There may be no more valued praise than that which comes from an employee. When interviewed about his work experience with an award-winning Calgary social enterprise, Michael Jamieson highlights his manager as a key player in making the experience a positive one.
Though his words are few, the message is clear. When asked what energizes him most about his work at a Calgary social enterprise, the Vecova Bottle Depot, Shawn Sproule says it’s the people that he works with.
Are you interested in learning more about social enterprise? Do you have an idea for a new social enterprise that you’d like to develop? Do you want to explore how it could help you achieve your mission and what it would take to launch?
For all its momentum, the social revolution of the 21st century – as in social finance, entrepreneurship and innovation (on my more disillusioned days, it’s the ‘soc drawer’) – is at a critical tipping point. Simply put, we need to move beyond theory to the practical ‘how to’.
It’s amazing how many thought leaders in this space are coming to this conclusion.
The five days of Beakerhead officially get rolling today with the world’s largest pop-up gallery, called a String (Theory) of Incredible Encounters, with a circumference of five kilometres.
The series of public art installations is an exploration in creativity at the crossroads of art, science and engineering, and can be seen by touring from Inglewood to East Village to Victoria Park, 17th Ave and Kensington. The home base or hub for Beakerhead this year is at Station B (the Beakerhead moniker for installations at Fort Calgary).
Scott Crockett, Director of Marketing & Communications of the Calgary Chamber expresses his excitement for the ground-breaking and innovative event: “Business has incredible power to change the world for good. In fact, business has been one of the greatest forces in human history for raising people out of poverty and solving our greatest challenges as humans. With the rise of social entrepreneurship, it’s clear that doing good in the world can be a great business strategy. I can’t wait to hear from these 5 innovators about how they are doing good and doing well at the same time!”
“The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.” –Mark Weiser
One of the challenges of working in the dynamic social entrepreneur culture is that of staying mission-centred. Twenty-three-year-old social entrepreneur Eden Full is all too aware of this.
Ecovative Design
Written by: Sue Van Hook
Two years ago, Aspire Food Group was just an idea for a pitch contest generated from five MBA students. That vision won the prestigious Hult Prize in 2013 and has transformed into a company at the forefront of the crickets-for-food movement.