The Social Enterprise World Forum, taking place this October in Calgary, Alberta, recently announced its lineup of speakers. One quick glance at the list and it’s clear that forum attendees will be hearing from a who’s who of the social enterprise arena around the world. The following is a sampling of SEWF speakers, or check out the full list:
Anita Paul, Pan Himalayan Grassroots Development Foundation (India): Anita Paul has created network of over 2,000 women who are currently scaling-up rural business initiatives in the central Himalaya from Rs. 5.00 million per annum to Rs. 50.00 million per annum. Anita has participated in some of the very prestigious programs like IWRM, Swiss Centre for Hydrology, Switzerland; Environmental Leadership Program, University of California, Berkeley, USA; Women & Peace, The Salzburg Global Seminar, Austria; and UNESCO-HELP Symposium, Johannesburg, South Africa. She did her graduation in Sociology and masters in Social Works from Delhi University.
Andreas Souvalitis, Founder, Air Miles for Social Change & Social Change Rewards (Canada): Founder of Green Rewards and later AIR MILES for Social Change, the world’s first national environmental and healthy lifestyle incentive programs. He was trained twice by former US Vice President and Nobel laureate Al Gore and he chairs the national advisory committee on climate change for WWF Canada. He also chairs the advisory board of the Centre for Responsible Leadership at Queen’s School of Business and serves on several other academic and non-profit boards.
Nigel Kershaw, Big Issue Invest & The Big Issue Company (U.K.): Nigel is leading BII’s mission to create a Social Merchant Bank “By the social entrepreneurs – for the social entrepreneurs”. The bank will be driven by the social entrepreneurs and backed by the social financiers. Nigel joined The Big Issue in 1994 and currently is its Group Chairman, previously being its Chief Executive. Last year 3,000 homeless and vulnerably housed Big Issue vendors sold 124,000 copies a week in the UK and earned over £8 million as an alternative to begging. The Big Issue has inspired similar publications to be set up in 100 countries around the world.
Yasmina Zaidman, Acumen (U.S.): Yasmina Zaidman is the Director of Communications and Strategic Partnerships at Acumen, where she is responsible for Acumen’s external communications and leads its efforts to engage with strategic corporate partners who share Acumen Fund’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurial approaches to tackling poverty. She initiated and managed the Water Portfolio at Acumen Fund, and has worked in the arenas of international development, corporate sustainability and social entrepreneurship for the past 16 years. She received a BA from Vassar College and her MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business with a certificate in Public Management.
Runa Sabroe, MindLab (Denmark): MindLab is a cross-ministerial innovation unit which involves citizens and businesses in creating new solutions for society. Before joining MindLab Runa has worked with user-driven innovation in various forms. In MindLab she has had a long list of experience in implementing and designing public development processes. She is a popular speaker and teaches in Denmark as well as internationally. She works multi-disciplinarily and always strives to utilise concrete stories/narratives or other formats that convey the results in ways that are useful for decision makers as well as users.
Te Taru White, Te Taru White Consultancy Limited (New Zealand): A competent, highly qualified senior executive with over 30 years’ experience in a wide range of professions. These range from scientific research to change management, human resource management, community development across all socio-economic spectrums, and leadership for the past 11 years of the highly acclaimed National Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, and the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, Te Puia.
Andrea Coleman, Riders for Health (U.K.): Andrea and husband Barry, are life-long motorcyclists. They saw that well-maintained motorcycles in Africa meant health care delivered, money saved and people trained in appropriate skills. Andrea’s motorcycle racing life and her work in promotion and sports management provided her with a practical outlook and skills that have helped guide the financial and advocacy development of Riders. Riders has received many awards including the renowned Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.
Lucy Bernholz, Stanford University Center on Philanthropy & Civil Society (U.S.): A philanthropy wonk, Lucy is trying to understand how we create, fund, and distribute shared social goods in the digital age – what she calls the future of good. Lucy writes extensively on philanthropy, technology, information, and policy on her blog, philanthropy2173.com. Her writing led Fast Company to choose the site as one of its “Best Blogs” and The Huffington Post named her a “game changer” for her ideas about the future of philanthropy. Lucy is a visiting scholar at the Stanford University Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, a Fellow with the Hybrid Reality Institute and former Fellow of the New America Foundation.
David LePage, Enterprising Non-Profits, enp (Canada): David LePage is the Team Manager of Enterprising Non-Profits, enp, supporting the development and growth of social enterprises. Enp provides resources, technical assistance, workshops, grants and is collaborating on creating an enabling environment for social enterprise across Canada. He has worked in the non-profit arena for over 35 years, in inner cities, and remote communities, diverse cultural communities, in multiple roles, from board, manager, staff, and funder. He is a member of the Social Enterprise Council of Canada (SECC), the Policy Council of the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet), the Social Enterprise World Forum Collaboration, the Board of the Social Enterprise Alliance (North America) and the BC based Partner’s for Social Impact.
Access the first 50 here.
