Insights on Social Enterprise from Canada: An Impact-Led Breakfast Forum

On Monday morning, I had scrambled eggs for the first time in a long time! Why was I having special food? Because I accepted the invitation from Social Traders, QSEC and Impact Boom spend time in conversation with David LePage!

David LePage is a serial social entrepreneur. He’s currently the co-founder, Director and Managing Partner of Buy Social Canada. But he is also the designer, and was the initial Executive Director of Community Impact Real Estate (CIRE). He is a founding partner of the Social Enterprise Institute (SEI). David is also a Principal with Accelerating Social Impact (ASI), one of Canada’s first ever hybrid social enterprise corporations. So he has a wealth of experience on which he can draw to share some great insights.

The key insight from David’s key note were the six things he believed social enterprise needs to thrive. These are:

1. Business acumen

2. Social value finance

3. Access to markets

4. Measurement of impact

5. Networks of social entrepreneurs and supporters

6. Supportive public policy

I think he is spot on with his assessment because the world is about systems. You need to put the right systems in place for social enterprise to thrive. The panel that followed the keynote echoed the sentiment.

In addition to David LePage, the panel consisted of Social Traders’s David Brookes, Food Connect and QSEC’s Emma-Kate Rose, and English Family Foundation’s Belinda Morrissey. The conversation was moderated by Impact Boom’s very own Tom Allen.

The presence of Tom should be a clue that I was not the only person from Impact Boom Cohort of 2019 at the breakfast. So we had a bit of a reunion!

Abide Completes Impact Boom Elevate+ Program

On the 6th June, Abide completed the Impact Boom Elevate+ accelerator journey. However, the name was too esoteric, so we changed it. As Abide, we applied for Impact Boom Elevate+ in January. We were accepted and officially started our journey on 5th February. So it's been almost six months of intense work and development that culminated into a pitching event in front of the Deputy Mayor, and nearly 300 other audience members drawn from business, startup and social enterprises from all over Brisbane and Australia.

I am going to write a Medium article about our whole experience. We have also come to the end of Abide's involvement with the QUT Capstone program, who lent us a team of four students to help build search and registration functions for our website. So there is a lot of ground for me to cover. So watch this space for details but for now, thank you to Tom Allen of Impact Boom for picking us. It was an awesome experience!

Pitch Day for Abide: It's getting close!

We are close to the finish line for Elevate+ Accelerator Program! Here is the 1-minute pitch for Abide, which is our co-living platform that connects students in need of low-cost housing with baby boomers who have space to spare. Come see us and others at the social enterprise celebration and pitch night on 6th June at the Triffid, get your tickets today! 

Abide Pitch Preparation at the River Studio, Brisbane Powerhouse

At this time last week, my co-founder Andy Smith and I were at the River Studio space of the Brisbane Powerhouse Theatre. We had an expert panel consisting of Elevate+ graduates as well as members and supporters of the social enterprise movement. The panellists were,

• Prof Brad Jackson of Griffith University

• Anna Guenther of PledgeMe

• Davinia Nieper of Lead Social Entrepreneur at #MakingItHappen

• Sabrina Chakori of Brisbane Tool Library

• Mike Lepre of Bertonni

• Steve Williams of CQ University and QSEC

• Luke Faccini of The Sponge

Andy and I met up in the morning to work on your pitch. We had a few chances to practice before we pitched to the panel. We got some excellent feedback and feel readier for the big day. The most critical feedback we received is that we were emphasising the wrong side of our two-sided marketplace. We need to focus on the fact that we are primarily about unlocking resources of baby boomers while helping them live better in retirement.

I am sure our cohort mates also received great feedback. So don’t forget to get your tickets to come to see us all at the Triffid on the 6th of June!

Elevate+ Cohort with Tom Allen and private pitch panel

Lord Mayor's Social Enterprise Business Forum

I joined many of my cohort mates from the Impact Boom Elevate+ last Wednesday at the Lord Mayor's Social Enterprise Business Forum. I have heard about these, but this was the first one I attended. It was perfect timing too because my new business cards as the CTO of Abide had just arrived! So my co-founder, Andy and I, used the event as a massive opportunity to pitch Abide so that we get inputs and have the opportunity to explore collaborations.

The forum was also a learning opportunity boasting the speakers Alex Hannant, Co-Director, Yunus Social Business Centre, Griffith University who spoke about the "Ingredients for success and failure - 10 things I've learnt about social enterprise". It was a great talk that highlighted the realities facing social enterprises. I especially liked the tip about "letting zombies dies". He was saying that as social entrepreneurs, we are often driven by passion and belief. So we might often keep ventures going that are in realities zombies. I think this is a good tip for everyone who are passionate about what they do. It's not just about business but also jobs, creative endeavours etc., etc.

The second speaker was Emma-Kate Rose, General Manager, Food Connect, who spoke about "Running a business with heart and purpose: why social enterprises are on the rise". But unfortunately, I was not able to stay for that talk. Overall, I had a good time, and I am going to see if I can't make more of these forums!