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Social Enterprise is The New Frontier
by Cory Beaver
Canada Bridges has long been an organization that supports youth through youth-led initiatives. Bridges has nurtured relationships with youth throughout Treaty 7 and Mohkinstsis to continue the work of youth empowerment. The organization is willing to explore ideas and new ways to engage the community for new opportunities. One of those ideas is the development of a social enterprise.
What is social enterprise? It is when an organization explores strategies to maximize improvements in finance and social and environmental well-being. It can be structured in different ways so that the impact it creates benefits those working towards a goal. At Bridges, this structure is centered around youth so that they can learn skills and access the tools they need to engage in enterprising opportunities. As a Part 9 Non-profit corporation in Alberta, we have underutilized our social enterprise potential. Social Enterprise could provide an exciting opportunity that would enable us to grow and offer more services to youth and the community.
We hope to align our mission and vision as an organization to address the inequities faced by BIPOC youth by providing them with paid work and skill development opportunities based on their goals and aspirations. We will support their empowerment by providing relevant opportunities for them to contribute to current projects and ongoing organizational change professionally. This opportunity will help youth understand business development skills and provide a platform to step into leadership and social entrepreneurship in new ways.
It has been around for a while, and we are just coming around to the idea and giving it a chance. By exploring our strengths and passions, we hope to create financial, social, and environmental opportunities for ourselves and the communities in which we work. As we learn to explore such possibilities, we have generated some potential business ideas and have engaged with social enterprise and business experts to help us refine and move forward our social enterprise ideas. We want to invite a youth team to the idea development, market research and feasibility assessment process. We would love youth to come on this exciting journey to gain new insights and skills. Therefore, if you want to learn about this great initiative, don't hesitate to contact Cory Beaver at cory@canadabridges.com or Rachel Forbes rachel@canadabridges.com. Thank you!