Stay informed with the latest updates from Flourish Alberta, highlighting the ongoing efforts to encourage and amplify social impact work across the province.
It’s official! After several months of engagement and exploration, it has been officially decided that the social impact technology mandate of the Centre will come under Flourish Alberta, alongside Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship. We are still exploring exactly what this looks like, and we are excited to be digging deeper and connecting further! If you want to learn more, are interested in how you can be part of this process, or what to share with us what you are working on in this space, book a time with us
Flourish Alberta is all about social impact and we're partnering with Mount Royal University to focus on the current state of food security in Alberta. We engaged the services of MRU's Community Service Learning program to have students in the Agents for Social Change course research the issue in preparation for convening a province-wide food security conference (more to come).
Please let us introduce you to Audrey Cook, our Indigenous Ecosystem Coordinator for Namada. Recently, Audrey has had the opportunity to engage with Treaty 7 Territory community members at several different cultural events in which to show the resources that Namada.ca has available to them as social ventures: entrepreneurs, non-profit, and community organizations. In collaboration with Theodora Warrior-Healy of Warrior Moccasins, they traveled to Kainai Nation, in southern Alberta and to Tsuut’ina Nation just west of Calgary to their annual powwows to share the value of what Namada.ca has to offer. Audrey and Theodora also hosted a Pitch Contest, sponsored by ATB and Business Link, where several Indigenous entrepreneurs were given the opportunity to have 1 minute to pitch their small businesses in front of the invited guests and judges. Prior to the event, they met with the individuals in person as well as online to help them practice. They were excited to be given such an invaluable chance to fine-tune their public speaking skills and to navigate an evening of networking and possibilities for future collaborations.Look to future Newsletters or our Instagram for more upcoming event updates.
Our Social Finance Community of Practice took a break for the summer, and is starting up again in September with a renewed spirit and a focus on convening Alberta based social finance intermediaries who are interested in exploring possibilities together. Our next gathering is September 25, 2024
Flourish Alberta is partnering with Propel Impact to better define the social impact sector - something that’s not been done. The social impact “market” crosses non-profit, for-profit, public, private and community based initiatives that produce some social or environmental good. Propel Impact Fellows are professionals in the field who will apply their skills to scope out this sector for us. We will then be better positioned to promote Namada with those who would benefit from it most and provide the social impact sector with valuable information.
After our time together in Sylvan, the team came together virtually to explore how we can expand our engagement and reach with Namada. As we experiment with different ways to engage and reach a broad and diverse audience of social entrepreneurs, we have some exciting opportunities coming up, including a booth and presentation at the Calgary Women’s expo next week! If Namada would be a good fit for your event, please let us know.
The Flourish Alberta team spent three days in Sylvan Lake in August working through some strategic and operational planning. After a long period of being in transition, it was great to be able to focus on tangible next steps and finally feel like we know where we are going again. In addition to working through our core values, which we will be sharing shortly once we get them finalized, we also clarified team roles and next steps for the many projects and engagements we have on our plate. As a remote working team, it’s always incredibly valuable to be able to spend a few days together in person as a team!
This Community of Practice met in September with a fresh agenda and new meeting schedule. Now meeting quarterly, social finance intermediaries in Alberta connect to share insights about their work, and then have the chance to bring forward a topic or issue for discussion. This month we delved into the difference between a “polite no” and a “kind no”. If you are a Social Finance Intermediary in Alberta and interested in learning more about this group, please reach out.
With Namada running smoothly, and finally out of Beta, we now get to experiment with different ways to promote and engage, in October we tested out a trade show booth and the Women’s Expo in Calgary. While attendance for the event was a little low, we got a lot out of the event. With a dedicated empowerment section, we were able to connect, reconnect, and strengthen relationships with social impact resources. As well, with the lower attendance, we had lots of time to visit the vendor booths, where we quickly realized that starting with “Tell me about your business?” helped us identify several entrepreneurs who were invested in social impact without realizing it. We even had a chance to speak on the stage about how we can have a social impact through our businesses.
Our Interim Steward Group continues to provide support in moving Flourish Alberta along as we work towards a more formal stewardship structure, and 2 key items came out of our last conversation, first to begin inviting the community to be part of Stewardship process and ensure decision making is happening by those doing the work, and second that for now our newsletter will serve as our formal “report to the membership” and continues to be the best way to stay on top of what is coming up, and where we are working.
Christine, our Network Director, recently had a long and lively breakfast while she was in Calgary with Nishan at the GeShiDo Foundation. As two organizations looking to have similar types of impact, we are actively seeking ways we might be able to work together to support this space. The ideas were plenty, and we are eager to see what we can action together.
A recent study revealed the state of entrepreneurship among youth (18-34) in Alberta and across the Prairies. As part of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, The Centre for Innovation Studies hosted an online presentation with Mount Royal University. Some trends from Alberta’s youth entrepreneurs during 2019-2023:Drop in a perceived view of ease in starting a business (7.2%)Fear of failure dropped 3.3% in Alberta while overall in Canada it increased 6.4%Alberta led the country in percentage of businesses owned by youth (41.6%) which was up by 12.7% during that period.Reasons for starting a business shifted. Over 75% want to build great wealth (increase of 8.3% in Alberta, 9.2% in Saskatchewan, and 13.7% in Manitoba) While the desire to make a difference in the world dropped 3.2% in Alberta to 66.4% (down 7.2% in Saskatchewan and 7.1% across Canada)Although there’s a sense among youth that it’s getting harder to start a business, the study shows that more young people are educating themselves on the idea. Coming out of the COVID era with uncertainty of their economic future may have contributed to this shift away from making a difference in the world to building personal wealth. But fewer Alberta youth are starting a business to earn a living because jobs are scarce than they did in 2019 (68.5% down from 73.4%). Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Canada overall recorded increases.To learn more about youth entrepreneurship in the Prairies or to request a copy of the report, contact Gary at Flourish Alberta
Namada was an idea born out of an early Creative Partnerships working group in 2021, and we had the opportunity to provide an update on the history, where we are now, and the potential of Namada as a collaborator in the ecosystem. We explored how Namada might be able to support capacity builders beyond just being an online resource navigation tool; shared some of our lessons learned (unrealistic timelines), and our unexpected wins (Bulletin Board)
The WEDO Summits held in both Edmonton and Calgary on November 14th and 19th respectively, had great attendance from a wide range of brand new businesses to well established ones. The panel discussions piqued such interest that the networking breaks were filled with a buzzing of conversations, connections and future collaborations. The Calgary Summit offered a “VIP” morning of personalized workshops as well, with topics varying from Sales and Marketing tips to using AI in order to streamline business processes. These were very well received events.
Christine has been joining the last few Community Wealth Building Community of Practice gatherings hosted by Social Innovation Canada with Tamarack. While she only caught the last few, and the group is almost done, it was nice to see what discussions are happening across the country and meet some new faces.
With the help of Propel Impact we are building an understanding of the social impact market in Alberta. With this we will be able to better serve Namada users and the resource providers. This better understanding will help us in expanding the reach of Namada to new users and increase engagement with resource providers.
Unleashing Innovation: A Workshop for Non-Profit Organizations on Introducing Entrepreneurial Thinking: (Presented by Christine Spottiswood)As part of our work to spark curiosity around social entrepreneurship with non profit organizations we explored small, incremental ways non profit organizations can start exploring entrepreneurial mindsets within their organizations. Some of the biggest head-nods came from our one example about having to work with antiquated computers and technology, and we discussed how to view these as an investment in our work, rather than expense. We also talked a lot about understanding our organization and stakeholder risk tolerance, and how to work with those. Technology Simplified: Unlocking Digital Potential in Non-Profits through No-Code and Low-Code Solutions (Presented by Kyle Woods)With the help of no code development tools and AI, building your own internal and external business tools has never been easier or more empowering. In this session we discussed how these tools bring accessibility to software development, website design, and background automations without requiring the technical or traditional coding background. We used the Flourish Alberta Digital Office (Our custom built CRM) and Namada as a case study to demonstrate how much potential no code development solutions can have within an organization.
We were invited to be part of Edmonton CDC’s Community Economic Development session, and we enjoyed the opportunity to both hear from those in the room and contribute to a conversation about how we can move Community Economic Development forward in Edmonton.
Our interim steward group approved our 2025 budget and made a strong plan to build off the momentum we have to help stabilize Flourish Alberta’s financial situation. We will be spending the next few months focusing on grants and funder relationships as we work towards a more balanced and sustainable long-term financial strategy. Anyone interested in being part of this process is invited to join our Finance and Sustainability Strategy Steward Group by booking time with Christine.
The Social Finance Community of Practice met in December, and we were excited to have many new faces! In addition to our long-standing members which include Local Investing YYC, Propel Impact Fund, Calgary Foundation, and Innovate Calgary, we welcomed new faces and funds including Ryan as the new leader of the Social Enterprise Fund, Alberta Eco Trust, and Genus Capital. Brad from Innovate Calgary led us through a thoughtful discussion around gaps we are seeing in Alberta social finance.
Christine was off to Ottawa at the end of November for the Sustainable Finance Forum, it was a good opportunity to get outside our bubble and hear some different perspectives. There was a strong distinction between what Christine called the “suits and the cardigans” representing different ends of the sustainable finance spectrum, and some great connections were made too. Shoutout to Tristan at Propel Impact and Robin at Tamarack, both of who
In late November 2024, Audrey had the opportunity to attend a one-day event in Edmonton sponsored by End Poverty Edmonton and several other businesses and organizations. The conference began with a meaningful gesture of reconciliation: a pipe ceremony led by a local female elder.The event featured two-panel discussions focused on achieving economic reconciliation for Indigenous employees and employers in the workplace. Four breakout sessions followed, showcasing successful case studies from the Edmonton area. These sessions provided participants with practical examples, insights, and strategies for fostering economic reconciliation.Facilitators compiled notes from the sessions to develop actionable recommendations. They proposed a starting point for participants and attendees who had not yet begun their efforts: “Take small, meaningful actions to achieve at least a 15% change in the workplace.”
In collaboration with Propel Impact, we created a comprehensive report aimed at enhancing user engagement and visibility for Namada. The report identifies key challenges, such as limited user engagement and awareness, and provides strategic recommendations to position Namada as a vital resource in Alberta's social economy. Key initiatives include targeted outreach to economic development organizations (EDOs), optimized social media strategies, improved onboarding processes, and new community-building features like a buddy system and gamification. Propel Impact's research, supported by surveys, focus groups, and website analytics, emphasizes the need for tailored user experiences, strategic marketing, and enhanced partnerships with educational institutions and industry stakeholders. The report outlines a clear implementation timeline to drive awareness, increase engagement, and position Namada as a central hub for Alberta's social purpose businesses and entrepreneurs.
