For the three days at the beginning of October, Calgary was the epicenter of a global conversation as it hosted 1,500 international delegates at the Social Enterprise World Forum. It was a supercharged atmosphere of positivity as people explored, discussed, and challenged one another on topics of social finance, Indigenous social enterprise, collaboration, policy & research, and social innovation.
Policy announcements by the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada are indicative that social enterprise is achieving its rightful place as a legitimate lever of economic activity and social impact.
Thanks to the support of RBC’s Social Finance Initiative, five of CSI’s bright young members were able to attend the Forum. Below, they share their experiences at the Forum and the impact it will have on their work. Many thanks to RBC for investing in the development of these future leaders, the Forum would not have been the same without their energy and the future would not be as bright.
Jo Flatt – The Next Practice
I learned that the social enterprise sector, as many other sectors, has a lot of unique language. Sector-specific language however, creates barriers and draws lines between people. What is ironic about this outcome within the social enterprise arena is that while seeking to improve the wellbeing of all humans, we are also ostracizing a significant number – simply by means of words. I was reminded of this truth while walking along 8th street. Eight street invited a diversity of city residents, from the corporate suits briskly walking home from work to those who spend their nights bundled in blankets under shop awnings: Two extreme elements of society. Does either of those groups know of social enterprise? And if we agree that neither is familiar, is it not our role to communicate? To share? To connect? How can we as members of the social enterprise sector make this possible? Amongst our million other responsibilities, how do we make room for communication? Because the wider we open the range of stakeholders who can participate in our work, the better off we will be.
I hope to spread the core ideas of social enterprise – what I’ve come to understand as taking the best ideas from across private, public and civic sectors, combined with collaborative practice, confident failure, creative constraints and unwavering passion. I want to work with the unusual suspects – the “whose not of SEWF” – and get them involved in the missions that we’re building towards.
Chelsea Longaphy – Social finance
My experiences at SEWF 2013 left me energized, inspired and motivated, but – most importantly – they left me hopeful. Working in social finance and as a social entrepreneur can feel overwhelming, searching for work can be daunting and the newness of the sector can be chaotic. I’ve occasionally wondered if I can build a career in this field – or, as the conference described it, – be part of this movement. SEWF 2013 has helped me realize that I can be. At SEWF 2013 I was able to see and meet many of the leaders in this field – giving me a host of new people to look up to and learn from. Just as importantly, SEWF 2013 made me realize that the future of this field is in the power of collaboration. I have watched social entrepreneurs of many backgrounds work together before, but never have I seen such powerful levels of collaboration between traditional charities and nonprofits, social enterprises, corporations and all levels of government. SEWF 2013 was a glimpse into a future where we can change the world for good through the power of collaboration.
As I continue to build my career in this field, I will look up to the leaders that inspired me at SEWF 2013 and will continue to seek opportunities to collaborate and create a better world.
Leah Pollock – Centre for Social Innovation
Before heading to Calgary, I reviewed the program extensively to assess what workshops and presentations would most closely align with creating member success at the Centre for Social Innovation, an integral part of my role as Program Coordinator. Something in particular that we have been trying to identify and strengthen at CSI are trends in Social Innovation. That being said, the Corporate Social Innovation workshop was excellent at identifying the investment of major corporations in social innovation. Some corporations that stood out were Nike, Coke and Ideo for their investment in real progressive social innovations at home and in developing countries. I had a strong reaction to this session because it helped strengthen my belief in collaboration across sectors in order to see big change. The word “social” no longer only applies to grassroots and charitable organizations – rather it is now an integrated part of most corporations’ mission – as RBC well knows. I left the conference feeling hopeful for the future of social innovation and creating tangible and big solutions to the world’s major issues.
Ashley Kirk – RLabs
When Ministers Jason Kenney and Dr. Eric Hoskins separately shared news of a better approach to solving problems through social enterprise structures, and how we as social entrepreneurs, are needed to assist in its development, I had an “a-ha!” moment, realizing that there may be hope for a better functioning system sooner than I thought. It’s so important to have a properly functioning system for social enterprises to make their greatest impact, and I’m looking forward to the government delivering on these ideas. Many interesting, informative and memorable moments occurred throughout the three days, but one of the most memorable was when I attended the session “Global Trends and their Impact on Social Enterprises” with speakers Wendy Cukier, Vinod Rajasekaran, and Willa Black. During this session, the speakers discussed universities and their role in today’s society, global hubs and trends of social enterprises in the North of Canada. The reason this was so memorable for me was because of how interesting it is to see the patterns in history that we seem to be repeating today, and only in recent years are people really looking at these facts and asking questions like “is this really the only way to learn?” or “how can we do this better”. In result of the SEWF2013, my work will change in the way of an increased focus on developing strong partnerships with other social entrepreneurs and leaders of social enterprises, government, and universities so that we can work to strengthen our impact together.
Stephen Bentley – Community Forests International
I’ve been impacted, and so I cannot help but contribute. How are you measuring your personal Social Return on Investment (SROI) that your community has invested into you to do your job?
Between the grey silver lined Rocky Mountains, the rolling Fall hills, the universal perspectives, the hospitable Calgarians, the bull-rides and the Evergreens – innovation happened here. Where people with precise attitude of having the self-confidence to trust what new frontier of the unknown and the untested we are on the wake of. The concept of social enterprise is not a new one, but it is an idea that’s time has come, it was said over and over again. The extreme energy that comes with merging two powerful ways of playing the game – one of doing good work, and the other of being great are finally colliding on a world-wide scale. Non-profits mission driven heart and Enterprises business engine have realized that it is profitable and viable to measure “Social Return on Investment.” This new way of doing business is demonstrating to the world a new value, and a new possibility for mass adoption.
When expecting to go to a business conference to make deals, negotiations, and strategic partnerships, one would never have expected that if we just changed the conversation from profit to people, many more walked away with impacted friendships.
More About SEWF
The Trico Charitable Foundation was honoured to host SEWF 2013. It made history in a number of ways – it was a first for Canada and attracted a record number of speakers and attendees (1,000 individuals from more than 30 countries and over 100 speakers from 20 countries) – but we are most proud of the quality of the discussions on Skills Building, Social Finance, Indigenous Social Enterprise, Collaboration, Policy and Research, and Social Innovation.
We would like to thank the following partners for making SEWF 2013 possible:
Organizing Partners:
- Social Enterprise Council of Canada
- MaRS Centre for Impact Investing
- Social Innovation Generation (SiG)
- The Canadian Community Economic Development Network
Lead Sponsors:
- Suncor
- Vancity
- Government of Canada
- Canadian Youth Business Foundation (now Futurepreneur)
- Social Change Rewards
Presenting Partners:
Supporting Partners:
Friends of SEWF:
Media Partners:
Each year SEWF gives a different host country an incredible opportunity to celebrate and nurture its own social enterprise movement. The inaugural SEWF met in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since then it has been to Melbourne, Australia; San Francisco, U.S.A; Johannesburg, Africa; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Learn more about SEWF’s history here.
SEWF 2014 will be held in Seoul, Korea from October 12-16. Hosted by the Work Together Foundation, this significant international gathering has an ambitious agenda: “Social Change through Social Enterprise”. Learn more here.
