7th September 2015
In early June 2015 a small contingent from Kibble made for Inverness to attend the Social Enterprise Summit, and was greeted by a veritable battalion of crusaders from some of the world’s most engaging social enterprises and support organisations.
We regaled each other with our stories, sharing our experiences of the frontline, discussing the challenges, successes and future of social enterprise.
One of the crusaders, a man known the world over for fighting the good social enterprise fight through his own social enterprise and his extensive knowledge, experience and dedication to the cause, is Canadian social enterprise solider David LePage.
David is known for his passion and dedication to social enterprise, having worked in the non-profit and social enterprise arena for thirty years. In 2013 he founded Accelerating Social Impact, a Community Contribution Company which he terms as an “unusual kind of business†that aims to blend the company’s financial success with its social impact. They are “a hybrid, a for-profit business with an entrenched social mission and a legal limit on our dividend distributionâ€. As such, 60% of its dividends go towards a social purpose.
We sat down on the sidelines of the social enterprise summit to talk about social enterprise, its future and its impact.
Highlights:
- The importance of networking and events like the social enterprise summit
- The difficulties that social enterprises face in the current climate
- David’s familiarity with podcasting
- The difference between rural and urban social enterprise
- How interesting it was to see someone from the government back social enterprise when they do not have such figures in Canada
- How to balance quality and growth in social enterprise
- The priorities for social enterprises right now
- And David’s new social enterprise education venture
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