Q & A Cape Breton

Conversation with Tyler Mattheis and Katie Jamieson

The Cape Breton Connector Program has been a mainstay of the Cape Breton Partnership since 2017, and is synonymous with the Partnership across the Island. The program has helped hundreds of newcomers, international and domestic students, and underemployed locals stay in the community they call home, and build a life in Cape Breton. We caught up with Program Coordinator Katie Jamieson, and Cape Breton Partnership CEO Tyler Mattheis to chat about the program and its impact on the Island.

Interview by Alida Campbell.

Alida manages the National Connector Program and continues to be inspired by the stories of connection and growth that participants share across the country.

Alida:

Thanks to you both for sitting down with me today to chat about the National Connector Program. How do you see the program benefiting your organization?

Katie:

The Connector Program allows the Partnership to continuously engage with local leaders on significant topics that are important to people across the island. It helps the Partnership connect various communities with one another across the island, and this leads to a more inclusive island community. This shows newcomers and new graduates how wonderful it is to live on Cape Breton Island. So, it helps us fulfill our mission!

Tyler:

The program isn’t that complicated, so it’s easy to implement. It makes connections happen, and it creates trusting relationships. It fits really well into our organization as a pipeline to other programs we provide, as well as a next step from programs.

Alida:

Cape Breton is a primarily rural area in Nova Scotia. How does the program work to impact the community when it is spread out?

Tyler:

Our coordinator is located in Port Hood, a rural community on the island. That’s really important because it shows that the program is something that happens across Cape Breton, not only in one city. We measure the outcomes, and report on those outcomes. When we do this, people know it has value. If they know the program has value, and deals with people in, and the building of communities across Cape Breton, then people know and understand that we value the people we serve, who live all around the island.

Katie:

I have firsthand experience trying to make connections in a rural community as a new graduate, and it isn’t easy. Programming is important in helping people make connections in a community, and it can have a huge impact on a person’s life, and the community as a whole. This is especially true when someone is starting out with very little networking experience.

Alida:

What impact does the program have on Connectees and Connectors in your community?

Tyler:

It helps newcomers get connected. It destigmatizes newcomers in the community – it helps to normalize the international students that are here. We have a lot of international students from one particular country, but this program personalizes them, and instead of being grouped together, they become their own person in the community and people’s eyes, and that’s really important. For local leaders, the Connector Program gives people that want to do something for their community a bounded, effective job where they don’t have to worry about scope creep, or learning something new, it just allows them to help newcomers, which is what they want to do. One of our connectors has said that it is the best way to spend thirty minutes to help your community. It’s low cost and high impact.

Alida:

Thanks so much for your thoughts on the Connector Program today. It’s really important to have the program in a wide variety of areas across the country, rural, urban, suburban, because each