This report sets out to understand if, and how, Canadian post-secondary students might be using tests, experimentation and effective learning to advance a social or environmental cause they are passionate about.
Will this bring about the transformation of capitalism the world needs? It’s a fortuitous moment that could well be a watershed, the potential dawn of a fundamentally new era of social impact.
To zero in on the testing you need, you have to balance two perspectives. On the one hand, you want to be aware of and prepare for all key risks/thresholds as you move from where you are now to what you want your social venture to be when it is in its ‘steady state’ (i.e. your model has proven to be a success and growth is predictable and steady. A typical barometer in this regard is what your venture will look like five years after it starts). This will also help make sure you are building towards your goals rather than building a bridge to nowhere (this is a significant risk for start-ups, as discussed below). On the other hand, a lot of your current assumptions will be wrong, so you don’t want to go into too much detail too far down the road.
Richard’s journey with TAC and Opportunity For All Youth is another example of how social entrepreneurship can stem from pivoting in a new direction and thinking about succession planning of your social enterprise. This is a pattern Trico Foundation and others are seeing in terms of scale: it isn’t necessarily a bigger social enterprise, it is about using the knowledge you gained from the social enterprise in a different way on a whole new level.
This past summer working at the Trico Foundation’s Summer Student Internship, I was able to take my company from an ideation stage that had undergone 2 years of evolution, to its first pilot, to an official launch of operations, to a now rapid scale of production on its way to reaching a steady state within the next 18 months. Trico Foundation’s one-on-one coaching and group sharing through the A.S.E.S.S. program were pivotal to my progress.
We are extremely delighted to have a number of amazing organizations join us at SVI Alberta to share their own learnings with the ecosystem. We were able to connect with a few of these attendees who shared with us their involvement in social enterprise and what experiences they would like to share, the challenges they are facing and what they hope to discover at SVI Alberta.
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.
On September 27th, 2018, from 11:00 am-1:00 pm, the Trico Changemakers Studio will host the official grand opening showcase where you can meet some of their studio members and learn how they are making a meaningful difference. Not only is The Trico Changemakers Studio a co-working space for inspiring changemakers, it is also a place for research projects, furthering Indigenous and non-Indigenous reconciliation, advancing the Ashoka U Changemaker Campus designation, paid internships, student membership, community membership, and more.
When one hears “entrepreneur”, I’m sure the descriptions of trailblazer, problem-solver, innovator or risk-taker pop into the listener’s head. It becomes a description for someone who is brave and ready slay the dragon but also prepared to be imprisoned by the belly of the beast and make their way out to try again. It means never giving up, fail forward, solve the problem, and make a difference—create real change.
With these admirable traits, who wouldn’t want to be considered an entrepreneur?
Trico Charitable Foundation is excited to announce the partnership and sponsorship with SVI Alberta, working alongside Momentum (Thrive), Social Enterprise Fund (SEF), and in cooperation with the Social Venture Institute Hollyhock (SVI). Trico is committed to the development of the social entrepreneurship ecosystem and believe this event will advance that ecosystem.