Laurel Centre conference featured Marc Kielburger keynote

By Suzanne Gardner

The Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship hosted their second Annual Conference on Social Entrepreneurship from November 14-16, 2008. Over the span of three days, roughly 200 people came together in Waterloo, Ontario to talk, learn, and live social entrepreneurship.

The weekend kicked off on Friday night with a lecture from Free the Children’s chief executive director Marc Kielburger. After an engaging and impassioned speech about his own experiences living and working in developing countries, Kielburger stayed for over an hour longer to chat with each and every attendee waiting in the massive line up to meet him!

Photo by Michelle Attard

Throughout the rest of the weekend there were talks about keys to success, attracting and retaining talent, decreasing high school drop-out rates, (the ever important) revenue generation, and much more. Key leaders in the areas of health, education, and international development came together to talk about their efforts, successes and challenges. With non-stop keynotes, workshops, and panel discussions, it was no wonder everyone was tired out by the end. Tired, but inspired.

“We are pleased to see such an overwhelming interest in social entrepreneurship, and we embrace the opportunity to inform, engage and connect our delegates in such an inspiring field,” says Andrew Dilts, Chair of the Laurel Centre.

“We find that knowledge of social entrepreneurship techniques is in great demand in today’s economic climate, and take pride in helping our delegates work towards positive change in the world.”

The Laurel Centre’s leadership team would like to thank all the delegates, speakers, and volunteers for joining us for the weekend, bringing along their energy, enthusiasm, and passion for changing the world. We’d also like to thank our sponsors for their generous support without which this event would not have been possible.

Photo by Michelle Attard

For more information on the Laurel Centre, please visit www.laurelcentre.ca. For more event photos, click here.

Suzanne Gardner is the Director of Communications at the Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship in Waterloo, Ontario. The Laurel Centre features business-minded discipline with passion for social change.

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I also had the pleasure of meeting Karim and Michael, the guys behind SocialFinance.ca, at the Social Finance Forum in Toronto last week and they are working hard to build SocialFinance.ca as the place to discuss the advancement of social finance in Canada.

Karim also does an excellent job of providing a recap of the Social Enterprise Summit as well.

Their website is certainly a great resource, and if you have not already checked it out, I would encourage you to do so.

That being said, with social finance and sustainable revenue generating models being such hot topics in Canada and around the world right now, the themes for next year’s 3rd Annual Conference on Social Entrepreneurship hosted by the Laurel Centre may focus on these two topics.

Watch this space for more details.

***

Photos and online media coverage

(With Marc Kielburger at the 2nd Annual Conference on Social Entrepreneurship)

Photos taken at the 2nd Annual Conference on Social Entrepreneurship

November 23, 2008: SocialFinance.ca: Laurel Centre’s Annual Conference Recap

November 19, 2008: The Cord Weekly: Marc Kielburger encourages social change

November 6, 2008: Skoll Foundation: Marc Kielburger to kick off Social Entrepreneurship Conference

November 5, 2008: The Record: It’s about more than money

October 10, 2008: Imprint: Social Change

October 2, 2008: @UW: Laurel Centre hosts Marc Kielburger

September 30, 2008: Exchange Morning Post: A step forward in changing the world

Posted via web from Renjie Butalid

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It’s about more than money

Delegates to hear from many seeking to change world for the better

November 05, 2008

Rose Simone

RECORD STAFF WATERLOO

Making money is a good goal, but more people now want to tie that to changing the world for the better, say organizers of an annual conference being put on by the Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship.

About 150 delegates are expected at the second annual conference on social entrepreneurship, which takes place Nov. 14 to 16 at the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, said Suzanne Gardner, a spokesperson for the Laurel centre.

Most delegates are from area universities and community not-for-profit organizations, but the conference has also drawn people from as far away as Alberta, British Columbia and Minnesota, she said.

“They are passionate if they are coming all this way,” Gardner said.

The Laurel Centre aims to help people take the skills normally used in launching business enterprises and use them in creating successful organizations and projects where the primary purpose is to change the world for the better.

This year’s conference features speakers from health, education and international development initiatives.

Gardner said about 300 people are also expected at a Nov. 14 evening event at the University of Waterloo Humanities Theatre, featuring keynote speaker Marc Kielburger of Free The Children and Me to We Social Enterprises.

People not attending the conference can still buy tickets separately for Kielburger’s talk.

Kielburger’s younger brother, Craig, was only 12 when he began a campaign in 1995 to stop the labour slavery and exploitation of children around the world. The two brothers now run organizations involved in building schools in those countries.

Andrew Dilts, chair of the Laurel Centre, said there is interest in social entrepreneurship both among students in business programs who want to use their business skills in organizations that have “a heart and a soul,” as well as among students in international development, environmental studies or sociology-based programs, who have an idea or a passion for social change and want to use entrepreneurial skills to achieve those goals.

But young people are not the only ones now interested in social entrepreneurship.

There is also growing interest in the broader community and the non-profit sector, he said.

Besides Kielburger, other speakers at the conference include: Sue Horton, a Wilfrid Laurier University economics professor and visiting scientist at the Micronutrient Initiative which is dedicated to ensuring proper vitamin and mineral nutrients for all children; Frances Westley of the University of Waterloo, who heads up Social Innovation Generation, which is researching better ways of fostering social change; John Colangeli, chief executive of Lutherwood; and Carolyn Acker, chief executive of Pathways Canada, an organization dedicated to lowering the dropout rate among high school youth.

Information about the conference can be found at www.laurelcentre.ca

Read more

View newspaper PDF

Posted via web from Renjie Butalid

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Executive Director of Free the Children Marc Kielburger will be in the spotlight on Friday, November 14, 2008 to kickoff the Laurel Centre’s 2008 Annual Conference on Social Entrepreneurship. Kielburger, also the co-founder and director of  Me to We Social Enterprises, will share the knowledge and experience that has led him to become one of Canada’s youngest and most successful social entrepreneurs.

This keynote is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Tickets are available online at http://www.laurelcentre.ca, by phone at (519) 888-4908, or in person through the Humanities Theatre box office at the University of Waterloo from noon to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Tickets are $6 for students and $15 for community members.

Get your ticketes today, they are selling out fast!

Posted via web from Renjie Butalid

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The Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship in the news:

A step forward in changing the world Kielburger to kick off second annual social entrepreneurship conference in Waterloo

Waterloo — For a weekend in November, promising and existing social leaders will converge in Waterloo, Ontario to learn, discuss, and further their individual quests to change the world. Free the Children Chief Executive Director Marc Kielburger will help launch the weekend with his keynote lecture at the 2008 Annual Conference on Social Entrepreneurship.

From November 14-16, 2008, the Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship will host their second annual conference, an event that will bring together students and practitioners of social entrepreneurship for a three-day conference jointly hosted by the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, both in Waterloo, ON.

Through a series of workshops, keynote lectures, panel discussions, and an exhibition, the conference, under the title “Change the World,” will explore the advancement of social entrepreneurship both internationally and here at home, featuring the three key themes of health leadership, education, and international development.

The Laurel Centre was founded in late 2007 after the success of the first Waterloo Conference on Social Entrepreneurship, which saw more than 200 people come together from around the world to collaborate on the bridging of the passion for social change together with a business-minded discipline.

Please click here to read more

Posted via web from Renjie Butalid

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Register today

Posted via web from Renjie Butalid

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Above (L-R): Laurel Centre team at the WCSE 2007 – James Mackness, William Durocher, Suzanne Gardner, Nadia Salvo, Andrew Dilts, Jeff Henry, Renjie Butalid

Social Entrepreneurship ‘Bootcamp’

Entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to get their skills in shape at an innovative, entrepreneurial “bootcamp” to be held at UW next month. The Social Entrepreneurship Intensive event, organizers say, “emphasizes the importance of combining a passion for social change with the knowledge, skills and abilities from traditional business fields, helping participants master the skills necessary to start or grow an enterprise.”

This initiative will run for three very full days, May 12-14. Participants in the Social Entrepreneurship Intensive will include people starting a social enterprise, working for an organization that is developing a social enterprise for growth or financial support, working for an established not-for-profit organization that could benefit from the Intensive’s many workshops, or seeking a new direction and change in their career path. It’s also expected to attract those working in sectors that support social enterprises and seek first-hand knowledge of the needs and challenges of today’s social enterprises.

The Social Entrepreneurship Intensive “bootcamp” program will be limited to 30 participants, maintaining an intimate atmosphere throughout the morning-until-night program, a news release explains. “It will consist of a mix of presentations, hands-on workshops and collaboration sessions, with the goal of providing would-be social entrepreneurs the tools for success in running a successful, healthy enterprise. Today’s social entrepreneurs are gaining access to knowledge and resources previously unprecedented in society, and the Intensive will allow both entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs to take advantage of the growing wealth of knowledge in this field.”

Highlights will include presentations from John Baker, CEO of Aperio Inc., on revenue generation; Cheryl Rose, director of partnerships and projects for the Social Innovation Generation at UW, on engaging universities; Geoff Malleck, associate director of the Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology, on entrepreneurship; and Bob Copeland, associate vice-president (annual giving and alumni affairs), on seeking sponsorship.

The event is part of the 2008 program offerings for the Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. The Centre was founded in 2007 after the success of the Waterloo Conference on Social Entrepreneurship, which saw more than 200 people come together from around the world to collaborate on the bridging of the passion for social change together with a business-minded discipline. Earlier this year the Centre presented the first instalment of a Social Entrepreneurship Lecture Series, which featured four community leaders in the world of social entrepreneurship. Laurel says it’s organizing several other initiatives for later this year, including a research conference in June and a second annual conference in November.

The three-day bootcamp event costs $250 for students and $450 for community members. Workshop materials, accommodations, and meals are provided for all participants as part of the program. UW undergraduate students are eligible to apply for one of 13 grants provided by UW’s Federation of Students and the Arts Endowment Fund.

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‘Social entrepreneurship’ centre opens

A student-led group to be called the Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, founded after last fall’s Waterloo Conference on Social Entrepreneurship, will offer its first public program next week with the launch of a public lecture series.

Laurel will present a January 31 talk by Paul Born (above left), founder and director of Tamarack, an institute for community engagement. He’ll speak at 4:30 that day in Arts Lecture Hall room 116.

Suzanne Gardner, who graduated with an arts degree last year, is communications coordinator for the new centre. She says the lectures, which are all open to the public and free of charge, “will bring innovators in entrepreneurship and social change to the enjoyment and education of the local community”.

Born’s lecture next Thursday, titled “Fewer Poor, Not Better Poor,” will focus on the cases of social entrepreneurs working to end poverty. Born’s work, says Gardner, was influenced by his own life, as he and his family came to Canada as refugees when he was a child. Since that time, he served as a leader in the creation of Poverty 2000, a Canadian anti-poverty program recognized as one of the 40 best practices by the United Nations, which was later turned into the national campaign of Vibrant Communities Canada.

More background: “The Vibrant Communities program, one of Tamarack’s current major projects, works toward vibrant and engaged communities across Canada by inspiring citizens to work together in order to solve major community challenges. The program tests ideas about community building, poverty reduction, collaboration and engagement, and generates knowledge based on what works best in the 15 cities across Canada currently participating in the program, including Edmonton, Montréal, St. John’s, and Waterloo. Born, a founder of the Vibrant Communities program, will be speaking on the program’s successes and challenges.”

The Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship was founded “in late 2007”, Gardner says, after the success of the Waterloo Conference on Social Entrepreneurship. That event in November saw more than 200 people come together from around the world “to collaborate on the bridging of the passion for social change together with a business-minded discipline”. (Pictured: Paul Born speaking during that conference.)

Laurel’s leadership team — including chair Andrew Dilts, a graduate student in management sciences — is organizing several other initiatives for later this year, including a mentorship program, a social entrepreneurship “bootcamp”, a research conference, and a second annual conference.

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Above: WCSE leadership team and volunteers

Next week, ’social entrepreneurship’

“An inspirational new initiative will soon bring passion for social change together with business-minded discipline,” says Suzanne Gardner, a UW arts graduate who’s helping to organize the Waterloo Conference on Social Entrepreneurship to be hosted by UW and Wilfrid Laurier University next week.

“The conference,” she writes, “brings together students, alumni, community members, academics, and current leaders in the world of social entrepreneurship.” It’s scheduled for November 16-18, and participation is free for students.

Says Gardner: “This event is truly one for all members of the UW community to take note of. Not only is its content matter a unique and crucial topic in today’s entrepreneurial world, but the creation of the conference itself is also unique as the leadership team consists of recent UW and WLU grads as well as current undergrad students at both schools.”

She calls the event “an example of the young entrepreneurial spirit that this city has fostered”, and adds, “This conference is truly one that all members of the UW community would learn a lot from, regardless of their age or field of study.” Conference chair is another recent UW graduate, Andrew Dilts.

The inaugural Waterloo Conference on Social Entrepreneurship will bring together community members, academics and both current and future leaders for three days. A news release notes that conference content “will focus on the advancement of social entrepreneurship both internationally and here at home, featuring the three key themes of community leadership, international development, and sustainable environmental change.

“The conference aims to match individuals and organizations passionate about social change with the business-focused resources and knowledge that they need to grow and succeed. Towards this end, the initiative will bring together industry representatives, educational partners, and more than 100 delegates to learn, network, and be exposed to opportunities in their field.”

It says keynote speakers have been confirmed from Ashoka, an organization renowned for its global leader in social entrepreneurship, as well as from the University of Alberta-based Canadian Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. “The conference is partnering with a number of different organizations, including Engineers Without Borders Canada, and both the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University.

“The weekend conference will expose delegates to many different aspects of social entrepreneurship through keynotes, lectures, panel discussions, and workshops. One conference highlight is the exhibition component, where delegates will have a chance to network and interact with representatives from a wide variety of organizations already active in social change.” While students attend free, “community delegates are invited to attend for a small fee” of $95.

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