--- PAGE 1 --- Annual Report April 2024 – March 2025 --- PAGE 2 --- Message from the Chair 4 Campaigns & Organizing 5 Design Erika Rathje Cover photo Mike Graeme Dogwood brings people together to strengthen our democracy, uphold Indigenous rights and defend the climate, land and water that sustain life in B.C. Structure, Culture & Governance 12 Finances and Fundraising 14 Financial summary 15 --- PAGE 3 --- Campaigns & Organizing Decarbonize The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline con­ tinued as a key focus of our LNG campaign in 2024. PRGT would send fracked gas from Northwest B.C. to the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG terminal on Pearse Island near the Alaska border. The American-owned pipeline would worsen climate change, threaten some of the healthiest salmon rivers in B.C., and transfer wealth and control of B.C.’s energy resources to U.S. billionaires. Dogwood is joining Gitanyow, Gitxsan and Nisga’a people, community associa­ tions, land owners, nonprofits and citizens across B.C. to stop PRGT. The gas pipeline’s environmental certificate expired in November 2024, but its owners, Western LNG, began early construction in an attempt to make the project appear ‘substantially started’. With the pro­ vincial government required to make a decision in spring 2025 on whether to allow PRGT to proceed, Dogwood’s campaigns and organizing teams focused on creating content that would create opposition to the short-sighted project, and mobilizing British Columbians to do something about it. Our videos on social media were especially popular and brought us huge numbers of new online sup­ porters. We collected tens of thousands of petition signatures and letters to the government, flooded ministers’ offices with phone calls, supported volun­ teers to meet with their MLAs, organized rallies and sit-ins, and showed up at key political moments like the swearing in of the new Cabinet. On the municipal front, Vancouver’s new mayor, Ken Sim, introduced plans to roll back the city’s climate policies. But thanks to the quick work of Dogwood volunteers and supporters, and a broad coalition of allied groups, Mayor Ken Sim and the gas lobby were shut down. Message from the Chair Along with my fellow board of directors from across B.C., it has been an honour to serve Dogwood in what has been a monumental year internationally, nationally and here at home. Dogwood has continued to focus on our core values and strategic mission, set out by a passionate and knowledgeable staff and board. In navigating two consequential elections, provincial and federal, Dogwood stuck to the key issues we knew would remain important regardless of who is in power. We also invested in relationships with coalition partners, allies and Indigenous groups, and together, drove us closer to achieving our shared goals against fracking, LNG and pipelines in B.C. This work continues to resonate with individual donors and foundations as once again we raised more money than we spent. We also experienced unprecedented growth in new supporters in early 2025 (and continuing) and are grateful to have so many Canadians support our urgent work. This past fall we were sad to say goodbye to HR Director Laura Benson. We thank her for her 10 years of campaign work, organizing power and professional­ ism in keeping our values in focus at Dogwood. After 15 years at Dogwood, Maggie Gilbert has brought her vast experience to the role of Director of People, Culture and Impact to fill Laura’s place. 2024 was another strong year for our board. Although we were sad to see Seth Klein step down after nearly five years of sage and thoughtful contri­ bution, we were pleased to welcome Jesse Stoeppler from Gitxsan territory in the Skeena Region and Ali Calladine and Kyle Falk-Varcoe from Vancouver Island to our diverse and knowledgeable board. Thank you to all of our supporters, donors, partners and allies for your continued faith in Dogwood’s work. I look forward to another year working together. Warmly, Ingrid Kastens Dogwood's campaigns and organizing teams sounded the alarm about the PRGT pipeline and mobilized tens of thousands of British Columbians to speak up in opposition 5 4 4 --- PAGE 4 --- This near loss highlighted the importance of our ongoing efforts under our Safer Homes campaign to educate communities on the climate and health harms of gas in buildings, and expose gas utility Fortis’ well-funded lobbying and greenwashing machine. Policies at the municipal and provincial level can make a difference, creating laws around using clean power for buildings instead of dirty fracked gas. Elections were aplenty at the end of 2024. The once powerful BC Liberal party folded the summer before the provincial election, leaving the BC NDP to compete against the reinvigorated Conservative party. With the Frack Free BC coalition, our organizing team supported volunteers to put their candidates on the spot about their stance on fracking, LNG and PRGT throughout the election campaign. We reached more than 30 candidates in dozens of ridings, including a high-profile appearance at the televised leaders’ debate and actions at Conservative leader John Rustad events in Surrey, Vancouver and Victoria. David Eby’s NDP managed to squeak out another win, with a single-seat majority prompting them to strike a governing deal with the BC Greens. Donald Trump’s victory in the south loomed large over our own federal election in early 2025, which came not long after Justin Trudeau stepped down and Mark Carney took his place. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre had had a commanding lead in the polls right up until the moment Donald Trump began to threaten Canada’s sovereignty, then everything changed. Poilievre’s party was defeated; Carney was in. The anti-American sentiment was swift and sus­ tained, an opportunity Dogwood seized upon to build more pressure against American-owned PRGT. In addition to its owners being Texas-based, the pipeline received a huge investment from Blackstone, one of the largest private-equity firms in the world, and run by one of Trump’s advisors and top donors, Steve Schwarzman. Dogwood’s ‘Stop the MAGA pipeline’ message touched a nerve in Canada, bringing in another wave of new supporters and donors — and creating discom­ fort for B.C. premier David Eby, whose government is banking heavily on expanding LNG projects like PRGT. Decolonize Throughout the year, Dogwood continued to support Gitxsan, Wet’suwet’en and Gitanyow communities in their quest to protect their territory from unwanted megaprojects, uphold Indigenous law and fight for sovereignty. In August, we helped coordinate the annual Peace & Unity summit and, thanks to Dogwood supporters, were able to send a staff delegation to the three- day summit where they contributed their skills and material resources. Peace & Unity is a place to build trust and reciprocity between Nations, and between Indigenous communities and settler allies. The gath­ ering was broadcast live and recorded, helping share the powerful voices and teachings of attendees with communities across B.C., and beyond. Communications Director turned interim LNG campaigner, Kai Nagata, spent his summer on Gitxsan and Gitanyow territory, supporting local community resistance to the PRGT pipeline, including land recla­ mation and helping to build a dog sanctuary in the The anti-American sentiment was swift and sustained, an opportunity Dogwood seized upon to build more pressure against American-owned PRGT 6 7 --- PAGE 5 --- Our organizing work in Surrey coalesced into the launch and co-anchoring of the Climate Roundtable for South Asian Diasporas. This project aims to increase climate literacy, strengthen civic and political engagement, and grow a resilient, interconnected network of leaders from the South Asian diaspora who are ready to take action on the overlapping crises of climate, affordability and inequality. Highlights in 2024 included community outreach at cultural events and voter education during both the provincial and federal election. Throughout the year, we continued our commit­ ment to share stories, connect the dots and amplify calls to action in support of communities affected by climate change, colonial injustice and disenfran­ chisement. This includes sharing Palestinian soli­ darity opportunities, supporting campaigns to fight the deportation of climate activist and international student Zain Haq and pushing for safe work condi­ tions during extreme heat. Reflecting on Intentions The need to solve urgent economic and social chal­ lenges has put the issue of climate on the back­ burner for a lot of voters. Without the watchful eye of the public, politicians at all levels of government have been quietly — or not so quietly — dismantling or ignoring their climate commitments. Finding messages that grab attention, approaches that meet people where they are at and opportunities to collab­ orate across lines of difference is an urgent challenge that we grapple with every day at Dogwood. We are committed to finding creative ways to protect the gains our movement has made and advance our long-term goals. path of the looming project. We also provided logis­ tical support for community member trainings and conducted research to help inform legal challenges against PRGT. In the spring, Kai travelled with a delegation of Indigenous leadership to Japan and South Korea to meet with potential LNG investors, and with activists fighting within their own countries to stop the flow of Canadian gas to their communities and surrounding countries. On southern Vancouver Island, Dogwood staff and volunteers living on W̱ SÁNEĆ territory continued to lend a hand to Indigenous-led land reclamation work and cultural events, including invasive species removal and the Yellow Wolf powwow. Dogwood is a member of the W̱ SÁNEĆ Lands Trust Society’s Community of Practice group, meeting periodically to hear how we can support WLTS’ landback work. Democracy, Justice and Solidarity Political tensions and global tragedies hit hard in 2024, and Dogwood was not immune. The rise in polarization, war and social unrest undoubtedly shaped the way we approached our campaign work, and affected how we showed up for volunteers, supporters and each other. Fighting industry misinformation and right-wing rhetoric became an increasingly important part of our work. This includes original research and content to debunk popular talking points and expose corporate influence on politicians and our democracy. This also showed up in the work of our organizing and volunteer teams engaged in public outreach and education, and in creating spaces for community-building to fight polarization and isolation. The Climate Roundtable for South Asian Diasporas aims to build a network of leaders and strengthen political engagement on climate within the community 9 8 --- PAGE 6 --- photo: mike graeme photo: trevor leach --- PAGE 7 --- Reflecting on Intentions We have a long and aspirational to-do list in the area of organizational structure, culture and governance. This year there was a heavy workload in hiring and onboarding new staff and prioritizing in-person staff gatherings so that our almost entirely remote staff have a chance to connect and build the capacity to work at their best together. This has meant that some more process oriented items on our list such as final­ izing our new Health and Safety policy have been back burnered. In the coming year we hope to find the time to complete some key policy projects while still maintaining the spirit of the organization. Structure, Culture and Governance Dogwood staff and board completed two milestone documents this year: our new Strategic Framework and our Solidarity Memo. These two reports are the culmination of a multi-year process to refresh and re-focus our understanding of the type of work Dogwood does in the world, and how we want to show up to uphold our organizational values. These documents are shaped by and are shaping the culture at Dogwood as an organization that pri­ oritizes standing in solidarity, organizing and building community to fight polarization as we work towards our long-term vision of a decolonized, decarbonized and democratized B.C. We have worked hard at Dogwood to reduce burn­ out, retain staff through policy and organizational culture, and create opportunity for advancement and this year we saw the fruits of that labour. HR Director Laura Benson left Dogwood in the fall but not before serving over 10 years on staff at Dogwood. Her role on the executive team was filled by Maggie Gilbert who has taken on the role of Director of People, Culture and Impact after over 15 years at Dogwood. Director of Communications Kai Nagata stepped into full time campaigning on our LNG campaign and ten year communications team veteran Christina Smethurst stepped up to fill the Interim Director of Communications role on our executive team. These shifts on the leadership team have provided new energy and insight to the continuing process of shaping and sustaining Dogwood. We were also able to bring two new staff members onto the team: Brenton Walters into the position of Digital Innovation Manager and Savannah Barratt as our Vancouver Island Organizing Coordinator. 13 12 --- PAGE 8 --- Finances and Fundraising Our opponent on the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline famously said “money is ammunition.” When we’re up against the deep pockets of the oil and gas industry, we have to make every shot count. As you read this, there is a good chance you are one of the 3,891 people who stepped forward to make a gift to Dogwood this year. And if you are one of the 892 who made their first donation this year, welcome! We are stronger together, and we are grateful that so many of you understand the impact your gift has. The foundation underlying our collective strength is our circle of more than 2,000 monthly donors, who collectively contributed over $400,000 last year — $10, $15, and $20 at a time. Monthly gifts, at whatever amount, really add up! And when we can count on them each month, come what may, we can respond to whatever our adversaries throw our way. Without generous people investing in our future and sustaining this work, we would surely be lost. Thank you for being a part of our success. Of note, this year we were notified of three bequests to Dogwood. Caring, committed, long-term thinkers made a plan to leave a legacy of activism in their will. It is one of the most powerful votes of confidence in our work. I encourage you to get in touch if you’d like to know how to follow their example. Reflecting on Intentions While others may shy away, we choose to take on fights with powerful adversaries. While they will always have more money than we do, we have people power and the generosity of supporters like you. With limited resources, we make every dollar count. In the coming year, we intend to show just what we can do to show our adversaries the door. Financial summary Summary of revenues and expenditures Year ended March 31, 2025 Revenue Other 4% Individual Contributions 39% Fee for Service 18% Grants 39% Revenue Grants $747,669 Individual Contributions $753,110 Fee for Service $347,477 Other $80,310 $1,928,566 Expenses Overhead $257,735 Communications/Campaigns $235,335 Special Events $60,470 Travel $31,943 Human Resources $1,119,407 Amortization of Assets $21,491 $1,726,381 Operating Income (Loss) $202,185 Gain (Loss) on foreign exchange $245 Loan Forgiveness $0 Equity Income $13,596 Excess of Revenue over Expenditures $202,185 15 14 --- PAGE 9 --- dogwoodbc.ca Vancouver office 312 Main St, 2nd Floor Vancouver, B.C.  604-688-3578 Victoria office 864 Queens Ave. Victoria, B.C.  250-370-9930