9am to 10am Eastern Time

The term “Local First” was coined at BALLE’s first annual conference in 2003 and today represents a sophisticated cultural narrative that has shifted the purchasing, investment, and policy choices of hundreds of communities. Local First means increasing demand for locally owned, made, and grown businesses, goods, and services. And it means telling a new story — one where we support local, cooperative, and community-owned businesses and each other. We call this new story Localism.

In this webinar, join local business owner and Localism champion Kimber Lanning for an introduction to the fundamentals of Localism and the metrics and stories that make the case for it as a powerful economic development strategy. Moving beyond Buy Local campaigns, you’ll gain insight into an interconnected web of strategies that work to build a strong connection to place: community investment models, innovative support systems for entrepreneurs, adaptive re-use of buildings and infrastructure in city planning, and more.

Learn more and register for Beyond Buy Local

3pm Eastern Time

More information to come

Source: BALLE

12pm to 1pm Eastern Time

The City of Hamilton’s Neighbourhood Action Strategy was created in November 2010 to address health and well-being inequities in Hamilton neighbourhoods. Employing an asset-based community development approach, the Neighbourhood Action Strategy utilizes the greatest resource in any neighbourhood, its residents, to intentionally focus dialogue around the positive things in the community. This innovative strategy blends the foundations of asset-based community development with land use planning to develop resident-led, asset-based Neighbourhood Action Plans that build on local social capital and address the health inequities in eleven Hamilton neighbourhoods. The Neighbourhood Action Plans were developed through an intensive planning process led by a core group of residents and service providers and facilitated by either the Neighbourhood Development Office and a City Planner, or a Community Development Worker. The completed plans present a clear vision for the future and describe projects that are implementable, achievable and have widespread community support. Currently, implementation of the plans are taking place in neighbourhoods, with service providers and city support, but mostly through the hard work and dedication of Hamilton residents.

Register for The Hamilton Neighbourhood Story webinar

About Suzanne Brown

Suzanne Brown is currently the Manager of Neighbourhood Development Strategies at the City of Hamilton, a position she has held since June 2011. Suzanne coordinates the development and implementation of the City of Hamilton’s neighbourhood initiative. Suzanne joined the City of Hamilton in 2013, working in Public Health in program evaluation and chronic disease prevention.

Prior to joining the City of Hamilton, Suzanne spent 8 years at the Social Planning and Research Council as a Senior Social Planner where she was involved in range of social planning activities, from grassroots community development through to community-based research, policy analysis and project development.

Suzanne has a Masters of Social Work in Social Welfare Policy from McMaster University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Wilfrid Laurier University.

3pm Eastern Time

Contrary to popular belief, entrepreneurship is not a solo sport. “Backbone organizations” such as incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces, and local first alliances are crucial hubs for building capacity and community around local economy innovation. To be most effective, these backbones require an ecosystem of partners to sustain the organization as well as support the entrepreneurs they’re incubating.

In this webinar, Kelly Ramirez, CEO of Social Enterprise Greenhouse in Providence, RI, will share her comprehensive model for mapping ecosystem assets. The model identifies a range of potential partners to build pipeline, increase business acumen, expand the market, provide capital, and more. Kelly is joined by Donovan Woollard (Radius Ventures, Vancouver) and moderator D’Artagnan Scorza (Social Justice Learning Institute, Los Angeles), who offer their own expertise building backbone organizations to serve social enterprises.

You'll Learn

• How to identify new partners, build right relationships, and leverage resources
• How to integrate unusual partnerships into your work serving social enterprises
• How to utilize and build your local ecosystem to foster innovation for good in your place

Who Should Attend

• Directors and staff of incubators, accelerators, technical assistance hubs, co-working spaces, and other organizations that service social enterprises
• Social entrepreneurs looking to grow their business network and map their ecosystem assets
• Others interested in learning how to best leverage local assets to support entrepreneurs and innovation in their place

Speakers

• Kelly Ramirez, CEO, Social Enterprise Greenhouse, Providence, RI
  Kelly is the CEO of Social Enterprise Greenhouse, and the founder of the SEEED Summit. Kelly teaches courses on Social Enterprise at Providence College, Salve Regina University, and in the Leadership Institute at Brown University. This year she opened the doors to Rhode Island’s first social enterprise co-working, education, and community space.
• Donovan Woollard, Director, RADIUS Ventures, Vancouver, BC
  Donovan is the managing director of RADIUS Ventures, an impact venture accelerator at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business, which helps a cluster of local food and sustainable transportation ventures become market- and investor-ready. Donovan previously established Transom Enterprises to help launch and grow responsible business initiatives.

Register for the Identifying & Leveraging Partnerships webinar

Source: BALLE

1pm to 2:30pm Eastern Time

Register by 9a.m. ET on Monday, April 27, 2015 to receive log-in information.

Published in January 2015, Dollars & Sense: Opportunities to Strengthen Southern Ontario's Food System encompasses the first research of its kind in Canada on the economic and environmental impacts of food production in southern Ontario, where roughly 98 percent of the province's food is produced. This keystone report, produced by the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, the Metcalf Foundation, and the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, looks at a number of scenarios to study the potential impacts of shifts in food consumption and production.

Join two of the report's authors, Dr. Rod McRae and Dr. Atif Kurbursi, and moderator Beth Hunter, Program Director with the McConnell Foundation, for a special 90-minute webinar on April 27th to discuss their findings and understand the research process behind Dollars & Sense and its extensive background reports. This webinar will be of particular interest to policy makers, community leaders, funders, academics, and others who want to learn more about this new resource and how it can inform government policy discussions. This conversation is an opportunity to deepen understanding of the findings, discuss policy options and implications of the research in other regions.

More information on the Dollars & Sense webinar

Register for the Dollars & Sense webinar

Download the Dollars & Sense report

Speakers

• Dr. Atif Kurbursi, Professor Emeritus of Economics at McMaster University
• Dr. Rod McRae, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University
• Moderated by Beth Hunter, Program Director, J.W. McConnell Family Foundation

This event is free for all to attend thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Metcalf Foundation, the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation.

12:00pm Eastern Time

Homelessness is a major issue in Canada, affecting 200,000 people every year and costing $7 billion to the economy. If we include people who are vulnerably housed (those in unstable, poor-quality housing or couch surfing) as many as 520,000 Canadians lack safe, affordable and supportive housing.

In 2014, the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing's (MCII) SIB Advisory Services team determined that an alternative funding mechanism could help mobilize capital to address homelessness in Canada. They released these findings in a report titled "Housing First Social Impact Bond Feasibility Study."

Now that the concept feasibility is established, the next step is launching a Housing First SIB. With the support of the United Way Innovation Fund, the MaRS SIB Advisory Services team is offering pro bono technical assistance to potential outcome payers through a call for partnerships.

This webinar will walk interested parties through the problem of homelessness in Canada, the SIB model as it might apply in this case, and through the process of applying to be a partner in this groundbreaking work. The MCII SIB Advisory Team has received many inquiries about the recent call for partnerships and we are offering this webinar and Q&A for interested parties. Representatives from all levels of government, foundations, corporations, etc. are welcome to attend!

Please feel free to submit any questions you have ahead of time via email to jwalker at marsdd.com and we'll make sure they're addressed!

Register for the Homelessness Social Impact Bond webinar