In the following guest blog post, Christi Millar of Canadian Youth Business Foundation explains why she is attending the Enterprising Spirit Conference on November 17.
I was in a meeting the other day and the term “social entrepreneurship” came up in discussion. Mildly embarrassed, a colleague and friend confessed to me, “I’m still not really sure what it all means.” My response was, “Don’t worry, you are not the first person to say that and I’m not sure that I do either!”
To different people, it means different things.
I went on to share my definition of social entrepreneurship – and the types of individuals that I work with through my role with the Canadian Youth Business Foundation. They are the entrepreneurs with a social mission. The people like CYBF entrepreneur, Robb Price with DeliverGood who identified a social need in the community and created a business to address that need. DeliverGood matches charities and non-profits that need “stuff” with people and corporations that have “stuff.”
But, that’s just a very top level explanation – and one that does not even take into consideration the increasing amount of non-profits that are creating social enterprises that address a social need plus allow the non-profit to become more self-sustaining and less reliant on outside funders.
There is so much to learn – and that is why, on November 17th, I will be attending the Enterprising Spirit Conference. The Trico Charitable Foundation has done a tremendous job of putting together a program that will bring clarity to newbies that are just starting to explore the concept and provide best practices to more established social enterprises that are looking to glean lessons from the conference presenters that have spent years in the trenches of social enterprise.
I expect to leave the day brimming with knowledge and inspiration – and with a new network of contacts that are as committed to growing a community of social entrepreneurs as I am. I hope to see you there!
Christi Millar
Director, Alberta