Three years ago, social innovator Caleb Grove was inspired to start his first entrepreneurship project before he left for Bambalang, a small rural community in the North-West region of Cameroon. Caleb recently completed a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (BSc Mechanical) at the University of New Brunswick (UNB).
Green Cup is a new project started by post-secondary student Austin (Ozzy) Lang and co-founded by his colleague Emily Bartlett. This for-profit endeavour aims to make a positive impact on the environment by creating compostable coffee cups. Calgary does not currently have a compost system, so these cups are thrown out in bins labelled with the Green Cup logo and instructions for disposal.
To commemorate the first official Social Entrepreneurship Day in Calgary, Trico Charitable Foundation is pleased to announce $700,000 in local social entrepreneurship programming.
“The existence of the Social Entrepreneurship Day Proclamation as well as the wonderful sentiments it contains (the Proclamation is attached to this News Release) are a fitting testament to the extraordinary momentum Calgary is gathering as a hub for social entrepreneurship” says Dan Overall, Director of the Trico Charitable Foundation. “We are honoured to both celebrate and support that momentum with this commitment to our home city.”
Eight talented university students were chosen this year to participate in Students for Social Impact 2016 (SSIM), which is an international exchange program with students from Canada and the UK. They each have an idea for a social venture that addresses a local problem or global challenge.
Social entrepreneur and community organizer Mauricio Buschinelli is the co-founder of Cycle AlimenTerre (CAT), a Montreal-based start-up that uses urban agriculture and micro-greens to address issues of local food security. The idea of micro-greens is to grow as much produce as possible within a small space, generally in urban areas.
Rhea Higginson’s story is another example of how the post-secondary education system is able to inspire, nurture, and support an incredibly diverse range of personal social enterprise journeys.
Open Market is the impressive brainchild of Saadan Sulehri, a business and engineering student who is expected to graduate from The University of British Columbia (UBC) in December 2016. Sulehri was first inspired during his time in Pakistan to make a difference, and it was at the University of British Columbia (UBC) where he received the help he needed to figure out how to make his aspirations a reality.
Jennifer Fischer is an example of a student who won’t let barriers stop her from pursuing a project that will improve Toronto’s green space. She is the sole proprietor of Soul Roots, an endeavour that began as part of the SocialVentures Zone community at Ryerson University.
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.
As with many entrepreneurs, Paul Shumlich, founder and innovator of Deepwater Farms, radiates a certain something that makes success seem effortless. Behind his instinctive nature, however, comes a driven work ethic and a tremendous passion for making the world a better place.