The first day I started Trico Charitable Foundation I looked around the office and thought, where’s the phone?
Two short weeks later, on Valentine’s Day, the Foundation officially kicked off its commitment to advance social entrepreneurship. The strategy for our first year included support for non-profit social enterprises through the launch of Enterprising Non-Profits Alberta (enp Alberta) and the Social EnterPrize, support for for-profit social business through a partnership with the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, and the production of the Enterprising Spirit conference….and finding a phone.
Today is Valentine’s Day, and it’s amazing to me that the Foundation is already heading into its third year.
Like our first Valentine’s Day, last night we invited friends to join us at our offices to celebrate the launch of a new partnership – Enterprising Non-Profits Canada (enp-Canada). Building on the work of enp affiliates across Canada, Trico Foundation is partnering with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) to help build the infrastructure and support local advancement of social enterprise – nationwide. The $1.5 million partnership over three years will help build communication, research, and local technical assistance to create a network of social enterprise practitioners and supporters across Canada.
The creation of enp-Canada is evidence that it is the time is right for social entrepreneurship in Canada. It is also indicative that all of this work is only do-able through great partnerships and collaborations. For the Foundation, our capacity building and education focus is fueled by the many great connections and networks that have developed over the past two years. Through our enp-Alberta program, we have met over a hundred Alberta-based organizations and have given over $200k in grants to help further the advancement of social enterprise ideas. While granting money is nice, enp-Alberta has taught us that in order to create impactful social change, organizations need increased access to education and capacity building opportunities.
It was this insight that spurred the creation of our Educator-in-Residence program, and in its first year we were thrilled to welcome Alex Bruton from Mount Royal University to the Foundation. As a professor, Alex focuses on the intersection of innovation and social change. With his expertise, we were able to offer our grantees and community more in-depth workshops and one-on-one time to deepen the impact of social enterprise & social business ideas. In addition to the in-person education that Alex provided, we renewed our partnership with the Canadian Youth Business Foundation as they rolled out their new suite of social business education on-line tools. It was with this focus on deepening education and capacity, that we were proud to sponsor the social enterprise category at the SVP Calgary Social Innovation Fast Pitch. Over the course of two months, organizations and coaches met together to help better tell the stories of impact and developed three minute pitches. Over 400 Calgarians joined to watch the finalists share their passion and impact through their pitches. We were pleased to award Calgary Sexual Health Center with the best social enterprise pitch of the evening.
In 2012, these local partnerships allowed us to continue our offerings of events, workshops and afterhours all with a focus on creating better access for education and capacity building around social enterprise. Hearing from our community we continued to refine our offerings from Big Ideas! with Alex Bruton to legal information with David Ross. We also experimented with new models of delivering this education, proudly hosting Mount Royal University students as they conducted a peer-to-peer social entrepreneurship bootcamp in the fall. While we listened to our own community, we also kept an ear to what others were thinking about social entrepreneurship. In 2011, the Foundation partnered with Daniel Lai at University of Calgary to conduct research on the business community’s interest, understanding and attitudes towards social enterprise. In the fall, Dr. Lai presented his research and the outcomes show great opportunity for future collaborations between traditional businesses and social entrepreneurs. These are the types of great partnerships that will continue to build strong education offerings for social entrepreneurs in Calgary and across Canada.
In 2013, in addition to advancing local connections, we look forward to learning from our international colleagues. From October 2-4 2013, Trico Foundation will host the 6th annual Social Enterprise World Forum. As the first time in Canada, the conference provides the opportunity to share Canada’s thriving social entrepreneurship community with the world and to learn the best examples from around the world to make it even better. Trico Foundation will also award our Social EnterPrize during the conference. The award seeks out the best examples of social entrepreneurship across Canada through social enterprises and social businesses. (And applications are open now!)
On the home front, with all of the activities happening in 2012, we outgrew the space we where we lived. In August, the Foundation moved into the building next door (with some very nice renovations) to allow more room for these great collaborations and events to occur. And that, of course, meant finding new telephones. (Although, Brittni found them this time.)
The integral part to all of these great initiatives, events, and connections are the people. Throughout 2012 we had the opportunity to partner with amazing minds and passionate hearts. Our Board of Directors are a well-rounded and talented group who keep us on track, focused on impact, and always asking, “what’s next?”. And our staff, Dan, Brittni, Ann & Kristian, continue to punch above their weight by continually developing partnerships, innovating initiatives, and providing (often, really big) answers to “what’s next?”
As a small and young foundation, we don’t have all the answers, but we’re curious and keen to keep learning. Undoubtedly, by the time Valentine’s Day rolls around next year we’ll have plenty more to celebrate and share.
Cheers,
Michele