Patricia J. Misutka
University of Alberta, School of Business
This land is our land: How the Greater Edmonton Alliance institutionalized urban agriculture, and its own position, at Edmonton's City Hall

misutka@ualberta.ca

Patricia is a second-year Phd student in Organization Analysis in the School of Business at the University of Alberta. Major areas of academic interest include environmental and regulatory issues and political mobilization of business and social movement organizations around environmental issues.

Prior to joining the Phd program, Patricia was employed as the Chief of Staff to Stephen Mandel, Mayor of Edmonton, a position she held since the Mayor was first elected in October 2004.

A seasoned public affairs professional, Patricia has more than 15 years of senior level public relations and political experience in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. Prior to joining the Mayor's office, she was employed as the Executive Director of Edmonton's Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation. She also worked as the senior Western Canadian executive for BenchMark Porter Novelli, a national public relations firm for which she established a Vancouver office and lead business development efforts.

Patricia has been active in the community as a volunteer with a number of organizations including LitFest, Edmonton's Non-Fiction Festival, WIN House, the Glenrose Hospital Foundation, the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation, as a community league soccer coach, and as a leader on several provincial and municipal campaigns.

Patricia received her Masters in Business Administration Degree from the School of Business at the University of Alberta. She also studied Honours History at the University of Alberta.

This land is our land: How the Greater Edmonton Alliance institutionalized urban agriculture, and its own position, at Edmonton's City Hall

Social movements are sources of reform-focused change within the institutional environment, marshalling public energy and desire for change into popularized campaigns that challenge and alter institutional order. Once the heat of a campaign has concluded however, issues of organizational sustainability become significant. This research focuses the major challenge of social movement organizations, that of sustaining legitimacy and organizational integrity beyond the campaign. Through a qualitative case study analysis of the efforts of the Greater Edmonton Alliance and its impacts on the City of Edmonton municipal plan, it considers how institutional challenge can translate into ongoing reform-oriented participation?