Created by the Trico Charitable Foundation in 2011, the biennial Social EnterPrize celebrates and advances leadership and excellence in social entrepreneurship in Canada. Social enterprises are organizations, for-profit or not-for-profit, that blend the social and the entrepreneurial by using business models/markets to solve social problems.

“Our 2017 recipients are remarkable examples of what can be accomplished when you blend the power of business models with the desire to solve the world’s social problems” says Daniel Overall, Executive Director of the Trico Charitable Foundation. “Partnering with over 90 community agencies and 12 plus corporate partnerships, Furniture Bank is breaking new ground on the possibilities of scale, while from its nails to its neighbours the intentionality of Fogo Island Inn is extraordinary. Together they are demonstrating the breadth and depth of the how a social enterprise can be – to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln – of the community, by the community, for the community.”

In line with the goals of the Social EnterPrize to both advance the work of leading Canadian social enterprises and inspire and inform others, the recipients receive $100,000, a video profile, and will be the subject of an in-depth case-study undertaken by a Canadian post-secondary institution.

The awards will be formally presented during EconoUs2017 on the evening of September 14th, 2017. Click here for more information and to register for the three-day conference.

New: Tickets for the evening presentation of the award – which includes a panel discussion – are now available.  

Click here to register for Doing Business Differently: An Evening of Celebration and Alignment

Furniture Bank - Dan Kershaw

“We are thrilled to be recognized for the work we are doing in social enterprise. When customers use Furniture Bank’s social enterprise they are a part of a 72 hour cycle where the customers problem is another families solution as they build a dignified home with the donations collected through the social enterprise. The synergy between customer and beneficiary is very special to our social enterprises success. We are honoured to join the Trico Foundation family and the other Social EnterPrize recipients”, Dan Kershaw, Executive Director, Furniture Bank.

Furniture Bank is a registered charity and social enterprise that has been helping people in the Greater Toronto Area establish their homes since 1998. It transfers gently used furniture and household goods donated by the community to people who are in need of a fresh start. The organization’s fleet of trucks are on the road throughout the year, picking up furniture and delivering items to formerly displaced individuals directly to their homes. Furniture Bank’s goal is to expand these activities to support furniture banks across Canada.

Fogo Island Inn - Diane Hodgins

“Social Enterprise has given us the opportunity to redefine how business is used as a tool to strengthen community and develop the inherent capacities of people, as well as create models for community ownership of economic assets. It is very meaningful to have the Fogo Island Inn recognized in this light and we are deeply appreciative of Trico Foundation’s work to support development in this field”, Diane Hodgins, CFO of the Shorefast Foundation.

The Fogo Island Inn is an initiative of the Shorefast Foundation, a registered Canadian charity with a mandate to provide relief of poverty on Fogo Island, a small fishing community off the coast of Newfoundland. Shorefast employs business-minded means to achieve social ends. In the midtwentieth century, factory overfishing by international trawlers caused a dramatic decline in commercial cod stocks off the coast of Newfoundland, eventually leading to a moratorium on cod fishing in 1992. Since that time, the people of Fogo Island have struggled to make a living in the place they’ve called home for over 400 years.The Fogo Island Inn is a direct response to a pressing need to find new relevance for traditional knowledge, and was created to be a cultural and economic engine for Fogo Island. When taking stock of existing skills on Fogo Island, we chose to build on Fogo Islanders’ innate predisposition towards exceptional hospitality, creating the Inn as a further expression of that talent.

Congratualtions Fogo Island Inn and Furniture Bank! 

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