1) The document summarizes key discussions from the Social Enterprise World Forum in Melbourne, 2009, including inspirational social enterprise stories, lessons for Canada, and developments in social finance models in Australia and New Zealand.
2) It highlights organizations like Social Ventures Australia and Social Traders that support social enterprises in Australia.
3) Examples of social enterprises from the front lines were shared, including how a rural petrol station in Australia was saved from closing by forming a cooperative owned by local community members.
3. Synergies and differentiation between countries Inspirational new social enterprise stories Lessons to bring back to Canada Progress on the School for social entrepreneurs Developments in social finance models in Australia and New Zealand
4. Our hosts Social Ventures Australia works with innovative non-profit organizations to increase their growth and impact to drive transformational social change. Social Tradersâ purpose is to encourage and support the development of social enterprises in Australia. The organization was established in late 2008 and is the result of a unique collaboration between the Victorian State Government, a private foundation and community sector organizations with extensive experience in social enterprise development.
15. Goal of CEiS in procurement: get community benefit clauses into government contracts Know the legal framework â every country has different rules about access to tendering Community benefit does not have to be financial Be realistic about what you can deliver For big contracts look to establish a consortium of social enterprises
18. Major capital injection in development phase Government money tied to program outcomes Focus is to attract people from disadvantaged backgrounds Urban vs Rural Scaling up quickly â why?
21. Social finance âWe muddle and bubble with things hereâ Trevor Gray, Tindall Foundation, Auckland
22. Funding complexity Huge capital losses due to recession Lack of independence Social entrepreneurshipâs rocky history Some success stories Social innovation vital
Social Ventures Australia operates very similarly to SiG@MaRS, although they have a financing wing. They do business mentoring, advisory services etc. They have raised $26million over the last 7 years for social enterprises in their portfolio. This money comes from philanthropic organizations and high net worth individuals. They may have 10-12 enterprises in their portfolio at one time, and support them for anywhere between 3-5 years. As their Executive Director, Jan Owen put it, âIn that time we really hope to accelerate the growth of those enterprises. Very similar language to us.
The organizers of the forum very much wanted to focus attention on the development of social enterprise in indigenous communities. Many examples were cited, the most exciting and dynamic I think was the Goolarri Media Enterprise. The Forum also named 2 indigenous ambassadors for the Forum to represent Australia internationally. We began the Forum with a smoking ceremony to bless the land on which we convened. When I spoke to Jan Owen, she said that Australia and Canada have similar histories when it comes to its treatment of indigenous people and in many respects they are still facing more obstacles to employment and healthy living standards today.
I have already written a blog touching on this subject, but it was the subject of much discussion during the Forum. There was a panel presentation called âSize does matterâ where they spoke about how localised and micro social enterprises can achieve significant outcomes. Is small beautiful or a sign of failure? Basically some feel that enterprises do a great job at helping at the local level. Others feel we should concentrate on efforts on making big scale change. (Refer Ander Kuper â Leapfrog)
There was an interesting session held on both days featuring successful or not-so-successful enterprises. The entrepreneurs were interviewed about the lessons they learned along the way to provide lessons and advice to the attendees. Grasslands Food Coop that I knew in Melbourne was fun. He said that he learnt everything about how not to run a business. But it put him in a good place down the road, and Grasslands survived. Another interesting one for me was the enterprise begun by Marie So â Shokay.
They decided they would try and start a textile business that would support the local community. Their market research revealed that their was no competition for yak hair â yet the quality is excellent. Their main concern was to get community buy-in and they have it. They use the cash generated for school and food. So far this enterprise has increased the income level of the community 65%. Just a point of comparison, wool sells for US$1 per kg, cashmere sells for US$40 per kg, yak sells at this time for between US$25-30 per kg.
This is Marie So â her motivation: âThe business must work. You must achieve your financial targets otherwise the social side falls down.â
Itâs a fairly boring word to describe something that is very important and was another source of much conversation at the Forum. The panel on procurement featured stories from Gerry Higgins from Community Enterprise in Scotland, who has years of experience in Social Enterprise and was instrumental in starting the Social Enterprise World Forum last year.
CEiS been working on the Scottish government for 10 years to get community benefit clauses into procurement contracts. Their big breakthrough came with the announcement of the Commonwealth Games in 2014. For CEiS the Games meant 4 years of construction and 800M pounds of contracts. Some lessons: refer to notes
Alot of the groundwork for the approach to government for the procuring of Commonwealth Games projects came from Canada â and the work done by David LePage from enterprising non-profits and their partners. Gerry was quick to acknowledge the lessons Scotland had learned from Canada and the development of community benefits clauses in the Vancouver Games contracts.
SiG@MaRS, in partnership with Mass LBP and the Trillium Foundation are currently doing a feasibility study on a School for Social Entrepreneurs. Is Ontario ready or right for it? Sydney, Australia was the first country outside the UK to open an SSE franchise so I spoke to the staff there about how they are faring. These were the main takeaways.
Based on the highly successful SSE in the UK which has been operating for 10 years, SSE Australia began running year-long programs to support entrepreneurial individuals to establish effective, sustainable community projects and initiatives that meet social and community needs. They are not quite through a year of operation, but are already scaling up â starting a new school in Melbourne in 2010.
The big questions are: do we already do a lot of what the SSE can achieve? Do you maintain a quota to ensure entrepreneurs from vulnerable communities have access, or is it the project that should determine the entrant? The feasibility study for Ontario will be completed in November.
Very modest
Discuss characteristics of Philanthropy in New Zealand â trusts have all the big money - $5BDiscuss failed social entrepreneurship support from government in the 90âsDiscuss success in housing foundation project
Definitely an ally â friend.Australia â 20 million, Canada 30 million, New Zealand 4 million â still the same barriers to scaleLack of access to capital, outmoded and complicated charitable status process â however New Zealand also needs some government champions in the space or even good lobbyists.