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Connie McCutcheon: Engaging MISA Ontario’s Drive for Collaboration

Given she is the organization’s past president, it is understandable Connie McCutcheon is a vocal champion of the role Municipal Information Systems Association, Ontario (MISA Ontario) has in creating change.

However, given today’s interconnected world, she is quick to add the position is perhaps more important than ever.

Collaborator and Shared Successes

“I think MISA is so relevant because collaboration is the only way we are going to survive together,” McCutcheon said. “Every country has municipalities. So, MISA provides a platform form, not only for us to collaborate within Ontario and share each other’s success stories and lessons learned, but even to expand that through our partnerships … all across the globe.”

There is great learning that comes through working with new and ongoing partners, McCutcheon said. However, there is another benefit as well. For example, not having to “reinvent the wheel in times of fiscal challenges” is particularly beneficial, she said, and gives MISA members the ability to do more with less.

Engagement of MISA Membership

Over the past two years, McCutcheon said, MISA has been working steadily to further engage its membership and get them more involved. Collectively, she adds, that’s how the organization is going to make better decisions on behalf of everybody.

That engagement focus has paid off, McCutcheon said, through more people running for MISA elections, more people voting in those elections, and having more people engage on the organization’s behalf though social media.

From Engagement to Partnership

Given that momentum, she added, new MISA Ontario president Morgan Calvert will be able to focus on turning engagement into partnerships.

“Now that we’ve engaged these other organizations … the next step is to take these partnerships one step further,” she said. “There are opportunities for citizen partnership and collaboration as we build our future together. We’re going through this whole digital transformation … work with us, let’s get there together. I think that collaboration is so key in that.”  MW

✯ Municipal World Insider and Executive Members: You might also be interested in the article: Q&A: Meet MISA Ontario’s New President. Note that you can now access the complete collection of past articles (and more) from your membership dashboard.


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