Recent News
- Spring 2010 Newsletter
- on May 21st, 2010
2010 has been an exciting year for SCP thus far, and this newsletter includes:
- video and written profiles of an Active Green and Ross franchise owner and employee
- our second blog series on "How We Do What We Do"
- a video of a talk on SCP's successes, failures, and lessons
- a paper on some of SCP's most important learnings from working with social enterprises
- video discussion with myself, Paul Martin and John Tory
- a quick update on recent operational developments
- Profiling Success - Active Green + Ross, Barrie
- on May 10th, 2010
In the last year, Doug Moody has expanded his business, garnered positive press for implementing a social hiring program into the AG+R franchisees he owns, and has finally begun to feel rewarded by his work.Lee Johnson, on the other hand, is building a promising career as a trained mechanic.
From helping Doug integrate a social component into the very core of a business to bolstering the career of a young mechanic, read about the range of impacts Social Capital Partners has had on these two lives.
- Bill Young interviewed on CBC Metro Morning
- CBC Metro Morning on April 12th, 2010
In a engaging eight minute interview with CBC, Bill Young explains each chapter of the SCP history and the learning outcomes that have emerged from each. In explaining how market forces can be harnessed to solve structural social challenges, Bill asserts that "this is not altrusim...this is about a business opportunity that does good at the same time. Right now, the dots haven't been connected yet. We need to rethink the system."
- Bill Young delivers"Lived It” lecture at MaRS
- on March 5th, 2010
Bill spoke at the MaRS Discovery District on March 3rd 2010 about SCP's experiences over the last decade of trying to grow and develop the field of social enterprise in Canada. He covered SCP's successes, its failures, the lessons learned along the way and what we hope to accomplish over the next ten years.
- The Globe and Mail writes on Bill Young following his passion
- Globe & Mail - Report on Business on December 23rd, 2009
Who is the man behind Social Capital Partners and what led him down the social enterprise path?
The Globe and Mail profiles SCP Founder, Bill Young, in documenting why he chose to leap from traditional private sector work to forming a national not-for-profit organization. $2M in financing and hundreds of community hires later, hear firsthand about how Bill feels about the frustrating yet rewarding mission he has undertaken.
- Bill Young, Paul Martin and John Tory on Impact Investing
- on December 7th, 2009
Rt. Hon. Paul Martin and Bill Young spoke at a session moderated by John Tory titled ""Impact Investing: Building Prosperity Outside the Mainstream". The session at the MaRS Centre on November 6th 2009 explored how market forces can be used to effectively to solve social challenges in Canada. The panelists spoke to the impact social purpose businesses have in effecting social and environmental change in Canada, and how with changes to the Canada Revenue Agency regulations and better tax incentives, corporations could start looking seriously at the nonprofit sector as an investment opportunity.
Impact Investing: Building prosperity outside the mainstream from MaRS Discovery District on Vimeo.
- The Five Critical Factors of Social Enterprise Profitability
- on November 19th, 2009
What are boards, investors and management teams to do when there is tension between the financial and social bottom lines of social enterprises? And are there ways of optimizing the financial performance of the business without negatively impacting the social performance?
This article describes some of the learning Social Capital Partners has gleaned from seven years of investing in employment-based social enterprises. We identify what we believe to be the five most important factors that determine whether a social enterprise will be profitable or require some form of subsidy.
- Market-savvy benevolence
- Financial Post on November 14th, 2009
SCP was featured in an article titled "Market-savvy benevolence: There's profit potential in social enterprise" in the Financial Post.
The article, which features quotes from former Primer Minister Paul Martin and SCP President Bill Young, describes the new generation of market-savvy philanthropists that has emerged. They see the profit potential in employing market-based strategies for a social purpose. The article also describes how and why Canada is lagging behind other country in the development of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship. It highlights the lack of government involvement and misaligned incentives that have slowed the development of this sector.
SCP's work with social entreprise and franchisees is highlighted as a an example of how non-profits can be innovative around working with the private sector. Citing examples of TurnAround Couriers and Active Green + Ross, the article summarizes SCP's social hiring approach as well as the socially-adjusted interest rates.
- Fall 2009 Newsletter
- on September 17th, 2009
We just sent out our Fall 2009 newsletter, our first in a quarterly series designed to keep "friends of SCP" updated on our activities, accomplishments, and challenges.
This issue features a number of exciting developments:
- SCP and our investees have recently featured in prominent national publications
- We continue to grow our franchise strategy - increasing the number of Active Green and Ross locations, as well as investing in a new franchise partner - We Care
- Meet the people we work with - this quarter, we profile our first Active Green and Ross investee, Jennifer Fedus, and one of her earliest (and most successful) social hires, Joel Oliver.
Click here to access the newsletter, and if you haven't signed up yet, you can do so at this page.
- SCP at SoCap09 and GES
- on September 14th, 2009
Bill Young, President of Social Capital Partners, recently participated on panel discussions at two prominent international conferences.
The first, at the Social Capital Markets conference (SoCap09) in San Francisco, was a panel discussion on building successful social venture funds. The panel included Paul Richardson from renewal2 and Derek Gent from Vancity, and was moderated by Tim Draimin from Social Innovation Generation. From the description in the official program:
Building Successful Social Venture Funds: Sage Advice in Today's Context.
Social venture funds are an emerging asset class for financial institutions, fund managers, and philanthropists alike. Over the last decade, Canadians have quietly pioneered some of North america's foremost examples creating
the case for this intersection of money and meaning. Join veteran fund leaders from Vancity, Renewal Partners, and Social Capital Partners in a discussion of how to build successful funds and how that's changing in today's context.The second was the Global Economic Symposium in Germany, where Bill participated in a session on "The New Wave of Social Entrepreneurship". The group discussed new models for solving societal challenges through the principles and practice of social entrepreneurship.
- Page 1 of 5 pages 1 2 3 > Last »
