About Finding Home

The Finding Home Initiative supports individuals and neighbourhoods to foster a sense of belonging, build inclusive communities and increase effectiveness in responding to personal, local and global challenges.

Founded in 2006 by Jessie Sutherland, Finding Home is the culmination of more than 20 years of passion and expertise in the fields of community development, cross-cultural training and dialogue. Our clients who implement our recommendations experience a significant increase in engaging diverse populations and generating innovative solutions to everyday challenges.

Through seniors and neighbourhood dialogues , community engagement & diversity training , keynote addresses , asset mapping , and our publications , our clients build capacity within their neighbourhoods to foster a sense of belonging, build inclusive communities, generate residents’ led projects and increase effectiveness in responding to personal and community challenges.

The Finding Home Story

Like many beginnings, Finding Home grew out of an idea about how the world could be rather than the way it was. In 2000, Jessie Sutherland worked on human rights in South America and when she returned to Canada she became curious about the nature of collective denial and how to shift human consciousness about our relationship to each other and to the environment. This inquiry led her to completing her Masters Degree in Dispute Resolution at the University of Victoria where she investigated approaches to reconciliation initiatives from around the world. This led her to develop a new framework and practical skills for fostering reconciliation.

Worldview Skills: Transforming Conflict From The Inside Out was published in 2005 and Jessie Sutherland began to give keynote addresses, workshops , public conversations, seminars, courses and teleconferences on Worldview Skills and Reconciliation . Committed to capacity building that reaches residents, community leaders and practitioners alike, the idea for a place-based initiative was born.

In 2006, Worldview Strategies launched Finding Home™: How To Belong In A Changing World , a neighbourhood dialogue and capacity building initiative, and has since grown our already impressive record of client and neighbourhood success stories.

Our Team

Jessie Sutherland, M.A in Dispute Resolution, is the innovator of the Finding Home Program and author of the book Worldview Skills: Transforming Conflict From The Inside Out. Jessie has 20 years experience in cross-cultural conflict resolution, dialogue processes, community development, and international affairs. In Canada, she has lived and worked in British Columbia, Quebec, and northern Indigenous communities. Worldwide, she has lived and worked in Europe, the Middle East, West Africa and South America. Her work in these many communities taught her of the importance both of belonging and of the need for a values-based approach to address community challenges. Her approach has proved to be effective in addressing both personal and community challenges. Jessie finds a sense of home by kayaking, long walks by the ocean and sharing delicious food with fabulous people.

Selected Publications

Sutherland, Jessie. Worldview Skills: Transforming Conflict From The Inside Out, Sooke: Worldview Strategies Publications, 2005.

Whittington, Barbara and Sutherland, Jessie. "Restorative Justice: Re-Thinking Responsibility." In A Legal Handbook for the Helping Professional, Victoria: Sutherland, Jessie and Whittington, Barbara, edited by Max Uhlemann and David Turner, 2007.

Sutherland, Jessie. Finding Home: Belonging, Connection and Community Discussion Paper & Workbook, Vancouver: 2007.

Sutherland, Jessie. National Day of Healing and Reconciliation Newsletters, issues #1 & 2, Edmonton: 2004.

Sutherland, Jessie. “Moving Beyond Entrenched Positions: A Dialogue for a Pluralistic and Unified Quebec,” Montreal: Cantilevers, an international journal on peace-building initiatives, 1999.

Anne-Marie Leong, BDes in Communication Design, is an award winning graduate of Emily Carr University who specializes in integrating marketing strategy with design solutions. She is a multi-platform designer with an intuitive feel for form, proportions and abstract thoughts. Her aptitude for problem solving helps her provide insight to copywriting, branding and developing user friendly information systems. In addition to creating communication and branding materials for Finding Home, she also designs posters, workbooks, publications and provides design consultation. Anne-Marie finds a sense of home through the notion of gathering together to share a meal or to simply spend time with each other.