We’re excited to announce the launch of SEE Change Magazine in early 2010. With a mission to inform, inspire and educate, SEE Change will be the first publication in the country devoted to social enterprise and entrepreneurship.
Each issue will contain a mix of important news and information about social enterprise and social innovation in Canada, opinions and commentary, expert advice, and engaging features that will get people thinking, talking, moving…and changing.
The magazine will inform our audience about innovative approaches to improving our communities and new ways of doing business. It will inspire people to make changes in their own organizations – whether big or small – and educate readers about what’s happening in this exciting, emergent field.
SEE Change will put current research and practice models in the hands of organizational leaders, and provide an engaging forum for further education and discussion, becoming “the place” for discourse on social enterprise, social innovation and social entrepreneurship in Canada, and beyond.
Sound exciting? Well YOU can be a part of it. Are you committed to social entrepreneurship and its potential to achieve sustainability and social change? Do you believe in the need to establish a common, collaborative voice in the field of social enterprise? Then join us. We’re searching for partners and forward-thinkers willing to work together to help this exciting magazine reach its fullest potential.
For more information, contact us at: seechangemagazine@gmail.com
And, of course, you can follow all the latest developments at seechangemagazine.blogspot.com.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Social Finance and nonprofits
Check out my latest post for the Causeway/Ashoka Social Finance Blog Series at socialfinance.ca:
By Elisa Birnbaum
By Elisa Birnbaum
Thursday, December 3, 2009
What is social enterprise?
If you're reading this, you're probably hoping for a definition of social enterprise. A logical expectation, given the title of this posting. But alas, as I've discovered in the past few months, trying to find an agreed upon description of social enterprise is nearly impossible. And the waters get muddier with each passing Google search.
Apparently, I'm not the only one trying to figure it all out. At a recent forum on social enterprise, a very well-known Canadian was heard saying, "I know little about social enterprise, but I'm very involved in it." Okaaayyy...I'll give him points for enthusiasm, but I have to ask the question: Can you be involved in something you can't define? (I can sense fingers reaching for keyboards, but please, stay with me for a moment.)
As it turns out, when it comes to social enterprise, you most certainly can get involved even if you aren't quite clear on what to call your activities. In fact, the social enterprise movement might progress a lot faster if people weren't so hung up on trying to define it. But try they will:
After reading this handful of selections from the web, you might start feeling a bit smug ("I don't know why she doesn't get it; it's all perfectly obvious!) But add terms like social entrepreneurship, social investor, and social finance into the mix and prepare to be confused!
While I do consider myself a bit of stickler when it comes to words, there is such a thing as getting lost in the details. With so much potential within the social enterprise movement, I hate to see well-intentioned people quibbling over semantics. In the end, they are all working toward the same basic goal - to make our communities and our society stronger.
Luckily, there are some brave souls willing to wade into the mire even if they don't quite have it all figured out. Examples are popping up all over the place: restaurants, cafes, printing shops, wineries, cleaning services, florists, you name it. People who have, for years, been running their business with a social purpose are now being told they are operating a social enterprise. Nice to know, but the point is that they were accomplishing their goals even when there wasn't an official term for what they were doing.
That's good news for the rest of us, including that well-known individual who recently proclaimed his lack of knowledge but high involvement in social enterprise: former Prime Minister, Paul Martin. (If you're curious about what else he has to say on the subject, read his speech, Unleashing the power of social enterprise.
By Nicole Zummach
Apparently, I'm not the only one trying to figure it all out. At a recent forum on social enterprise, a very well-known Canadian was heard saying, "I know little about social enterprise, but I'm very involved in it." Okaaayyy...I'll give him points for enthusiasm, but I have to ask the question: Can you be involved in something you can't define? (I can sense fingers reaching for keyboards, but please, stay with me for a moment.)
As it turns out, when it comes to social enterprise, you most certainly can get involved even if you aren't quite clear on what to call your activities. In fact, the social enterprise movement might progress a lot faster if people weren't so hung up on trying to define it. But try they will:
- Social enterprises are social mission driven organizations which apply market-based strategies to achieve a social purpose. The movement includes both nonprofits that use business models to pursue their mission and for-profits whose primary purposes are social. (Wikipedia)
- Social enterprises are businesses driven by a social or environmental purpose. (Social Enterprise Coalition)
- A social enterprise is an organization or venture that achieves its primary social or environmental mission using business methods. (Social Enterprise Alliance)
- Social enterprises are revenue-generating businesses with a twist. Whether operated by a nonprofit organization or by a for-profit company, a social enterprise has two goals: to achieve social, cultural, community economic or environmental outcomes; and, to earn revenue. (BC Centre for Social Enterprise)
After reading this handful of selections from the web, you might start feeling a bit smug ("I don't know why she doesn't get it; it's all perfectly obvious!) But add terms like social entrepreneurship, social investor, and social finance into the mix and prepare to be confused!
While I do consider myself a bit of stickler when it comes to words, there is such a thing as getting lost in the details. With so much potential within the social enterprise movement, I hate to see well-intentioned people quibbling over semantics. In the end, they are all working toward the same basic goal - to make our communities and our society stronger.
Luckily, there are some brave souls willing to wade into the mire even if they don't quite have it all figured out. Examples are popping up all over the place: restaurants, cafes, printing shops, wineries, cleaning services, florists, you name it. People who have, for years, been running their business with a social purpose are now being told they are operating a social enterprise. Nice to know, but the point is that they were accomplishing their goals even when there wasn't an official term for what they were doing.
That's good news for the rest of us, including that well-known individual who recently proclaimed his lack of knowledge but high involvement in social enterprise: former Prime Minister, Paul Martin. (If you're curious about what else he has to say on the subject, read his speech, Unleashing the power of social enterprise.
By Nicole Zummach
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