IGNITER

I recently attended the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. Going in I didn’t have much of an agenda but did end up with an experience that was worthwhile and possibly pivotal. The reason of course, as with all events it seems, is the people that gathered and connected.

Pamela Hartigan and Jeff Skoll at Opening Plenary

From the content and conversation perspective, the highlight for me was the focus on systems as core to social entrepreneurship. Roger Martin tagged disrupting and establishing equilibria as the ultimate purpose, and previously tired conversations around metrics became flavoured with the emergent dynamics of working at the level of systems. While applying rigour to scale and diffuse innovation was a hot topic, people also recognized that the most innovative work often reflects insanity before it becomes recognized as brilliance. That this conversation was happening here was a good thing.

What I think made the forum work was a mix of who participated and the space that was created for interaction. While there has been criticism of the exclusive nature of the event, it is definitely part of what makes it a safe space. The concentration of some of the highest profile people in this sector turns this from a worship session to a gathering of peers. At the same time, having the opportunity to participate in OxfordJam at the same opened up the range of perspectives and conversation more than at any conference I’ve been to before.

In the end, what may prove to be pivotal, were the unexpected encounters over during the space between sessions, venues, and events (including spontaneous volcano-inspired after events) and over the meals and drinks shared with others. The best of them happened with people I never knew and/or on paper, would have had no interest in meeting. Being together though as peers, without the distractions of daily life, sparked conversations and connections I expect I might carry for life. And for me, that is something I would go for again.

Quick post to share today’s presentations for Social Innovation @ Ivey.

First is my opening intro, which pulls from a core theme but adds a little more about my history and the levels, forms, and tools of social entrepreneurship  - or my best simplification of them.

The second, is a for a last minute stand-in role on the social finance workshop.  Thankfully the wise and gracious Karim Harji of SocialFinance.ca shared this great, detailed deck.

As always, I’m looking forward to talking with students and trying to inspire them to go do out and do some good.

I’m scheduled to open the Social Innovation @ Ivey Form and have been asked to get the audience of students ‘fired up’ about social entrepreneurship and innovation. What would you tell them?

They are currently deciding on which electives to take and of course what career path to take – a big part of why I love doing these talks. I’ve been asked to tell my story, touch on social entrepreneurship and social finance and have 30 minutes to do it.

Earlier this year I gave the presentation below. It generated some good feedback but I felt like it missed the mark. Any suggestions appreciated. How would you get them moving toward #socent?

I was just writing an update to some great partners of mine and realized I needed to include a recap of 2009 for some context on what’s next. That of course reminded me that I’d yet to post one. So here goes.

Into the Wild

2009 was a pivotal one for me – a year of transition. It was full of new adventures and an unexpected closure of an old one. 2009 started with a bunch of excitement and energy around the Social Venture Commons, VenTwits, and Thread.io. A group of us had come together and were sweating out an experiment in peer-producing some apps that we thought could help people come together and build a better world by using public micro-messaging. We had some encouraging feedback on the concepts but we missed the mark and didn’t get enough traction (users or funding). We had felt we were constantly 2 weeks ahead of ‘everyone else’ and when we took stock of what we felt we’d need to get to a viable venture, we just couldn’t do it with what we had. I had failed at guiding us through to a viable product and estimating what it would take to get us there.

At the same time, my past life in energy and finance rose up and I became engaged in designing a financing framework around what the Green Energy Act Alliance hoped would make Ontario North America’s leading jurisdiction for renewable energy (it did) and particularly community power. The Act was tabled in May which then prompted another engagement to help the CPFund plan for a transition to the new reality. That plan, if successful, stands to be a great example of social finance and turn the renewable energy finance sector on it’s head.

Closing out the summer, my social finance sojourn continued with the opportunity to co-lead a Canadian contingent to the Social Capital Markets conference. Next came the privilege of doing a review of Vartana – an ambitious project that aimed to change the way the charitable sector banked in Canada. And then things shifted.

On my birthday I learned that a company I founded was in discussions on being acquired. Those talks came to fruition in early October, and while not a big exit by many standards, for our lean life it was/is a big turning point. It meant taking a breath and taking stock. It meant getting ‘our house in order’. It meant saying thank-you to those who’ve supported me.

An adventurous chapter with an unexpected plot twist was over. Thankfully it’s part of a book that I love… one of those books I just can’t put down.

Tomorrow I’m presenting the deck below at the 16th Annual Environmental Sciences Symposium at University of Guelph. I’m told to expect an audience of about 200 – mostly undergrads. That’s one of my favourite scenarios. Talking about any form of entrepreneurship to people about to embark on the rest of their lives is fun.

With the devastation in Haiti right now though, I thought I’d try something different.

For tweets with this link (http://tr.im/seFTW) I’ll donate another $1 to Haiti relief efforts. For every person who starts their question to me from the audience with “Social Entrepreneurship For The Win!” I’ll donate $10. As I’ve already given, I’ll cap this at $100, but of course, every dollar counts.

My main message: Get involved. Get going. Don’t wait, just do it.

Let me know what you think… and make me give while you’re at it!