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.
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.
Executive Director Sean Campbell of Union-Cooperative talks about their biggest learnings, partnerships, and next steps.
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.
As Catalyst 2030 acknowledges, its approach is not a one-size fits all. We will use their principles and suggestions in a way that fits the work we do while continuing to reflect upon the assessment results, learning, and receiving ongoing feedback from the community we serve.
Co-Founder Bronwyn Bridges of PragmaClin talks about their mission, selling into healthcare, perseverance, and next steps.
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.
Co-Founders Katie Forsyth and Claire McLoughlin of Friendly Composting discuss cash flow, learning how to pace themselves, impact, and next steps.
This year’s NU national awards competition featured six finalists for the awards. The NU Community Board offered two primary prizes: The Board Award ($25,000) and the Audience Vote Award ($25,000). In a surprise turn of events, we also decided to award each finalist who did not receive a primary prize an award of $5,000.
Namada was created through the collective wisdom of a Social Impact Working Group consisting of the Government of Alberta, AB Seed, and several key community partners, including the Social Enterprise Fund, Trico Foundation, and United Way Calgary. The group committed to lengthy, ongoing conversations over the course of a year to really dig deep into how they might better support and understand the social enterprise ecosystem in Alberta.