September 23rd was a successful and inspirational day, book-ended by two events that captured the drive and passion of social entrepreneurs.
In the morning, we held the first community consultation at MaRS in Toronto with a fantastic group of people with first-hand experience working as social entrepreneurs. Some had decades of experience and others were just starting out. We talked about the school, the kind of curriculum it should deliver and ways to make it THE place to drive social entrepreneurship.
Everyone agreed that a hands-on component was vital to attract prospective students and avoid putting time constraints on existing initiatives. Discussion revolved around the curriculum - what was taught and how. A core curriculum would help to establish the school’s presence and credibility, but it should be flexible enough to let students opt out of certain ‘subjects’ if they’ve already covered that area of expertise. WHO was teaching was equally important. The word “school” implies a faculty: who is teaching, who are the experts students might gain access to?
A suggestion was to straddle several sectors, integrating leaders from business, law or retired politicians, as well as socially committed teachers from the field of social entrepreneurship. The school could also seek out young up-and-comers who might we willing to donate their time to teaching select courses. A diverse Board of Governors might provide an instant network of contacts and help generate scholarships or funding. In the spirit of healthy competition, on “Social Venture Capital Day” students could submit business plans or pitches and might be rewarded with start-up funding. Another idea was to integrate a marketplace or a bazaar at the school where SEs could sell their products to raise money and build awareness.
The participants stressed that graduates should be taught ways to track and measure their success. Social impact is incremental; establishing guidelines to measure the impact of the graduates will be vital in generating support for school and for the sector in general.
With thanks to these organizations and the people behind them:
Zatoun- Fair Trade extra virgin olive and products from Palestine
Pointerware - Creating computer software for the elderly
Turnaround Couriers - Socially responsible bicycle courier service in Toronto
Web Networks - Websites for Socially Committed Organizations
Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation
Tiffinday Inc. – coming soon
Living our Values: Social Enterprise in Action — November 18 to 20, 2009
Join hundreds of existing and prospective social enterprise operators from every region in Canada at the Third Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise taking place in Toronto, November 18-20, 2009. The conference will consist of three days of training and work sessions toward a national policy agenda and action plan.
The SSE Feasibility Study will be presented at the Conference. Date and time will be confirmed shortly.
DAY 1: Intensive training sessions geared to your stage of planning, development or growth.
DAYS 2 AND 3: Working sessions with fellow practitioners, funders, government officials, network organizations, and supporters designed to create a national policy agenda and action plan for social enterprise in Canada.
The Third Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise is an initiative of the Social Enterprise Council of Canada.
Register today!
Five extraordinary social entrepreneurs talk about their defining moments - when the urge to change the world gathered such force they couldn’t ignore it.
NEW YORK - From protecting our natural environment to improving our children’s education to combating global poverty and disease, we’ve come to rely on extreme do-gooders to tackle the world’s toughest problems. And they’re happy to do so, even though their dedication will cost them in the long run. Few of them will make as much as they could in the private sector. All of which raises the obvious: Why? What makes these people tick, and how do they sustain a lifetime of commitment to a change that might take generations to see? More…
Young Social Entrepreneurs of Canada (YSEC) is dedicated to helping extraordinary young people with bold ideas to change the world. On Wednesday, September 23, YSEC is holding their second MeetUp event where panelists will help budding social entrepreneurs, ages 17-29, to learn more about social enterprise and how to put their ideas into practice.
We’re attending and hope to connect with some of Canada’s newest entrepreneurs to get their thoughts about an SSE Ontario.
YSEC MeetUp 2 - Wednesday, September 23 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm
University of Toronto
140 St. George Street, Room 205
Toronto, ON M5S 3G6
PANELISTS:
Cheryl May, an Advisor in Social Entrepreneurship at MaRS
Daniel Moneta, Co-Founder of MMB Research
David Berkal, Co-Founder of Canadian Roots, to explore these issues.
Register
GUELPH, ON, Sept. 16 /CNW/ - The University of Guelph and The Co-operators today launched a new centre dedicated to preparing a new generation of business leaders committed to community engagement and sustainability. The Co-operators Centre for Business and Social Entrepreneurship will be supported over the next five years by a $400,000 gift from the Guelph-based insurance and financial services organization. More…
The first of five community consultations is rapidly approaching! We’ve had RSVPs from people working in a range of fields - from new technologies and online networks to scholarship foundations to food services.
The Toronto workshop will take place on Wednesday, September 23rd from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm at the MaRS Discovery District (located at 101 College St.)
If you or anyone you know would like to participate in the SSE workshop, simply email morwenna@masslbp.com.
Dates for SSE Community Workshops
- Toronto: September 23, 9:30 - 12:30 pm
- Ottawa: September 28, 9:30 - 12:30 pm
- Waterloo: October 1, 12:00 - 3:00 pm
- Thunder Bay: October 5, time (tbc)
- Toronto: October 8 (tbc)
I’ve spoken with three members of the SSE Advisory who had fantastic insights about social entrepreneurship education and the SSE model and shared some similar thoughts, namely that the SSE model would be good for Ontario.
The main reasons? It fills a particular niche by reaching out to social entrepreneurs who are looking for specific skills and is more flexible than programs that operate within a business school, for example. A case study environment such as the SSE provides, is much more attractive to social entrepreneurs. Their education then, as one member said, “becomes a live, learning experience: learning and helping at the same time”
There were some different points of view about the importance of an online or long distance learning component. Trainings offered through the United Way often attract people from across the province, even though the courses are geared specifically towards organizations seeking Toronto-based funding. Offering online learning exclusively wouldn’t, “feel true to the spirit of the SSE”.
That being said, a long-distance learning component might reach those who might not be able to travel to a physical location or could allow them to learn according to their own schedule. A hybrid model might work: online modules would end in a capstone program with a residential component. People would come together at the end of the program - after completing online courses - to share their experiences, build networks and participate in peer mentorship.
Ultimately, many agree that the practical component and peer mentoring are fundamental. A laboratory environment that allows students to learn from mentors who have “been there, done that” and apply this knowledge immediately to their work.
As part of the study, we are holding 5 community consultations across the province. It’s an exciting part of the project as we’re bringing people together from a wide range of backgrounds – community groups, volunteers, educators, students, and social entrepreneurs – to discuss the value an Ontario School of Social Entrepreneurs could bring, what it might look like and how it might operate.
An overview of and the SSE will be part of the workshop, as well as an open, friendly discussion and a constructive exchange of ideas about social entrepreneurship over lunch. It promises to be an interesting series and we’re looking forward to it!
If you or anyone you know would like to participate in the SSE workshop, simply email morwenna@masslbp.com.
Dates for SSE Community Workshops
- Toronto: September 23, 9:30 - 12:30 pm
- Ottawa: September 28, 9:30 - 12:30 pm
- Waterloo: October 1, 12:00 - 3:00 pm
- Thunder Bay: October 5, time - tbc
- Toronto: October 8 (tbc)
INSEAD’s Social Entrepreneurship Program has a different audience and student body than the SSE and some of the other SE programs run through business schools.
ISEP attracts people who are usually already successful social entrepreneurs, many of them (up to about 50%) come to the program via organizations such as Unltd, Ashoka, Schwab and so forth. The students at INSEAD are operating at a wider, global scale rather than at a local level.
A strong focus at ISEP is the notion of scaling up and replication of existing projects or businesses. By building stronger networks they want to learn what happens when, for example, you take a project that was launched in Brazil and try to replicate it in Kenya. Right now, they have 8 different pairings of SE replications, which will help answer some key questions about knowledge transfer and sustainability.
ISEP graduates are giving back to the sector at a macro level: by leveraging partnerships, measuring impact, creating new business models, and establishing best practices. Networking is also extremely important. ”When you have 50 people talking, you may end up with 50 good ideas. When you get 100 people sharing information, you’ll end up with 500 good ideas.”
Yesterday, I had two wonderful and very informative phone calls with some leaders in the field of social entrepreneurship education.
The first call was with the Canadian Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Alberta School of Business. The second call was with the Social Enterprise Program at Columbia Business School.
A common theme in both conversations was the need for more research in the field of social entrepreneurship education. Because it’s a relatively new area, it’s important to start building a case for support — tracking the success and longevity of program graduates. To be able to teach social entrepreneurship properly, there needs to be a strong knowledge base or a foundation of insights to develop a curriculum with a long-term view.
Academic involvement of some kind would help to bring credibility to the field; however, we should take care to prevent SEE from becoming solely theoretical. A practical component is vital, “If you really want to learn, you have to get your hands a little bit dirty.”
Interestingly, Columbia has a broad approach to SEE to cater to their diverse student body. While a primary focus is to develop the next generation of social enterprise leaders, they also aim to inspire leaders in other areas to contribute back to the sector by sitting on boards, investing or interacting at a business level. Similarly, at CCSE anyone can enrol in the course (Social Entrepreneurship & Corporate Social Responsibility) and, if they choose, use their newfound skills to launch a social venture.
Question: what kind of balance do we need between a theoretical and hands-on approach to teaching social entrepreneurship?
