CCEDNet and WISIR invite you to a discussion about ‘social acquisition’ in the Atlantic region. 

Discussion led by: 

• Sarah Leeson-Klym, CCEDNet Regional Networks Director
• Meg Ronson, WISIR L3 Project Manager
• Laurie Cook, CCEDNet Board President and Chutzpah Consulting
• Andy Horsnell, Vice Chair of Social Enterprise Council of Canada, and independent consultant

Thursday, April 30, 2020
1:00pm - 4:00pm Atlantic time
Via Zoom (you'll receive connection information upon registration)

"Social acquisition” is an umbrella term for conversions of privately-owned small businesses--especially those whose owners are looking to retire, or who are struggling to respond to the challenges of the Covid 19 pandemic--to social enterprises, co-operatives, or other innovative community partnerships. This concept has been explored by many CCEDNet members, both in the Atlantic region and elsewhere, and holds promise for keeping essential businesses in our local communities. Currently, WISIR  is running the Legacy Leadership Lab, an 18-month initiative funded by the Government of Canada’s Investment Readiness Program to assemble a network of invested professionals and organizations and help them build products and services that will enable social acquisitions in communities across Canada. 

We want to build off their learning and your local knowledge to explore the potential of this model for the Atlantic region. You can expect to learn about the concepts of business succession, co-operative conversion, and the WISIR L3 process but also have a chance to discuss realities of local communities both generally and in this uncertain time of pandemic response. You’re welcome to attend whether you’ve been part of the L3 process or not.

Join us for an engaging discussion to find out more about social acquisition and consider how we move forward together to build a resilient, local, socially impactful economy in Atlantic Canada.

For more information, contact Sarah Leeson-Klym at sleesonklym (at) ccednet-rcdec.ca.

Humanity is facing one of the most serious and uncertain crises in recent history. The current globalization of the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed it to spread to all countries. Even remote populations are at risk, as are populations in war zones and those living in cramped conditions with poor hygiene such refugee camps, putting the lives of human beings at risk in an increasingly globalized world.

This webinar will start the discussion on how we arrived at this point from an SSE perspective. It will also highlight concrete Social Solidarity Economy (SSE) responses that SSE projects are building (both in this emergency situation, and in general as a solution to the global challenges).

To ensure a comprehensive vision with grassroots SSE experiences from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, this webinar will be split in three separate sessions run in English, French and Spanish. Each webinar will have different speakers representing voices and projects from all around the world.

Topics to be discussed include:

• Macro inputs: how have we reached this point? – analysis from SSE perspective
• Concrete SSE solidarity responses to the emergency situation and role of SSE networks
• SSE and its networks building collective and lasting responses beyond the current emergency

Note that the 12pm start time is Central European time, which translates to 6am Eastern Daylight Time. 

Learn more and register

Community is the lifeblood of every place. Positive relationships between neighbours boosts the wellbeing of everyone in the neighbourhood. Tapping into and investing in social capital is essential for developing thriving neighbourhoods.

When governments and agencies partner with community, new possibilities emerge and the impact can be exponentially greater even when addressing global issues such as climate change and pandemics. Join Jim Diers and Cathy Urquhart as they explore the power of partnering with neighbourhoods.

Learn more and register

Speaker: Melanie Goodchild, Founder, Senior Indigenous Research Fellow and Associate

Melanie will share stories about her work supporting a regenerative future for Indigenous communities through Turtle Island Institute (TII), a project on the Tides Canada shared platform. TII incorporates prophecies, Anishinaabe gikendaasowin (knowledge), and cultural approaches together with systems thinking, complexity and resilience thinking to imagine and build a future where all of these energies align. Blending tools for systems transformation together with a focus on personal growth and leadership, TII is leading work on healing self and systems to tackle intractable problems. What kinds of mushkiki (medicine) do we need to foster transformative innovations? Melanie works with various thought leaders to nurture their capacities for self-awareness and inner change.

Register now!

Fair Finance Fund 2020 webinar series: every 2 weeks starting April 16th

• Date/time (first webinar): April 16th, 12:00-1:00 pm EST
• Registrants will receive zoom link
• Series: Every other Wednesday 12:00-1:00 pm EST

Have you been wanting to learn more about innovations in investing and finance? Join us for our 2020 webinar series Social Finance: Ethical, Environmental, Everyone!

This Webinar Series from the Fair Finance Fund brings you experts in impact investing, social finance, social entrepreneurship and innovations in finance to present on their work and answer your questions. Each webinar will feature two speakers, facilitated by the team at the Fair Finance Fund. The series will discuss new models of investing for social purpose, managing risk in an integrated portfolio, the social and environmental impacts of social finance with stories from the field, and the best practices of investing for the future for people and the planet.

Our first webinar is on Thurs April 16th at 12:00pm-1:00pm EST

Speakers: Julia Vlad, VP Lending at New Market Funds and Brian Smith, Founding Partner and CEO at Rhiza Capital.  Learn more and register via the button below.

View the schedule and register

The COVID-19 global pandemic is a challenging time, and we offer Friday's Community of Practice as a chance to learn and share together (virtually, as always). Join a conversation to explore how local organizing principles and approaches can contribute to the creation of more sustainable, fair and inclusive economies - now & in the era that will follow this crisis. 

One of the tools to build more resilient local economies can be through Social Procurement and Community Benefits. March's call will be focused on "Organizing for Social Procurement and Community Benefits".

A wave of change toward social procurement is sweeping the country, including leading municipalities, anchor institutions and community benefits. This session will provide a ‘how-to’ guide to organize for social procurement wherever you are.  

Learn more and register now