Founder, Accessibility Visionary, and Entrepreneur Sean Crump understood first-hand the challenges of inaccessible spaces after an accident left him paralyzed at 19 years old. Sean then launched Universal Access, accessibility consultants that provide assessments and certifications to multiple locations that meet their physically barrier-free standard.
Fresh Routes is a not-for-profit social enterprise that is focused on creating new, innovative ways of providing healthy and affordable food to as many Canadians as possible-especially those who need it most. Their mobile grocery store (bus) brings healthy, fresh, and affordable food into neighborhoods facing barriers – allowing choice, maintaining dignity, and building community.
CareFind is a centralized interactive online platform with images, unique programs and more, which connect parents to real-time openings for child care. These are posted by accredited and or licensed daycares, preschools, out of school care programs, and approved day homes in Calgary and area for full, part-time, and drop-in care. This reduces the time that parents normally spend searching by having all child care providers housed under the same network, which highlight their availabilities.
The first biennial What’s Next YYC was held in November 2019 and from the outstanding pool of 10 finalists, Beaverlodge was one out of three Judge’s Choice recipients, receiving $25,000 in prize money. Beaverlodge makes it easier for people to get bulk discounts as they make their homes more efficient. The user follows a series of steps on their phone and they end up with a road map to reduce their emissions by 50%.
Among the 10 impressive What’s Next YYC finalists who are using the power of business models to solve social problems is the Indigenous-run social enterprise Colouring It Forward. Colouring It Forward produces and sells colouring books and other products developed with Indigenous artists and elders to help to share (and preserve) the beautiful artwork and ancestral wisdom of our Indigenous peoples and promote reconciliation through the arts.
Congratulations to Skwachàys Lodge, recipient of the national Social EnterPrize, and Beaverlodge, CMNGD, Universal Access, and Deepwater Farms for receiving the What’s Next YYC awards.