Mount Royal University (MRU) alumni Paisley Dressler is a leading example of a social entrepreneur who is making a difference internationally. Graduating in 2015 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, with a minor in social innovation and non-profit management, Paisley is the now the Operations Director of her social venture Project STOKE.
There are a growing number of events connected to social entrepreneurship. Many of them happen in our home city, demonstrating what an incredible hub of activity Calgary is. The Trico Foundation team is pleased to attend many of them and wish we could attend more. This list from the last 30 days is our attempt to thank the hosts of these events and help get the word out about their great work.
Already a published author, Carly Sotas is a great example of how Canadian students are creating social impact through equal parts collaboration, inspiration from others, and a deep-seated drive to make a difference.
Held at the MaRs Centre for Impact Investing Incubator, the 8th annual Social Finance Forum (SFF) event in November 2015 brought together Canadians to discuss best practices of business and community building. Through discussions around key insights and takeaways with several individuals who attended the event, it is clear the SFF stimulated some crucial themes: collaborating in new ways, networking, and navigating support.
The Trico Charitable Foundation is inviting Canadian post-secondary institutions to apply to undertake case studies on its Social EnterPrize recipients. In total, five social enterprises will be studied:
three Vancouver-based organizations: The Cleaning Solution, Mission Possible, & Potluck Cafe;
one Hawkesbury, Ontario-based organization: Groupe Convex Prescott-Russell; and
one Calgary-based organization: Women In Need Society [WINS].
What we need is a formula that recognizes the core elements of social entrepreneurship, moves us past the mentality of the simple ‘add on’, and celebrates the exponential power of social entrepreneurship when the core elements are truly blended into a mutual and synergistic whole.
Where to Begin offers a deep dive into models of post-secondary social innovation and/or social entrepreneurship hubs across North America. Commissioned by the Mount Royal University (MRU), Scaled Purpose conducted a wide scan of programs and their offerings across campuses in Canada and the United States, and then dove deeper into interviews with eight campuses to get at the heart of why certain programs have worked, and what we can learn from failures.
“It (the Social Finance Forum) was a wonderful opportunity to access information with various people that can help provide more energy and ideas on how we can grow the business” – Shaugn Schwartz
With over 500 attendees at the 8th annual Social Finance Forum (SFF), hosted by the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing this past November, many different insights and themes were inevitably going to emerge
This article was originally published on February 5th, 2016 on the SiG website. It has been cross-posted with permission from the author Kelsey Spitz, Senior Associate at SiG National.
“The truth about stories is that that’s all we are…” ― Thomas King, The Truth About Stories (2003)
This article was originally published on November 24th, 2015 on the ENP Canada website. It has been cross-posted with permission from the author Michelle Strutzenberger, Newsroom Chair, Axiom News.
As The Cleaning Solution adds yet another significant achievement to its name – winning the national Social EnterPrize – the Enterprising Non-profits Canada newsroom caught up with Executive Director Shaugn Schwartz to reflect on key learnings of the social enterprise to date.