Be Part of Our Own Great Story
I remember participating in the first National Gathering for Social Entrepreneurs in Colorado Springs back in 1998 – one of the first times a national event had been organized in the USA around this emerging movement. Like many first creative efforts, this one was fresh and filled with new ideas. People who would become long-time friends and colleagues – and leaders in the movement – met in person and exchanged powerful ideas for the very first time.
This first event would grow into an independent nonprofit in 2001 (NGSE) and, in 2002, NGSE and its sister organization, SeaChange, merged to create the Social Enterprise Alliance, the world’s largest community of social enterprise leaders. SEA provides a great service to its community of several thousand members – events, product and service discounts, market development, information, and high-quality learning opportunities. It also plays a vital role in policy development and field building in the US. It’s a great story, and I feel proud to have been an active member while I lived and worked in that country.
In Canada, our own great story is unfolding. We have a thriving, diverse social enterprise sector, with world-class enterprises in every province. We’ve got several leading organizations – Enterprising NonProfits, Social Enterprise Ontario, The Edmonton Social Enterprise Fund, Social Capital Partners, Community Services Council, and Chantier to name a few – that are actively building the field in their respective regions. And we’ve got the Social Enterprise Council of Canada, with volunteer representation from across the country, that is seeking to support and connect the national community.
This year, the Council, with the support of MaRS and Causeway Social Finance, is organizing the 3rd Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise on November 18-20 in Toronto. This conference, entitled “Living Our Values: Social Enterprise in Action”, will include intensive, day-long training sessions for social enterprise practitioners, and a working session designed to create a national policy framework to help support our many enterprises and the sector as a whole. This is going to be an amazing event – a milestone like the first National Gathering for Social Entrepreneurs. Everyone who participates will share in writing the next chapter of our great, Canadian social enterprise story. Are you going to be there?
Go to the Social Enterprise Council of Canada site for more information or to register for this landmark event.
