"The Canadian Social Entrepreneurship Foundation brings a fresh, innovative, high impact
and energetic contribution to the Social Entrepreneurship Field. It's focus on Education, mentorship,
networking and resourcing is critical to the growth of a flourishing social economy in
Canada."
Coro Strandberg
Principal, Strandberg Consulting
Past Chair, Vancity Savings Credit Union
A Message from the Founder
"Welcome! I'll start off with a famous line which has been quoted time and time again: “Some men and women see things as they are and say, ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’” This is the motto of Social Entrepreneurs world wide! This is the motto of the CSEF.
The Canadian Social Entrepreneurship Foundation, sixty percent a virtual organization, was conceptualized in 2003 with the intentions to spur on innovation and "bridge the gap" we had seen developing between the not for profit, business and government sectors. In order to address this growing "gap", in 2004, the CSEF was created. How should we begin to bridge this gap? In order to make change we realized we had to be a major force and hotbed for the faculty of Social Entrepreneurship.
Using our combined past and continuing experience in the online
search, e-commerce, e-marketing, webservices, software development, Technology, Business,
Not For Profit, Government, Academic and Investing sectors
we realized that the the way to make change, become a major force and stir up innovative thought is to
provide blended value.
CSEF exists to
Educate, Recognize and Fund existing and emerging Canadian
and Global Social Entrepreneurs." ~ JL Carvalho
Who We Are:
The Canadian Social Entrepreneurship Foundation , a Not For Profit, is registered in British Columbia, Canada.
What We Invest in:
CSEF invests in Canadian social enterprises that produce revenue and focus on these specific areas:
- [Social] Inventors
- Children and Youth (Example: employing at-risk youth)
- Women at Risk
- Aborginal Youth ventures
- Human Rights
- Environment (Example: Clean Technologies, Energy Efficiency)
- Health
- Civic Engagement
- Economic Development
- Technology Social Enterprises/Intellecutal Property Based Social Ventures/Social Software (Example: efficient technology to maximize impact of social sector organizations)
Investment in British Columbia :
CSEF is based in British Columbia. We
have a strong interest in supporting the growth of Social Entrepreneurship within this province. We are
specifically interested in social enterprises working in the fields of:
- Youth Development (Example: High Risk or Aboriginal Youth)
- Environment
- [Social] Technology
- [Social] Inventions/Inventors
How We Help You - Our Tools:
CSEF provides it's users, members and entrants to it's online competitions with access to:
- Media resources, with access to live news on social entrepreneurship as it happens.
- Online Community, provides CSEF members with access to case studies, "KeyStone-Kits", online videos and tutorials.
- Funding, through it's online competitions, as well as access to the investor community and specific social/greentech venture capitalists.
- Mentorship and Support, from a local, national and international environment. The focus here is on educating, engaging and supporting social entrepreneurs that are interested in the double and triple bottom line. Teaming up with companies that help to mentor and foster your product/service is a key benefit that CSEF offers.
- SE IDEA Challenge, an online social venture business plan competition which provides funding, mentorship and startup materials to entrants.
- Keystone Process, formulated by CSEF to help social innovators get to the "next
level".
How We Help You - Telling Your Story:
CSEF strives to document and tell the stories of Social Entrepreneurs locally, nationally and when we can, globally. We have hundreds of eyes hitting our website daily and we want your story to be featured on the front page!
We believe in documenting best practices and celebrating Social Entrepreneurs and their work. CSEF's volunteers come from varying professional backgrounds but all share one common link: We want to share and celebrate the stories and best practices of Social Entrepreneurs to the world.
An example of our dedication to telling your story: our journalists, like Tina Barton and Barrett Bingley have conduct their interviews either in person, or over the phone; travelling in the hot sun in Laos to reach a Social Entrepreneur, or in a warm office of a Social Entrepreneur during a icicle-forming cold winter storm in Ottawa. We are dedicated to you and we want to share your story.
Letters of Reference
About the website
CSEF's website was developed and designed to act as a national/global information news
resource; providing indispensable information tailored for developing professionals in the social entrepreneurship sector. Our volunteer journalists
have a reputation for speed, accuracy and freedom from bias.
Our customized news aggregator allows our viewers to read the latest up to date news on Social Enterpreneurship. The goal of our website is to be a top news provider in regards to Social Entrepreneurship.