Now, at 24, I’m in the process of becoming a social entrepreneur. To me, that means learning to use business as a force for good to tackle some of the more complicated problems I see around me.
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.
Fogo Island Inn and Furniture Bank are the 2017 recipients of the Social EnterPrize, a $100,000 award celebrating excellence in Canadian social entrepreneurship. The awards will be formally presented during EconoUs2017 on the evening of September 14th, 2017. Tickets now available!
Specifically hand-picked for their expertise, leadership, and knowledge of social entrepreneurship, the selection of the 2017 jury members was a strategic part of Trico Charitable Foundation’s plan to take the Social EnterPrize – and its work in building capacity in social entrepreneurship – to the next level . We are also thrilled the jury members represented Canada coast to coast, all the way from Fredericton, New Brunswick to Vancouver, British Columbia, while also drawing heavily from our home city, Calgary. We are grateful to our jury for choosing the two amazing and deserving organizations to be celebrated at EconoUs2017 on September 14th, 2017.
As we begin to think through the possibilities and ramifications, we become intentional in how we respond to and solve problems. It is by way of this understanding that we move through the murky waters of uncertainty, towards consistent methods of risk management and brand development.
To mix metaphors, seeing successful social enterprises as coral reefs may be the tip of the iceberg in a new understanding of how social enterprises grow and affect social change, and how we can help them do so. These themes will be explored more fully at our EconoUs2017 event Doing Business Differently: An evening of celebration and insight on September 14, 2017.
Recipient of the Social EnterPrize in 2011, Groupe Convex is featured in the latest edition of our case study series, our effort to more effectively tell the stories of amazing Canadian social enterprises.
Written by the Ontario Institute for Students in Education, University of Toronto, the case study demonstrates a social enterprise committed to generating meaningful jobs in an increasingly diverse number of ways. It also highlights the possible challenges of relying too much on a particular government policy and the difficult choices that come when one income stream does better than another.
On September 13-15, 2017, EconoUs2017 will convene up to 350 delegates and community leaders from across Canada and abroad for three days of learning, connecting, and celebrating the heart and soul of local economies. Trico Charitable Foundation is honoured to partner with EconoUs to bring the Social EnterPrize back home to Calgary and host a panel celebrating doing business differently on Thursday September 14th, 2017.
Working together, the JW McConnell Family Foundation’s RECODE project, the Skoll Centre For Entrepreneurship, and the Trico Foundation posed the question, “Could Canada be the first country to band together, and select two teams to participate in Skoll’s Global Challenge?”
The Calgary Zoo is not only a place to visit amazing animals from all around the world, it is a global leader in conservation, great research and social entrepreneurship.