Reflections on the Social Innovation and Social Finance 2011 Tour of British Columbia
Four days ago I took a plane from the cold, snowy Waterloo Regional airport to visit warm Vancouver for the Social Innovation and Social Finance 2011 Tour. One day after the conference, I awoke to the sight of snow on the ground in BC. Since I seem to have taken some of our weather out here, I am wondering if we can take some of this province’s social ecology back to Ontario.
For three days SiG, Causeway, Ashoka Canada and PLAN hosted a group of social entrepreneurs, social financiers, public servants, and academics. Participants explained their role in the development of a system of social financing and entrepreneurship on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland that is unique in English Canada. The ongoing shift of the Vancity Credit Union’s $17.5 billion in assets under management towards impact investments, in particular, stood out as an enabler of social innovation both inside and beyond the credit union.
As a graduate student and a McConnell fellow with SiG@Waterloo, I am going to be further exploring the social finance ecology in BC over the next two weeks with the objective of developing a case study about the work being done here. A deep, complex ecology of mutual support is not just about a handful of people who have decided they will direct their money toward a social purpose. It is also about how the assets of enabling institutions – public, private, non-profit and hybrid – have allowed this to occur in a relatively efficient and effective way. While it will be impossible to fully put together all the pieces of the puzzle, a snapshot of a few key elements and relationships will help clarify what is happening in BC.
For Canadians looking to strengthen the social finance movement, there is a lot to learn from BC. For social innovators from Calgary, St. Johns, Windsor, Iqaluit and all points in-between, the replication of some key elements, for example a strong and engaged credit union modeled on Vancity, will be important. For those looking to scale up the model of social financing developed here, the Social Finance Task Force is pushing a set of recommendations which can enable the impact seen here across Canada.
Keep following SocialFinance.ca and Social Innovation Generation for more resources and reports from the tour.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmv/52887967/
