In 2013 We Asked Social Enterprise Leaders “Three Things Public Policy Needs to do for Social Enterprise to Thrive in 2023”

In November 2013 Trico Charitable Foundation was honoured to host the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF), bringing it to Canada for the 1^sttime ever.

As fate would have it, one session was titled “Three Things Public Policy Needs to do for Social Enterprise to Thrive in 2023.” The session was an all-star affair, moderated by Peter Holbrook, CEO of Social Enterprise UK, and featuring eight social enterprise policy leaders from Canada and across the world.

While there has been a lot of water under the bridge since then, including a federal report (“Inclusive innovation: New ideas and new partnerships for stronger communities”) and two reports by the Premier’s Council on Charities and Civil Society of Alberta (“Building momentum for social impact” and “Moving Forward: Charting a Path to Civil Society Recovery”), we thought the ten year anniversary of the panel would be an interesting time to revisit it.

Below is a high-level summary of the answers. You can access the full transcript of the session here.

Panel Member (in Order of Appearance)	Position at the time	Recommendations (High-Level Summary)
Katherine Hewson	Assistant Deputy Minister for Open for Business, Ontario Ministry of Economic Development Trade and Employment and the Ministry of Research and Innovation	Create the correct regulatory environment; Help create a strong and effective social finance marketplace; Capacity building in general.
Yvonne Strachan	Head of the Third Sector, Equality and Community Empowerment, Scottish Government	Be more outcomes focused and impact conscious; Recognize social enterprises as contributing to economic development not just social change; Recognize the transformative potential of doing things with people rather than to and for people.
Neil McLean	Chief Executive, Social Enterprise Academy	Partnerships working across all sectors to achieve social outcomes; Investment in every sense of the word; Learning by doing to genuinely build capacity.
Mairi MacKay	Director of Society, British Council in East Asia	Systemic solutions through collaboration; The role of social capital and the way we understand social capital along with innovations in financial capital; Transformative thought leadership.
John Walker	Director General, Community Development and Partnerships Directorate, Employment and Social Development Canada	Applying the test of “What is the public good?” Have we managed to remain flexible? Do we still remember the core values and beliefs that underlie the development of social enterprise?
Derek Gent	Executive Director, Vancity Community Foundation	Access to capital x 3.
Molly Harrington	Assistant D.M., Policy & Research Div., Ministry of Social Development, Government of BC	Earning trust; Tripartite collaboration; Establishing shared social outcomes.
Johanne Lavoie	Commissioner, Social Economy Bureau, City of Montreal	Ensure the acknowledgement of the contribution of the social economy to the development of the city; The creation of a follow-up steering committee; Provide a budget to foster a sustainable social economy.