Hollyhock: How Activate 2026 touched their Lives

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - A little over two weeks ago, Laurel Dault, Director of Impact at Hollyhock, invited Cortes Island non-profits to take part in the Activate program as her guests. A number of us wanted to go, but in the end, I believe only three local residents actually made it. We joined more than 60 activists, non-profit leaders, digital media workers, and progressives for an incredible five-day experience that went beyond a smorgasbord of ideas to include everything a Hollyhock experience has to offer. Normally, I would cover this event in a single broadcast, but there were simply too many interviews that need a space of their own. So I decided to write a series of stories, starting with one about the Activate program. Laurel Dault explained:,“Activate is about bringing together people who are working every single day toward human rights, justice, climate, more-than-human rights, and giving them a space to learn from one another, to share their challenges, to develop their skills, to rest, and most importantly, to develop a network of people who support each other day to day and year-round.” “The wins that these participants are having in their day-to-day lives, and the losses that they’re having, impact every single human in this country and potentially even the world. They’re working in politics. They’re working in policy. They’re working in how people show up. At this time of wildfires, we have, I think, 20 climate organizers here this year. what better thing could we be doing with this place, these facilities, and our skills in convening than serving those folks who are trying to solve problems that impact not only every Canadian, but every single person on the planet?”