Activa believes in bringing life to communities. They are a major land developer and home builder with well-established roots in Waterloo Region over the last 30 years, and they’ve been involved in the planning stages of many local communities and neighbourhoods around our community. Activa is also passionate about supporting and giving back to organizations making a difference in the community. That’s why they choose to invest in, and partner with Leadership Waterloo Region.

 

“Community extends far beyond that of roads, sidewalks, and houses. It’s where you and others around you have a feeling of fellowship as a result of sharing common interests, enjoyment of your homes and the features around your homes. Community brings a sense of belonging and looking out for those around you. I believe this is something that Activa truly helps foster,” shares Activa CEO, Tony Giovinazzo, “in that sense, we’re completely aligned with LWR in our goals and in ensuring the continued success of our Region.” 

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Activa saw an opportunity in LWR’s revamped Core Program curriculum, in particular, the social innovation lab project. As a way to increase the impact of the Core Program’s group work, LWR, in 2019, entered into a partnership with The Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience (WISIR) at the University of Waterloo and Wellbeing Waterloo Region. WISIR brings community stakeholders together around a complex problem and involves students in working through a process designed to breed systems innovation.

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WISIR facilitated the project portion of the 2020 class. Through that facilitation, the class collectively tackled one issue as identified as a priority by Wellbeing Waterloo Region: Affordable Housing.  

 

Activa stepped forward in partnership with LWR’s Core Program at a pivotal point in its evolution. The program was overhauled to not only include the social innovation lab approach, but with newly refined goals, and an intentional approach to weave diversity and inclusion throughout the program. 

 

As a home builder who believes in more than just creating buildings, the work of the social innovation lab was a great fit. Activa, and Tony in particular, not only sponsored the pilot year of the program, he actively participated in workshops, affordable housing world cafes, and presentations, providing feedback, and the builders perspective. He gave the greatest gift of all – his time. 

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“We chose to support LWR as volunteerism and giving back to the community is important to keep the Region vibrant.” Adds Giovinazzo, “as a developer/homebuilder, the affordable housing initiative is very important to us. We felt affordable housing was in crisis and needed attention and out of the box thinking, as well as the support of key community stakeholders to rally behind this initiative.”

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As the Core Program moves forward into the Class of 2021, the innovation lab will continue to develop solutions for the affordable housing crisis. LWR is proud and honoured to be working alongside committed community builders like Activa.