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Who We Are
ECHO Inc. is an incorporated charitable organization, established in 2017, to help bring awareness to the plethora of historical assets and stunning vistas that we have on the Southern Avalon.
Collaboration is our philosophy. We thrive by working with our partners on various projects on a municipal, provincial, and international level.
​We are located two hours south of the provincial capital of St. John's in a region called the Irish Loop.
We represent the communities of Portugal Cove South, Biscay Bay, Trepassey, St. Shott's and St.Vincent's-St.Stephen's-Peter's River.
The well being of these places and its people are at the heart of all that we do. We're thrilled to have board member representation from all of the communities that we support.
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What Inspires Us
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Amelia Earhart, with her trail-blazing, innovative drive, made her a solid choice as the figure head for our organization.
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For 12 days in June of 1928 she and her crew from "The Friendship" experienced the hospitality and kindness of the people in the community of Trepassey.
This historical event launched Amelia onto the world stage and solidified her desire to become a legendary female aviator.
Times have changed since then but the hospitality of the people in our region remains.
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Amelia, and her innovative spirit, has inspired our board to keep on trying new ways of engaging our community members - whether it was through the arts, facilitating regional events, or feeding our people through future food security projects, ECHO is an organization that is keen to create collaborative and creative partnerships, to help grow both our social and economic well being for the communities we represent.
Successes
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In 2016 a committee was formed so we could help tell, and preserve, our historical legacies.
​The Earhart Cultural Heritage Organization Inc. is a charitable organization founded in 2016 by members who have ties to the Southern Avalon in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
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ECHO saw the potential that this part of the Irish Loop had to develop our tourism offerings around our anchor attraction, the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve and its ancient fossils.
What we noticed in the early years is how communities seemed to work independently, rather than in collaboration with each other, on economic or socially related projects or events within the region.
Our focus in the beginning was about building those community connections. It was our intention to get the people in our region working together. Through our arts initiatives we’ve seen things slowly change, as is demonstrated by having ECHO board members representing all the communities on the Southern Avalon.
Since 2017 we have built community beautification projects as well as initiatives that celebrate our local history and culture. Yet it was by creating our moving arts showcase that was staged in all of our towns via the Southern Avalon Performance Series in 2022, that helped us connect even deeper with each of our communities.
That cross-community team building has been very successful.
In 2023 the organization got involved with the Gros Morne Institute of Sustainable Tourism in the ACTivate program (see tab), which is being taught by the Coady Institute. We've been learning about the power of community led initiatives and how they offer the best outcomes because you're tapping into what people care about - and home is something people care about very much.
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We've been able to share that knowledge with not only our own communities, but have been a big driver of tourism development events for the Irish Loop region.
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Find out MORE by visiting the ACTivate, Tourism, and Southern Avalon Performance Series tabs under the ABOUT section.​​
Get to Know Us
Meet our Board
Michelle Myrick - Chair
Michael Kennedy - Vice Chair
Joan Power - Treasurer
Karen O'Leary - Secretary
Members at Large
Trevor Halleran
Carol Ann Devereaux
Verna Hayward
Staff
Genevieve McCorquodale, Executive Director
With three lighthouses in our region,
we know how to keep the lights on for those that wander ...