Social Enterprise and CED

Penny Handford, another friend of the VSEF, will be leading a course on Social Enterprise at SFU in October.

The details are (from the SFU link):

Friday and Saturday, October 21and 22, 2005, 8:30 am–4:30 pm

Fee $420 (registration deadline: September 30, 2005)

Social enterprises operate with multiple bottom lines. They generate revenues and create significant social and environmental value. Social enterprises grow out of community processes and are a new model for sustainable community initiatives. This course explores the concept, characteristics and types of social enterprise as well as planning issues such as venture selection, organizational systems and structures, for-profit/mission-based cultural challenges, and measurements of success.

By the end of the course, participants should:

- understand the concepts, values and applications of social enterprise

- be able to identify opportunities in the community which could be well served by the development of social enterprise

- understand the roles of economic development organizations, corporations, government, financial organizations and consultants in the development of social enterprise

- be able to assess the readiness of a group or organization to develop a social enterprise

Instructor:

Penny Handford has over 30 years experience in the non-profit sector. She has a special interest in all facets of social enterprise and has developed a for-profit business as a wholly-owned subsidiary of a non-profit agency. She co-created the curriculum for a training course in social entrepreneurship offered by the British Columbia Institute of Technology's Venture Development Centre. Handford's skills, knowledge and experience include assessing organizational capacities and challenges; managing change and transition; creative problem solving; strategic planning; team building; and board development.