Doonesbury marks a philanthropic generation gap. Way ... cool!

While BC Business extols the new face of philanthropy in British Columbia, Doonesbury notes a benchmark.

The image links to Sunday's strip, then you can read the exchange between the characters.

[A nod to Lucy for beating us to the post.]
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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver | United Kingdom | United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Nonprofit, Philanthropy

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[Opportunity] Executive Director - BC Technology Social Venture Partners

Interested in technology? Interested in civil society? See areas of mutual benefit? This opportunity with BC Technology Social Venture Partners might further tickle that interest.

BC Technology Social Venture Partners is a network of "BC technology entrepreneurs who leverage their time, money, and connections to help non-profits reach sustainability and scale".

The five year old organisation currently seeks

"a strong, relationship oriented executive director with experience in both the business and non-profit / philanthropic world to continue driving our innovative approach to grant making while increasing our profile in the community"

For those interested ...

Responsibilities:

• Grants Delivery and Capacity Building: ensure inflow of high quality non-profits and support the delivery of grants + time commitments from our partners


• Partner Management and Engagement: recruit, connect, and maintain relationships with our 70+ partners from the BC technology community


• Community and Communications: increase our profile and that of our partners within the community, the media, and within key national initiatives


• Fundraising: support the board to grow our endowment, build co-granting relationships with other funders, and access additional sources of capital to support our grantee pool


• Administration: manage day to day finance and administration of our small charitable organization

The first two represent the SVP difference in the philanthropic world: connecting our high capacity partner volunteers to appropriate, transformative engagements with our grantees; and a deep understanding of what makes non-profits successful and working in partnership to help them get there. Bridging these two worlds is the magic behind our organization and the critical success factor for this position.

Qualifications:

• This is a senior position leading an entrepreneurial, results oriented, and fast-paced organization that is poised for further growth.


• Deep knowledge of and relationships within the non-profit sector, especially social enterprise and innovative charitable models, and experience helping them become more successful


• Experience with private sector engagement, technology industry preferred


• Experience on the grant-making side of philanthropy preferred


• Proven results as a high capacity, results-oriented leader


• Top-notch communications, presentation, and listening skills


• Ability to advance our brand and maintain our unique culture amidst numerous partnership opportunities


• Experience with non-profit management, board relations, and fundraising


• Comfort with a fast paced, tight operation, and managing multiple priorities

For more information visit: http://www.bctsvp.com/. Please send resume and cover letter in confidence to Jason Mogus, hiring committee chair.

Deadline: July 31, 2007
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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver United Kingdom United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Enterprise, Nonprofit, BCTSVP

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[Conference] BC Women’s Economic Institute Conference - Starting with Women’s Lives: Changing Today’s Economy

We are pleased to announce the first annual BC Women’s Economic Institute Conference on March 7 – 10, 2007 at the YWCA in Vancouver, BC. The conference, “Starting with Women’s Lives: Changing Today’s Economy”, is co-hosted and sponsored by Atira Women’s Resource Society and the Canadian Women’s Foundation with support from the Vancouver Agreement.

Join other community leaders for a skill-building conference designed to strengthen your organization's toolkit for supporting women to develop their economic potential.

Who should attend:

Leaders of BC-based women's organizations, community development organizations with a focus on programs for women, self-employment, asset development &/or employment training, CED practitioners, civil servants, women interested in women's economic empowerment, and academics.

Here's the schedule:

Wednesday, March 7
Evening Registration & Welcome Reception
Keynote Speaker: Chief Judith Sayers

Thursday, March 8
Breakfast & Networking
Skill-building Sessions
Afternoon Workshops
Consultations & Networking
Networking Dinners
Case Study #1

Friday, March 9
Breakfast & Networking
Skill-building Sessions
Workshops
On site Dinners
Case Study#2

Saturday, March 10
Breakfast & Networking
Skill-building Sessions
Closing Plenary
Closing Reception


Register online now and go here for information about the conference workshops and schedule. Online registration will close on February 23, 2007 at midnight.

Bursaries are available. To apply go here.

Have other questions ... contact Fei Wang at (604) 331-1407 (x. 107).
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Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Atira, Conference

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Social Economy in BC Roundtable (pt ii)

Just received the follow up report to the The Social Economy in BC roundtable facilitated by IMPACS (Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society). The VSEF wrote about the session here.

A six page summary of the morning discussion is accompanied by copies of the presentations made by Tim Beachy, Elisabeth Geller, and Rupert Downing.

The report does offer these "key themes for follow up":

a. BC has enormous talent and capacity in this area;
b. we need to map our existing resources accurately;
c. case studies of successes would be valuable;
d. it is worthwhile to develop a "Made in BC" position and strategy on the social economy, and to take the lead in western Canada;
e. attention must be paid to existing collaborations and leadership, including the credit union movement, the voluntary sector (VOCBC, VSF), the CED community (CEDNet) and the cooperative movement (BCCA);
f. there is no single answer, but hundreds of opportunities and potential approaches;
g. the group participating in the Roundtable can serve as a reference group in shaping a position and strategy;
h. there are others not present who could add value to this effort, so the circle needs to be broadened, and to include the rest of BC;
i. dialogues in other parts of the province are key;
j. there is a history and expertise in community grant allocation processes that could inform how social economy funds are spent in B.C.; there needs to further exploration of this;
k. participation from the corporate world may be helpful;
l. while dialogue is important, we should focus on local action-oriented activities;
m. we should each canvass the thoughts of our neighbours and networks and stimulate debate on the social economy

The group that convened the roundtable met on September 2nd to consider how best to follow-up the dialogue. They'll meet again on September 8th to clarify an action plan. I hope to keep you posted.