688-3578
Victoria office
864 Queens Ave.
Victoria, B.C.
 250-370-9930