Two social entrepreneurs that SCP has worked closely with over the few years have been recognized for their leadership in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010 awards.

Janice Abbott of Atira Property Management was named recognized as the Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010 for the Pacific region.

An article in Yonge Street Media describes how Bill Young established SCP, and references our evolution and current work with franchises and large corporations.

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

In the last year, Doug Moody has expanded his business, garnered positive press for implementing a community hiring program into the AG+R franchises he owns, and has finally begun to feel rewarded by his work.

At the same time, Lee Johnson is building a promising career as a trained mechanic.

From helping Doug integrate a social component into the very core of his business to bolstering the career of a young mechanic, read about the range of impacts Social Capital Partners has had on these two lives.

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."

Listen 

Elisa Birnbaum from SEECHange Magazine interviews Bill Young on his motivations for founding SCP, and the opportunities and issues along the way.

Bill Young is not your momma’s chartered accountant. For one thing, he’s funny. For another, he actually jumped that ship early, spending 20 years in the private sector at the helm of highly successful entrepreneurial organizations. In 2001, he decided to do something completely different. Setting out to prove that market forces can effect social change, that hybrid businesses - boasting social and financial missions - can provide employment opportunities for people facing barriers, he started Social Capital Partners.

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.

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.

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.

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 arranging investments for 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.

Read the Summary Version

Read the Full Paper