Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a great holiday season and that 2013 is off to a good start. I’ll be hitting the ground running this January, starting with facilitating a conversation around social innovation at The Two Twenty tomorrow morning as part of their First Tuesday series (moved to the second Tuesday this month, as very few people would show up for anything at 7:30am on New Year’s Day!). Here’s the description from the Facebook page:
In Saskatoon and around the globe, there is a wave building, and its name is social innovation. Social innovation and social entrepreneurship move beyond the traditional models of charity and service delivery. Social entrepreneurship, crowdfunding, grassroots involvement, asset-based community development – these and many more creative approaches hold the power to change the playing field and spawn new methods of solving complex and daunting social issues, That being said, individuals and groups who drive social change often encounter barriers that preserve the status quo, like funding criteria that privilege certain types of organizations and activities over others, or a simple distrust of new ideas.
This First Tuesday, Brian Hoessler of Strong Roots Consulting wants to know how social innovation can be better supported in Saskatoon, with an eye towards building a diverse network of people and organizations around this topic. As a growing city, we have the opportunity to build our community’s capacity to tackle these challenging issues – be a part of the conversation!
If you can’t make it but want to contribute your thoughts around this topic, drop me a line! I’ll also post a summary after the event to continue the conversation.
Another mini-project I’ll be working on over the next week is a short series on planning for non-profits, using the analogy of the traditional New Year’s Resolutions. Whether it’s getting in shape or improving your programs, a lot of the fundamentals are the same, as are the pitfalls. What’s the best way to avoid having your goals fall by the wayside? Stay tuned.