Renewal News and Blog

SVI Women: Bringing Together Female Social Entrepreneurs

Rebecca Cuttler — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:35:29 -0700

I recently had the opportunity to take part in SVI Women in Vancouver, an urban, female-focused version of Hollyhock’s long-running Social Venture Institute leadership conference.

SVI Women presents a unique opportunity for female social entrepreneurs to share their successes and challenges in a supportive environment. Most importantly, it enables participants to meet potential mentors, business partners and friends.

The conference kicked off with a True Confessions presentation by Ratana and Jyoti Stephens, a mother-daugher team that forms part of the ownership of Nature’s Path, a highly successful organic breakfast cereal company.

Ratana offered a powerful, eloquent and generous account of her journey starting several busineeses with her husband Arran, and of learning hard lessons when some of those ventures proved much more successful than others. As the leader of a true family-owned business, she strongly emphasized the importance of finding the right partner – whether in life, business, or, in her case, both – who will treat you as an equal and act with true integriaty. Ratana’s daughter, Jyoti, spoke of her journey in deciding to join her parents’ business, while still maintaining an independent spirit.

The next morning kicked off with some exercises to connect with our bodies and let go of inhibitions, led by Theresa Walsh. We then settled in for a case study session by Maninder Dhaliwal of Tradeworks Society, an organization that teaches marginalized youth carpentry skills, and uses a social enterprise model to sell the goods produced. The case study model provides a confiendential, supportive environment for selected entrepreneurs to discuss their current business challeneges and gain advice from a panel of respondents as well as from the audience at large.

After the case study, it was time for the Marketplace of Ideas – a high-energy pitch fest where participants have 90 seconds to present their business and make a request – for support, partnership, or anything else. An SVI tradition, Marketplace of Ideas is always a powerful but irreverent chance for the group to get in front of an audience and declare who they are and what they want.

The rest of SVI Women continued at an intense pace that encourages participants to step away for the stresses of managing day-to-day operations, and fully immerse themselves in thinking about the big picture – whether through joining workshops on finance, getting funding, or telling your brand story – or through stepping away from group programming to do a one-on-one peer mentorship session with another participant.

Other highlights included Rough Roads, a panel on learning from failure moderated by Denise Taschereau, a True Confessions session from Janie Hoffman of Mamma Chia, a case Study with Marcie Weinstein Smith of Lovey’s, and a panel session on mentorship.

SVI Women offered a powerful chance for women business leaders to connect with peers and look deep within themselves in order to discover the answers to key challenges, while forming a strong support network. With its setting in downtown Vancouver’s SFU Woodward’s campus, the conference was easily accessible for a ride range of participants.

For those who didn’t get a chance to participate in SVI Women, I highly recommend SVI Hollyhock, which is open to all genders and offers the incomparable setting of Cortes Island.

Rebecca Cuttler is the Executive Assistant to Joel Solomon at Renewal Funds; SVI Women, SVI and SCI Alumnae; and author of urbaculture.ca, a blog about growing food in the city.

New York Times publishes article about Slow Money conference in Boulder, Co.

Joel Solomon — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:01:15 -0700

The New York Times recently published an article about Slow Money's 2013 conference in Boulder Colorado. Please read on.

An Effort to Add a Key Ingredient to the Slow Food Movement: Investor Money

By Kathryn Shattuck, New York Times
May 1, 2013

BOULDER, Colo. — “Welcome, pig lovers, and welcome, earthworms!” Woody Tasch bellowed from the stage of the Boulder Theater, where 650 food entrepreneurs and investors had wedged themselves for the opening day of the fourth Slow Money National Gathering.

Mr. Tasch whipped the crowd into a frenzy on Monday morning — shouts of “It’s crazy!” and the random boo and hiss ricocheted through the audience — as he discussed the moral failures of unsustainable corporate farming and financiers struggling to align their urge to buy low and sell high with socially conscious investing. READ FULL ARTICLE>>

Join LOCO

Rebecca Cuttler — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:41:43 -0700

If you are the owner of a local Vancouver business, LOCO might be a fit for you. Read on for info:

Register for the Building Opportunities Conference this June!

Martha A. Burton — Thu, 02 May 2013 10:49:03 -0700

Vancouver’s Social Purpose Real Estate Collaborative is a presenting sponsor of Building Opportunities: the largest event in North America dedicated to creating and managing shared non-profit workspace, administrative services, technology, and programs. This June 3 – 5th conference in Denver will explore how we WORK DIFFERENT to harness the power of collaboration to create collective impact. As with previous conferences, this will be a very valuable learning experience for us and there will be some specific focus on the Canadian perspective, with excellent opportunities to network with and learn from each other.

This biennial conference offers philanthropists, non-profit leaders, government officials, and real estate professionals over 30 practical workshops, networking sessions, and resources for developing and operating innovative multi-organization projects. Comprehensive information will be provided on real estate, legal issues, financing, green design, and new trends in shared space and services. The conference also focuses on the nuts and bolts of building programmatic and back office services collaborative. Speakers represent some of the most innovative public/private partnerships in neighborhood development across the country.

Montecristo Magazine does an interview with Carol Newell

Rebecca Cuttler — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:26:28 -0700

Vancouver's Montecristo Magazine has done a wonderful interview with Carol Newell in an article on philanthropy. Please read on for the article:

“At dinner parties people would ask me, ‘Well, what do you do?’ I would stammer and awkwardly search for something to say,” Carol Newell says, as theafternoon sun began peeking through the fifth floor window of her Gastown office in the revitalized Flack Block building. “Someone said to me that I should practiseon taxi drivers. Now I just say that I’m a private investor, but at that time, I didn’t want anyone to know I had money to invest,” she adds as we begin to discuss her path from anonymous donor to public philanthropist. Newell is the heir of a multi-million dollar inheritance, and her personal story of giving is reflective of how today’s young philanthropists come to terms with newfound wealth and learn to activate their capital for social good. It was only after more than a decade following her initial philanthropic work that she made public her anonymous contributions through her now-retired Endswell Foundation. “In many ways, anonymity can be very difficult, because you are always holding something back,” Newell says. “It wasn’t until I was in my 40s that I came out about my wealth. Until then, I was a woman walking around with a secret.”
READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>

Applications are now open for Social Venture Networks' 2013 Innovation Awards.

Rebecca Cuttler — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:35:10 -0800

Who would you recommend apply for the Social Venture Networks' 2013 Innovation Awards?

In 2007, SVN launched its Innovation Awards Program, which focuses on honouring, supporting, and promoting the next generation of cutting-edge leaders who are changing the way the world does business. Although there is no age restriction on who can apply, this awards program has helped SVN to attract some of the most innovative, high-impact social entrepreneurs to its community - an achievement which in turn has inspired more young entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of colour to apply for membership. The SVN Innovation Awards is a core program supported by Social Venture Network's Bridge Project.

For more information, visit the Social Venture Network's website.

Two Social Venture Institute Alumni are winners of the 2013 Successful You awards!

Rebecca Cuttler — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:15:57 -0800

Two of the recent winners of the 2013 Successful You awards, Lunapads and EthicalDeal, are Social Venture Institute Alumni. Congratulations to the winners! Please visit the Small Business BC Successful You site for more information.

SEE Change Magazine's March Issue features SVI Members

Rebecca Cuttler — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:31:41 -0800

Two Social Venture Institute Alumni are featured in this month's issue of SEE Change Magazine, sharing their insights on the themes of social change and community sustainability. Mike Rowlands shares his views on Collaborating Across the Boundaries of Organizations , while Hilary Mandel profiles some transformative Social Entrepreneur Heroes.

SEE Change Magazine is proud to be celebrating three years of storytelling in the field of social entrepreneurship and innovation. Read the full March issue here.

SVI True Confessions Speaker, Judy Wicks, set to launch new book

Joel Solomon — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 11:46:41 -0800

Judy Wicks, who will be a True Confessions speaker at Social Venture Institute Hollyhock in 2013, will be launching her book, Good Morning Beautiful Business in Philadelphia on March 14th. Please read on for information:

Official Book Launch!

March 14, 2013
6:30 registration; 7pm talk; 8-9pm book signing

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia

Hosted by the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia
Sponsored by the Academy of Natural Sciences
Outreach partners: Fair food, Grid Magazine, Leadership Philadelphia, B Corporation, Pa. Assn. for Sustainable Agriculture, Envision Peace, The Energy Co-op, Philly Slow Food, The Reinvestment Fund

For free tickets (seating limited): http://judywicks.eventbrite.com/#

Good Morning, Beautiful Business is a memoir about the evolution of an entrepreneur who would not only change her neighborhood, but would also change her world—helping communities far and wide create local living economies that value people, nature and place more than money. Wicks recounts her life as a girl coming of age in the sixties, living a year in an Eskimo village, cofounding the Free People’s store, her accidental entry into the restaurant business, the creation of the White Dog Cafe and her eventual role as a pioneer in the localization movement. Passionate, fun, and inspirational, Good Morning, Beautiful Business explores the way entrepreneurs, as well as consumers, can follow both mind and heart, cultivate lasting relationships with each other and the planet, and build a new compassionate economy that will bring us greater security, as well as happiness.

For advance book orders and a schedule of upcoming events: www.judywicks.com

FarmFolk CityFolk Magazine publishes article by Renewal Partners Executive Assistant Rebecca Cuttler

Joel Solomon — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:35:55 -0800

Rebecca Cuttler, Executive Assistant to Joel Solomon at Renewal Partners, has written an article for FarmFolk CityFolk Magazine about Vancouver's urban farming scene. A print version of the magazine is available for free at specialty grocery and wine shops in British Columbia.

Farm Folk Can Be City Folk
Fall/Winter 2012
By Rebecca Cuttler

If you are paying attention, you might catch it out of the corner of your eye: an almost hidden half-acre where Vancouver’s urban landscape gives way to a lush market garden bursting with flowers, multi-coloured beans and deep red beets. Farmers on 57th is one of a growing number of farms situated within Vancouver’s city limits.

Karen Ageson and Tessa Wetherill are the farmers in ‘Farmers on 57th’. I’m meeting with them in a cluster of lawn chairs next to the market garden stand, and a neighbour and cSA member interrupts us. She has a small plastic bag in her hand, out of which poke some seedlings with leaves that range from green to purple to a near-blue. “Here’s the rainbow kale I was telling you about,” she says, handing it to Karen. We all take a look. Karen and Tessa have never seen this variety before. READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>