AFRICAN CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF OTTAWA

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When the ACAO discovered OWL, the timing couldn't have been better. The charity provides support, resources, and advocacy to empower individuals and families of African descent—and it was searching for a digital platform to help it fulfill its mission.

In addition to supporting people of African descent in the Ottawa area, ACAO fosters cultural awareness and inclusivity within the community. So charity leader Hector Addison was thrilled to discover that there is a free online platform to equip his team members with skills and knowledge they need.

How we discovered OWL

An OWL rep reached out by email, but the offer of a free eLearning platform and free content sounded too good to be true. Thankfully, it is true!

How we are using OWL

We use OWL for many different purposes, including board training, volunteer orientation, and staff onboarding. The platform has enhanced the efficiency of our operations by providing a centralized platform for training and development. It has streamlined our processes, improved the quality of our training initiatives, and enabled us to track progress and performance.

Our favourite courses so far are...

  1. Board Governance in the Non-Profit Sector
  2. People-Focused Leadership Series
  3. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

What we want other charities to know

OWL has helped us reduce administrative burdens associated with traditional training methods, and the fact that it’s totally FREE is makes it indispensable to charities like ours. The switch from our old LMS instantly saved us more than $10k in platform and content fees. We wish we had known about OWL earlier!

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With OWL's user-friendly interface and well-curated course modules, we can now facilitate continuous and consistent learning and development for our team.

Hector Addison

African Canadian Association of Ottawa

By Emma Browne July 8, 2026
Running a nonprofit means wearing a dozen hats at once — board liaison, team manager, grant writer, fundraiser, and more, often all before lunch. That's why we're excited to announce 4 new courses on OWL (Open World Learning) designed specifically for nonprofit and charity professionals who want practical, real-world skills without the fluff. We launch new courses every quarter to best serve our nonprofit champions. If you're interested in our last course drop, you can browse through 13 free nonprofit courses we released in March 2026 . Why These Courses, Why Now Nonprofits are being asked to do more with less — tighter budgets, smaller teams, and higher expectations from donors and boards alike. These four courses were built to address the exact pressure points that come up again and again in the sector: governance, people management, funding, and fundraising. Each course is self-paced, practical, and built by people who understand nonprofit work isn't a scaled-down version of the corporate world — it's its own discipline with its own challenges.
By Emma Browne March 17, 2026
We’re excited to announce a new set of courses on the OWL Learning Platform , designed to support nonprofit professionals, board members, and organizational leaders. These new additions focus on the core skills needed to run, grow, and sustain effective nonprofit organizations. You'll find these courses under the following categories on your dashboard.