Fostering Equity Through Downstream, Midstream and Upstream Social Marketing

The mission of the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation, Canada’s largest private foundation, is to prevent poverty by contributing to the educational success of young Quebecers. The Foundation embraces a comprehensive approach. It supports parents, community mobilization, and the emergence of a societal movement to advance early childhood development and student retention. The Foundation has also developed an innovative philanthropic partnership with the Quebec government. Social marketing principles and practices are systematically applied in some of its initiatives, such as the promotion of parenting behaviors. In light of the multiple factors associated with complex issues such as child development and equity, social marketers need to go beyond downstream behavior change programs in their quest to make a meaningful contribution. They must increasingly adapt their social marketing practice to the context of community participation (midstream) and policy (upstream) initiatives—wherever they are members of multidisciplinary and multistakeholder teams.