241 St Paul St
St. Catharines, ON L2R 3M7
Canada
Communities only get stronger when their leaders do. Additionally, local leadership is stronger, more relevant, and responsive when business, government, and the voluntary sectors work together.
Typically the business sector measures success in terms of economic impact, whereas for nonprofits and charities, success is about being able to successfully address social issues. In other words we’re stacking up money versus humanity and compassion. Of course, we need both. And yet, we seem to separate the two with a very clear dividing line. This has created the challenge of not being able to find an infrastructure that addresses the need for both economic impact and social innovation.
Brenda Herchmer, Principal Collaborator, Campus for Communities of the Future will lead us through a discussion of the need for a new kind of community leadership—focused on the system-thinking needed for transformative change grounded in collaboration, community building, and ultimately the responsive and nimble networks, webs, and meshwork required for both social and economic development.
Campus for Communities of the Future is a micro college built as a social enterprise to “enhance the ability of seasoned and aspiring leaders to meet complex community demands…the Campus simplifies the complexity of this change with resources, learning, and coaching.” Products include community leadership online training and certification, as well as publications, consulting, workshops, and keynote addresses for stakeholders across the country.
However, the reality is that the Principal Collaborator, Brenda Herchmer, never set out to build a social enterprise. Instead it evolved more as the result of the push and pull between wanting to make a difference, and needing to be entrepreneurial in order to make it happen.
This meetup is hosted by Social Enterprise Niagara.