FAQ: What’s the Definition of Social Entrepreneurship?

This is a blog series dedicated to the frequently asked questions we get during the Ask Me Anything About Social Enterprise (AMAASE) sessions. One frequently asked question we get asked is “what is the definition of social enterprise?”

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Prizes of $270,000 celebrate all stages of social enterprises across Canada

At its core, social entrepreneurship uses business models/ markets to solve social problems. Regardless of whether it’s an individual or an organization, regardless of their choice of incorporation- non-profit or for-profit, these elements are the driving and amplifying force.

We support social entrepreneurship.

We are a private foundation that believes in supporting social entrepreneurship through programmatic, grant making, and partnership approaches. We take a systems view to every decision we make and foster social entrepreneurship by supporting the ecosystem and providing social entrepreneurs with capacity building resources.

We are entrepreneurial.

We believe in making social entrepreneurship mainstream. We know we can’t do it alone. Which is why we don’t just fund organizations; we work with them and learn with them to move the sector forward, taking risks along the way.

This year’s NU national awards competition featured six finalists for the awards. The NU Community Board offered two primary prizes: The Board Award ($25,000) and the Audience Vote Award ($25,000). In a surprise turn of events, we also decided to award each finalist who did not receive a primary prize an award of $5,000.

Namada was created through the collective wisdom of a Social Impact Working Group consisting of the Government of Alberta, AB Seed, and several key community partners, including the Social Enterprise Fund, Trico Foundation, and United Way Calgary.  The group committed to lengthy, ongoing conversations over the course of a year to really dig deep into how they might better support and understand the social enterprise ecosystem in Alberta.

We had the chance to collaborate with Community Foundations of Canada on November 7th, 2022 on our The Rethinking Social Entrepreneurship Lite webinar to help inspire people about the possibilities of social entrepreneurship.

Founded in 1992, Women in Need Society (WINS) is Calgary’s homegrown thrift charity, providing basic needs resources and support to women and their families. WINS has been supporting women and children in our community for over 30 years and has grown from one thrift store location to six across Calgary, in addition to their Donation Centre. In 2020 they launched a bulk thrift store, MORE Store! along with an online thrift box service, TwiceNEW. 

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