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Shining light on our thinking & doing, our epiphanies & struggles, & our movement.

Spotlight on IRP Recipients: Ethically Aligned AI

Ethically Aligned AI is a tech start-up and social enterprise that is on a mission to help organizations build better AI systems and help people to make sound choices in selecting trustworthy AI-enabled products or services. Founder & CEO Katrina Ingram, discusses IRP funding, a plethora of learnings, and reimagining the future.

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From L to R: Michael Benarroch, President of the University of Manitoba; Wayne Chiu; Anne Mahon, Chancellor of the University of Manitoba

ICYMI: Wayne Chiu Champions Social Entrepreneurship While Receiving Honorary Degree

The honorary degree is the highest honour the University of Manitoba can confer upon an individual for distinguished achievement in scholarship, the arts, or public service. During Spring Convocation 2023, honorary degrees were bestowed upon six exceptional individuals including Wayne Chiu, Founder of The Trico Charitable Foundation (TCF) and Trico Group. We are unbelievably proud of his accomplishments and inspired by his constantly evolving vision of how business models can serve society!

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Aspirations for social enterprise set the bar too low

Two common refrains – hoping for the day when every business is a social enterprise, and claiming that social entrepreneurship “is a verb, not a noun” – sound positive. In fact, they’re holding us back from performing among the virtuosos of the world.

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Spotlight on IRP Recipients: Arts Council Wood Buffalo

The funding ACWB received from IRP was used for a Feasibility Study to determine if a property in the downtown core of Fort McMurray could be purchased, turned into an arts incubator, and run as a social enterprise, providing sustainability for the incubator and for Arts Council.

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Advancing Social Entrepreneurship: Reflections of an IRP Jury Member

Funded by the Government of Canada, the Investment Readiness Program (IRP) supports social purpose organizations as they contribute to solving pressing social, cultural and environmental challenges across Canada.

Its goal is to help social purpose organizations prepare them to be ready for investments and participate in Canada’s growing social finance market.

The latest IRP round was overseen in Alberta by the Banff Canmore Community Foundation (BCCF) in partnership with Red Deer Community Foundation (RDCF). BCCF and RDCF utilized a jury of 14 community members to deliberate on the applications and Dan Overall, Executive Director of the Trico Foundation, was honoured to be part of that jury.

Recently, BCCF sent Dan five questions about IRP. Some of his answers formed the basis of a BCCF blog that is available here. You can see the entirety of the questions and answers below.

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Trico Foundation & Social Entrepreneurship: 2022 in Review

Happy New Year! The start of 2023 gives us the opportunity to reflect and learn from 2022. Although 2022 came with its challenges, the past twelve months were busy, historic, and made great progress in advancing both social entrepreneurship and Calgary’s role as a hub for social entrepreneurship.

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