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Measuring Your Local Impact

1:00pm - 2:00pm (Pacific Time)

Place matters, people matter, ownership matters... and how we measure them matters.

Local leaders are constantly asked to quantify their impact on their communities for funders, partners and standard reporting. The challenge is knowing the right questions to ask and having useful, accessible tools that are relevant for the New Economy.

In this free webinar, hear what BALLE is learning from our network leaders, hands-on case studies from two BALLE fellows, and an update on the Quick Impact Assessment for Localists, a new online tool BALLE is piloting in partnership with B Lab to help conveners measure outcomes among businesses in their communities.

Register now

Speakers:

Elissa Hillary: Executive Director, Local First Grand Rapids
Alfa Demmellash: Co-Founder & CEO, Rising Tides Capital
Stacey Price: Consultant, BALLE
Susan Miller: Senior Advisor, Business Development, BALLE

How to Grow Strong Independent Businesses and Vibrant Local Economies: Insights from AMIBA

A growing number of studies have quantified the local economic benefits delivered by independent businesses, demonstrating how locally-owned independent businesses return much more of each dollar in revenue to their communities, and contribute to healthier, wealthier, local economies.  

In recent years, more than 90 US communities have developed Independent Business Alliances to strengthen independent, locally-owned businesses, prevent the displacement of local entrepreneurs by absentee-owned corporations, and build more durable and diverse local economies. 

The American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) has helped these local groups successfully launch and develop a larger network to share ideas and learn from each other.

This session presents the four-pronged organizing model pioneered by AMIBA, shares key insights on how to create effective local alliances and successful buy-local campaigns, and explores interest to adapt the AMIBA approach for Canada. 

Presenter

Jeff Milchen is Co-director and Co-founder of the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA).  He has spent 15 years helping communities build vital local economies and enhancing economic opportunity by strengthening and sustaining community-based businesses that promote citizen empowerment and community development.  Milchen pioneered this organizing model, founding and directing the Boulder Independent Business Alliance in Colorado, starting in 1998.

His prior work includes successfully operating his own start-up businesses in Vermont and serving as the director of Reclaim Democracy. He is the author of "Building Buy Local Campaigns that Shift Culture and Spending" and his commentaries and articles have appeared in dozens of publications including Business Week, S.F. Chronicle, The Ecologist, The Chicago Tribune, Washington Post and Adbusters.

Additional Resources

Introduction to Social Finance

12:00 pm ET (9:00 am PT)

Innoweave has partnered with the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing to host an Introduction to Social Finance webinar.

The webinar will provide an overview of social finance, and will review concepts and basic approaches associated with social finance. It will also provide an overview of the Innoweave Social Finance workshop.

Register now

  • When: Wednesday, September 24th, 2014 at 12:00 pm ET (9:00 am PT)
  • Where: This webinar will be hosted via Cisco WebEx. A link to the meeting will be provided upon completion of registration via the link below.

The content for this module was developed by the Community Forward Fund and the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing.

Intro to Social Enterprise Workshop

8:30am - 11:30am Mountain Time

Enp-AB is pleased to partner with Innoweave  to offer two exciting events to assist you on your social enterprise journey. We hope that these opportunities will offer organizations at different stages in the social enterprise  development path an opportunity to learn more and provide them with the resources they need to continue on their social enterprise journey.

This workshop is intended for organizations that are interested in social enterprise, but would like to learn more about how starting a social enterprise will affect their organization.

This session will introduce social enterprise and is designed for organizations considering this path in the future. It will explore what social enterprise is, the many forms it can take, and why an organization would consider social enterprise. We will also discuss some of the potential community impacts and review the development path of social enterprise planning. This session will highlight local social enterprises and explore their journey to provide tangible examples of how social enterprise can help your organization further its mission and increase the chances of sustainability in the future.

Workshop details:

  • When: Tuesday, October 7th, from 8:30 am – 11:30 am MST
  • Where: Trico Charitable Foundation, 1003 11 Ave SW, Calgary
  • Cost: $50 for the first team member and $30 for additional attendees

Register now

Organizations that participate in this workshop will be eligible to apply for a social enterprise technical assistance/ planning grant for organizational readiness or opportunity identification from Trico Charitable Foundation.

If you are a youth-driven or youth-assisting organization, you may qualify for reduced or free workshop attendance through the Capital One Youth Entrepreneurship Fund.

Soul of the Next Economy Forum

The Soul of the Next Economy Forum brings together leaders and future leaders to learn, network, share best practices and discuss future directions for sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and social enterprise, both in Canada and internationally.

Forum Overview:

The Forum features motivational and informative speakers from academic institutions, domestic and international organizations, social businesses, service organizations and corporations. Attendees can expect to be informed on current thinking, future directions and best practices, as well as participate in innovative activities about the soul of the next economy.

[ register here ]

Who Should Attend:

  • Those interested in poverty reduction, economic empowerment, sustainable development, corporate/charity collaboration, social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, social business
  • Charities, foundations, non-profits, service organizations, non-governmental organizations working internationally and in Canada
  • Students, academic community
  • Corporate social responsibility representatives
  • Social entrepreneurs

 

Introduction to Co-operatives Workshop

Learn the basics of cooperatives, cooperative economics, and the practice of cooperation with everyday practitioners. Cooperatives are democratically owned and operated businesses and organizations that meet the needs of their membership and community. Through activities, guided readings, and facilitated conversations with co-op professionals and other students, participants will become familiar with how co-ops work and the growing cooperative movement.

[ register here ]

You will receive a certificate upon completetion of this course.
 
This course is scheduled for September 18th from 3-6PM EST.
 
Please note that the times are subject to change according to student needs.

Highlights:

  • Learn with co-op educators, developers, and co-op professionals
  • Develop an understanding of cooperatives and the cooperative economy
  • Learn about and participate in the burgeoning cooperative movement
TESA has developed a wide range of educational resources and programs that have been implemented on local, regional, national, and even international levels. Our cooperative work includes creating Co-opoly: The Game of Cooperatives; fostering nearly 100 workshops around the country in 2012; coordinating Cultivate.Coop; working with four different organizations on cooperative incubation programs; leading cooperative courses at Greenfield Community College; and much more.
 
This course will be offered again every other month.

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