Come celebrate the launch of SROI Canada Network and take part in a full-day program offered by the international SROI Network’s Sheila Durie.

During the morning program, Sheila will provide you with expert insights on stakeholder involvement, highlighting this as a distinguishing characteristic of SROI. Sheila will illustrate the practical application of stakeholder involvement using case studies.  The morning will also include a demonstration of databases such as the wikivois and others, and include a discussion on how the practitioner community can help shape databases such as the wikivois and others.

The afternoon program will commence with a short presentation to celebrate the launch of SROI Network Canada, followed by a final session with Sheila where she will share additional insights and expertise on the topic of valuation.

The day will conclude with a practical exercise and Q & A with Sheila.

Details:

Wednesday, October 30, 2013 from 10 AM to 4 PM
Location: The Centre for Social Innovation (CSI)
215 Spadina Ave, Toronto – Whole Connector Room

Cost is $100 for the day (includes lunch). Space is limited to 40, so register early!

[ register here ]

Want to build community?

Tired of the commercialization of the holidays?

Organize an Alternative Gift Fair in your town! Join this webinar to learn how.

Date: Thursday, November 7, 2013
Time: 1:00-2:00pm EST (10:00-11:00am PST)
Cost: Free

Alternative Gift Fairs are a way to promote the gift-giving tradition of the holiday season without the wastefulness and commercialization of conventional shopping.

Alternative gifts prioritize meaning over materials — they may include charitable donations, gently used secondhand items, help for a community project, and more. Whether for a few dozen or a few hundred people, Alternative Gift Fairs are a fun and inspiring way to celebrate the holidays.

Join New Dream on November 7, 2013 for a free webinar about how to organize an Alternative Gift Fair in your community. Dovetailing with New Dream's Guide to Holding An Alternative Gift Fair, the webinar will cover topics such as how to get started, obtaining funding and participants, and advice on how to publicize your event.

Get inspired and hear directly from the organizers of successful and established Alternative Gift Fairs. Register now!

[ REGISTER HERE ]

Guest Speakers:

Jeff Golden has spent the last 25 years in politics, broadcasting and editorial journalism, and organizational consulting. He is the founder and organizer behind the Abundance Swap in Ashland, OR, which is in its 12th year. The Abundance Swap is a community gathering where participants trade secondhand, useful items as an alternative to holiday shopping. Last year's event attracted over 400 people.

Jim Groves has worked at the National Education Association as a Senior Benefits Specialist for 13 years. For the past five years, he has run the NEA Alternative Gift Fair in Washington, DC — an event where shoppers have the opportunity to support charities in honor of family members and friends in lieu of consumer gifts during the holidays. Last year the NEA Alternative Gift Fair raised nearly $3,000 for charitable organizations.
 

Lunch & Learn Webinar Series:

Learn the essential steps to becoming an Entrepreneur.

If you're going into entrepreneurship and still holding on to the belief that it's the same as being employed (except without benefits and job "security") - you will find yourself in a very limiting position. When you have your own business you will have to develop traits to successfully transition from employee to CEO.

Here's what you'll take away from this webinar:

• Why your "story" about what's possible for you can stop you from having a profitable business - and how to clear out beliefs that stand in your way
• Why the employee to entrepreneur transition has challenges that won't be found in a business plan - and how to head them off by trusting your inner voice
• Why failure is an option - and how to use it to build a stronger business
• Why old fears can stop you from making decisions - and how to make fear your ally
• Why entrepreneurship is more about "being" and less about "doing" - and how you can become the entrepreneur you want to be.

[ REGISTER NOW ]

Webinar Format:

12:00 - 12:45 pm | Welcome/Presentation
12:45 - 01:00 pm | Question Period/ Wrap-up

Webinar participation is FREE, but registration is required.

Guest Speaker:

Byron Biggs
Chief Executive Officer
Mayday Global Solutions
Information Technology and Services

Byron's 14 years of experience in the Information Technology industry has led Byron to conduct successful business activities in Canada, United States, Mexico, Panama, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Austria, Switzerland and Russia. His career began as a marketing specialist in an e-learning firm followed by a nomination to become the International Marketing Director and to develop a new market in Latin America, generating unprecedented revenues. Byron was also successful in promoting elearning courses in 6 different languages, around 166 different countries, using Internet Marketing strategies and Change Management tactics

For more information:

Mary Sicoli, Webinar Coordinator
CEDEC
(514) 903-3753 (est. 221)
mary.sicoli@cedec.ca

 

The CEDEC Small Business Support Network is an initiative of the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC).

Check out this exclusive discussion brought to you by Emerging Leaders, The Canadian CED Network's standing youth committee.

You hardly need to do a quick web search to understand that real and imposing challenges exist for youth wanting to break into the Canadian job market. In some cases you may be told you don’t have enough experience despite years of educational training. In other cases you might be told that you are over-educated for the position. In many cases you may find there just aren’t jobs available in your field of study or practice, despite being told that if you ‘follow your passion’ things would work out. Whatever the reason, many youth, along with other marginalized segments of our population, are being left out of the Canadian economy.

BACKGROUND

In this age of growing concern for social and environmental conditions, youth are increasingly looking for purpose driven employment opportunities in the hopes of developing mission-related careers. Canada’s employment statistics also reveal an aging workforce, much of which is nearing retirement. Employers understand that youth engagement is essential for creating substantive and lasting change and is integral to organizational succession planning for. All of this seems to bode well for youth participation in the Social Economy of Canada. But many organizations have limited hiring power and, in some cases limited experience in effective youth engagement, and so are struggling to provide the work experience and longer-term employment opportunities needed to attract a new generation of workers to the Social Economy.

This session introduces some examples of how youth can take charge of their own careers within the Social Economy, both by creating your own initiatives and by finding ways to integrate yourself into existing programs and projects.

PRESENTERS

• Sandra Badcock is Housing & Tenant Relations Specialist with Stella’s Circle, a social services agency in St. John's, Newfoundland providing programs for adults who have faced challenge in the community, including personal or family breakdown, homelessness, mental health issues, addictions, abuse, illiteracy and the lack of education as well as poverty. Sandi entered the world of CED as a CreateAction intern in 2010 and has never turned back. Working for various organizations for youth, including FINALY!, Service Canada Centre for Youth, and Student Affairs and Services, Sandi has been active in youth advocacy, issues, and engagement. She is the current chair of Emerging Leaders.
   
• Stefan Epp-Koop is Program Director of Food Matters Manitoba. Previously, Stefan has coordinated research, evaluation, and policy analysis at Food Matters and was also Project Coordinator for the Manitoba Alternative Food Research Alliance.  Stefan holds an MA in History from Queen's University.  Stefan became interested in food for many reasons – growing up in rural Alberta, involvement in international development work, and an interest in policy issues, to name a few, not to mention the joy of getting his hands in the garden dirt.
   
• Marianne Jurzyniec is currently employed with Affinity Credit Union as a Community Development Manager in Saskatoon Saskatchewan. In 2011 she joined Emerging Leaders and has enjoyed the experience of meeting other people who share the same goals and interests as she does including her passion for co-operatives, the environment, and her community. Her current role in Community Development allows her to feed these passions by working with micro-enterprise, co-op development, financial literacy, affordable housing, social enterprise, and environmental initiatives.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• CCEDNet’s webpage with many more youth resources
• DreamNow
• Canadian Youth Business Foundation
• The Students Commission

Speakers

Living Wage Employers:
Alex Johnstone, HWDSB &
Catherine Ludgate, Vancity

via Conference Call
November 7, 2013

Paying a Living Wage makes good business sense! In this tele-learning we will hear from two of Canada's leading living wage employers, Catherine Ludgate is the Manager of Community Investment for Vancity Credit Union and Alex Johnstone who is a trustee with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.

Vancity Credit Union has more than 2500 employees with 57 branches which makes them one of the largest living wage employers in Canada. They have also ensured that many of their external contracts are also paying the living wage for their employees. For more on Vancity as a living wage employer, click here.

In March of this year the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board adopted the living wage for it's over 7000 employees. It is the second, but largest, public school board in Canada to do so. Read more.

During this tele-learning we will hear about what it takes to become a living wage employer and why it makes good business sense to do so! We will also touch on what a living wage is and highlight the living wage movement in Canada. This tele-learning is part of Canada's inaugural Living Wage Week!

There will be opportunity for questions and answers during the call and a podcast will be made available to all registered participants following the conversation.

[ more info & registration ]