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Co-organized Social Enterprise Bus Tour a Success
A diverse group of interested people met in Winnipeg on June 25th and boarded a bus for a tour of two First Nation reserves and an exciting new social enterprise.  Over thirty people toured a variety of Aki Energy work-sites on Peguis First Nation and Fisher River Cree Nation. Aki Energy is an aboriginal social enterprise that trains community members who face barriers to employment to install geothermal retrofits to local housing. Members of the tour represented a variety of groups, such as representatives of community groups and Manitoba Hydro, as well as trainees from BUILD and members of the Manitoba media. CCEDNet-Manitoba was a co-organizer of the event along with Shaun Loney, BUILD's executive director. Special thanks to the reserve communities for their hospitality and grace. 
CCEDNet Members Meet in Cape Breton
On July 10, Atlantic members of the Canadian CED Network met in Cape Breton, part of the Creative Community Business Conference held at Cape Breton University. The event was called CED in Atlantic Canada: Strategies for Development and featured CCEDNet's Executive Director Mike Toye and Manitoba Regional Coordinator Brendan Reimer. Brendan spoke about the exceptional strength of the Manitoba CED community, which has resulted in a strong membership for CCEDNet. He emphasized the importance of procuring policy, building relationships, and patience, as growth takes time and hard work. Mike covered the history and evolution of CCEDNet, as well as the historical and current challenges that have and continue to influence this evolution. Looking forward, Mike stressed the important role of the Network in fostering a thriving CED community across Canada. A big thanks to all hosts and organizers at the event!
Atlantic CED News
Saint John Eco-Friendly Cleaning Social Enterprise Supports Adult Learners
Just under a year ago, the Saint John Learning Exchange (SJLE) set up a for-profit social enterprise that provides environmentally-friendly cleaning services. Voila! employs persons with barriers to employment and education and proudly pays them a living wage. With the SJLE operating as the parent organization, which currently supports about 500 adult learners per year, the new cleaning service also offers workers the ability to improve their education at their own pace in a safe and supportive environment. (via Enterprising Non-Profits)
More than $4.3 Million has been Invested to Boost Social & Economic Inclusion in New Brunkswick
The New Brunswick Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation recently released its progress report called Overcoming Poverty Together. The report covers its activities over the period of April 2011 to March 2013. It reveals some impressive findings:
- More than 1,150 meetings have been organized by the community inclusion networks and their partners;
- More than 9,100 New Brunswickers were involved;
- The corporation invested close to $1.3 million in activities and projects undertaken by the community inclusion networks, leveraging more than $3 million by the communities; and
- The total value of all projects exceeded $4.3 million.
(via Homeless Hub)
Meet the Atlantic CreateAction Interns!
For over a two months now, four CCEDNet member organizations in Atlantic Canada have been working with an intern with funding provided through the CreateAction program. The program's aim is to offer a six month internship to young post-secondary graduates who are considering a career in CED. Our aim is to introduce you to these people with short bios that they have written themselves, and we hope that over time, they will meet some of you!
Elisabeth Plante:  Hello everyone, I am doing my CCEDNet internship with the Co-‐operative Council of New Brunswick, based out of Moncton, NB. As an organization we promote the co-‐operative model by working with both new and established co-‐ operatives, and are currently encouraging the Social Enterprise model through a variety of partnerships. I am a recent graduate of the Business Admin & Accounting program at NBCC Moncton. I really enjoy providing my skills to help community development initiatives, and am working to make non‐profit and co‐operative accounting my specialty. I am especially involved with the community bicycle co-op, La Bikery, and have been helping get a community garden going as well. As far as personal trivia goes, I enjoy the outdoors, board games, and cooking vegan and local food. Prior to deciding to study accounting, I had spent a little time at art school and a few years working at a local art studio. I look forward to learning more about all of you! Stephanie Beaulieu:  I recently completed a multidisciplinary bachelors degree in social sciences from the Edmundston campus of the Université de Moncton, with concentrations in philosophy, history and social sciences, and I will take a masters in regional development at the Université du Québec à Rimouski next September. I worked for three summers as a team leader in a tree farm. At university, I was a mentor for first year students and tutor in French. I was also part of a committee of 10 dynamic youth in my region, the Edmundston Youth Secretariat. Our mandate was to improve the economic, cultural and social situation of youth in the region. I am currently an intern in cooperative development for the Acadie Regional Development Cooperative (CDR-Acadie). My main interest is the development of my community. Because I live in a rural community, we have several challenges to overcome in order to be more attractive and I hope to help address some of these challenges, such as through the creation of jobs and activities for youth. (translated from French)
National CED News
Canada on the Global Stage: Social Enterprise World Forum
 CCEDNet is pleased to be a supporting partner in this year’s Social Enterprise World Forum. Registration is now open but early-bird registration rates only run until July 25 so be sure to register soon. This world class event is not to be missed. The impressive roster of speakers include the leading thinkers and actors in the social enterprise sector from across the globe. Among the presenters are several CCEDNet members, including our own Manitoba regional coordinator Brendan Reimer.
CCEDNet members are invited to a special gathering. This session will look at CCEDNet’s strategic directions, inspired by new local economy initiatives internationally. So plan to come a bit early when you book your travel to the SEWF! For more information on this session, email Philippe at p.menard-cote@ccednet-rcdec.ca
2014 Co-operative Summit to Tackle Major Global Challenges
 The co-operative community is set to tackle important global challenges like food security, access to health care, and the global job crisis at the International Summit of Co-ops next year. Last month, Summit organizers announced those three topics as the central themes that will be discussed at the event, which takes place in Quebec City, October 6-9, 2014. In addition to focusing on cooperative development and strengthening, Summit participants will discuss innovative ways cooperatives can make a difference and address these enormous global challenges.
The State of Homelessness in Canada
 At least 30,000 Canadians will experience homelessness tonight. By the end of this year, an estimated 200,000 Canadians will have experienced homelessness. These and other startling facts are highlighted in the recently released report, The State of Homelessness in Canada: 2013. The document examines what is known about homelessness, the historical, social and economic context in which it has emerged, demographic features of the problem, and potential solutions. Take Action Against Homelessness:
Following up on their efforts to support Bill C-400 and a national housing strategy, the Dignity for All campaign has sent a letter to the Premiers in advance of the Council of the Federation meeting July 24-26. The letter urges Canadian Premiers to put housing at the top of their agenda for this meeting. Click below if you or your organization supports housing as a human right, download the postcard and send it to Ontario Premier Katherine Wynne (who is hosting the meeting), or send her an email by clicking here.
CED Book Club - Gather: the Art & Science of Effective Convening
The feature event of the Canadian CED Network's year is the Gathering, held every October in Winnipeg, which brings together over 600 people. Gather, a recent publication of the Rockefeller Foundation, attests to the importance of coming together to learn, improve, celebrate, and heal. The book is a manual of sorts for social planners seeking to convene the right group, and it offers some clarification on the distinction -- and thus more appropriate use of -- between conference, workshop, meetings, etc. The book is available for free download by following the link below. Enjoy!
A Little Bird Told Us: Top Tweets of the Month
 Here is a brief sampling of some of our most popular tweets from the past 30 days. Click here to follow us on Twitter.
- . calls on The Apprentice to include social enterprises: via
- Happy International Co-operative Day! Thank a or cooperator for their community impact today!
- "Social enterprise is not a political football, no party owns social enterprise" - British MP, Chris White http://ow.ly/mAz6M
- Canada to host Social Enterprise World Forum at a "pivotal time." October 2-4 in Calgary
- If you support as a human right, help put it on provincial agendas by signing this letter
Check out a short video that sums up the CCEDNet-RCDEC Twitter feed here: https://www.vizify.com/ccednet-rcdec/twitter-video
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