Toronto, ON – Ontario Education Collaborative Marketplace (OECM), the not-for-profit collaborative sourcing partner for Ontario’s education sector, broader public sector and other not-for-profit organizations, announced that the Board of Directors has approved a funding provision totaling $2.25 million to be allocated to the Education Sector Success Sharing (ESSS) reserve.
OECM’s ESSS reserve was established as an opportunity for surplus funds generated through collaborative spend on OECM contracts and not required by OECM for operational expenditures, to be set aside and invested back into the three education sectors — School Boards, Colleges and Universities — to facilitate opportunities for collaboration. Earlier in 2019, OECM’s Board of Directors approved $1.5 million, with an additional $750,000 approved on December 18, 2019, resulting in a total amount of $2.25 million to be reinvested into Ontario’s education sector.
“OECM’s Board of Directors is proud to support Ontario’s school boards, colleges and universities through the endorsement of the Education Sector Success Sharing (ESSS) reserve,” says Arnold Strub, Chair of the Board, OECM. “One of our core responsibilities is to ensure that OECM continues to deliver value to our customers in the education sector in the years ahead by providing ongoing opportunities to collaborate, minimize costs, generate savings and create greater efficiencies.”
The funds will be made available to Ontario’s school boards, colleges and universities through their respective business administration coordinating groups: the Council of Senior Business Officials (COSBO), Administrative Services Coordinating Committee (ASCC) and Council of Senior Administrative Officers (CSAO), and will be allocated proportionate to sector participation in OECM contracts and spend. Funding dispersal (i.e. initiatives to be supported) is at the discretion of COSBO, ASCC and CSAO, however resources available through OECM’s Education Sector Success Sharing reserve are intended to be used to support and facilitate collaboration amongst and between the various institutions in the education sectors.
“The entire OECM team is laser-focused on our organization’s mission, which is to help generate savings to support excellence in education by unlocking the potential of collaborative strategic sourcing,” says John Sabo, President and CEO, OECM. “It gives us all great pleasure to see this mission come to life, and to also be able to generate surplus funds that can be directly reinvested back into the Education sector.”
In addition to the ESSS reserve, OECM also dispenses funds into the Education Sector Collaborative Events reserve, which is used to support innovative and collaborative sector events, hosted by OECM. In 2019, this included the delivery of the first-ever Ontario Education Sector Collaboration Networking Symposium, which offered senior leaders from and associated with Ontario’s 116 educational institutions a unique opportunity to meet face-to-face, share ideas and discuss opportunities for collaboration with each other and amongst the three sectors.
For more information, please contact:
John Sabo
President & CEO, OECM
