Do you have a skill, passion, or hidden talent you want to offer? Do you have a service you’d like to purchase in support of non-profits?

Join YSEC’s special “”Skills Drive”" MeetUP co-hosted with Well of Change on Wednesday, July 28th at the Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Ave, 4th floor, 6-8pm.

Discover a new way to raise funds for your own organization or favourite charities & non-profits.

Come and donate your services or buy someone else’s.

All proceeds go to YSEC or to your choice of charities registered with Well of Change.

Do you want funding? Do you know how to tell your story to potential investors and partners?

Learn how in this highly interactive workshop series.

Over four weeks, you will have the opportunity to work on your business plan with assistance from The Institute of Entrepreneurship and Community Innovation.

Participants are encouraged to share their ideas with other participants, network, and develop their social enterprise / business ideas.

This seminar series will review business plan concepts and provide the opportunity for hands-on application.

Concept reviews are 30 – 60 minutes with 2 hours dedicated to hands-on application to your plan.

Outcomes

• Utilize market research to create financial plans
• Develop a marketing plan
• Create a draft of your business plan
• Know funding sources

Seminar 1 – June 2nd – The Pit

Have your social enterprise / business reviewed by the Pit Bosses.  Provide a quick pitch and be bombarded by Q & A. Exact length of pitch will be confirmed upon final registration numbers.  All participants will be provided with the “must know” questions.  Ignore at your peril.

• Know where you need to improve
• Use the knowledge gained to build a great plan

Seminar 2 – June 9th – Market Research – Telling Your Story

Need funding?  Then you need to tell your story.  And how do you tell your story?  Market research is the key – market research allows you to build your financials.  No one cares about your opinion – just the facts.

• Learn cheap and effective market research steps
• Turn your research into your financial plan
• Gain confidence in your business and your ability to tell the story

Seminar 3 – June 16th – Marketing

A great idea is no good if you can’t sell it.  Does it take big bucks?   It doesn’t need to.

• Grassroots marketing strategies
• The power of your personality

Seminar 4 – June 23rd – Feedback

Peer review.  How clear is your story?  Get the real feedback from your peers.  Walk away knowing what you need for success.  The story is coming together – let’s talk about sources of funding.

• Business plan reviewed against a scoring grid
• Take away comments to finish your plan
• Understand finance sources

About the Instructor

Mark Simpson is the Founding Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship & Community Innovation at George Brown College, and has run his own business consultancy for more than 20 years. Mark is passionate about helping young entrepreneurs plan for their ideas. 

Event Details:

All seminars will run from 6-9 pm. Registration and refreshments at 5:30 pm.  

Location:
 230 Richmond Street East
Institute of Entrepreneurship and Community Innovation (The Institute)
The Centre for Business
George Brown

Cost:

$200 for series
$130 for additional members of your team (please contact us at info@ysec.org for discount code)

50% off for YSEC members

- Join the city’s vibrant community of young changemakers
– Meet some of the most innovative minds and projects
– Learn more about social entrepreneurship & social enterprise

Connect and reconnect with changemakers in the community this April 22, 2010 from 6-8 pm at the Centre for Social Innovation (215 Spadina Ave., 4th Floor).

To cover costs of the event, we’re charging $10 at the door. 
(Free for YSEC members. Not a member yet? Learn how to join here).

See you there!

Check out their full essays at Globe and Mail: What it means to be a mentor.

Catch Tonya Surman and Nathaniel Whittmore at re:Vision Earth Hour and Mark Simpson at re:Vision 2010. Registration still open. Don’t miss out!

4 sleeps to go! Press releases are on their way! Get a sneak peek at the re:Vision 2010 program book! It’s HOT!

If you haven’t registered yet NOW is the time to do it as spots are filling up fast! Don’t forget we’re running a video contest so enter it and you could win a FREE ticket!

With our judges from organizations such as the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, we’ll be selecting a winner from our exciting three finalist projects.

After the pitch competition, it’s a typical YSEC MeetUP with a chance to network and catch up with other young social entrepreneurs. Feel free to promote any of your upcoming events and don’t forget your business cards.

Come on out for a fun, edge-of-your seat night!

Please register by March 19, 2010.

$10 online, $12 at door, free for YSEC members.

The Finalists

Carolyn Burns, Karibou Corp. (with Creative Director, Marcel Witboo)

Karibou Corp. is an organization that is dedicated to promoting and distributing contemporary African art and design. Its mission is to challenge the negative perceptions of African culture and small business that are prevalent in North America. In a nut shell, Karibou Corp. is creating an audience and a consumer base for designers and artists from across the African continent. Check out their website for features on different creatives every month.  Look out for its online store, opening in May. Find out more.

Mike Edwards, Preparing the Trail

Preparing the Trail uses the power of athletics to drive health and environmental messages in our communities.  It is a grassroots, environmentally active, not-for profit organization dedicated to successfully executing programs that bring athletes, volunteers, and community supporters together at events, tree planting initiatives, and green awareness festivals throughout the GTA and the surrounding Greenbelt. Now partnered with Right to Play and Trees Ontario, Preparing the Trail hopes to lead communities towards an environmentally sustainable, healthy, green and vibrant future. Find out more.

Tim Nash, Strategic Sustainable Investments (SSI)

Strategic Sustainable Investments (SSI) is an investment consulting firm that specializes in sustainability education and analysis. Through powerful seminars, workshops, and personalized coaching, SSI helps investors recognize sustainable investment opportunities emerging from today’s challenging economic environment that generate profits for people & planet. Find out more.

Congratulations to all our finalists!  Be there on March 25, 2010 to find out who takes home the $1,000.

Catch Eli at re:Vision 2010! Limited spots left so register now to avoid disappointment.

This month: Grab the Mic!  February 25 @ Centre for Social Innovation,  215 Spadina Ave., 4th Floor, 6:30-9 PM

At this month’s MeetUP, 15 people will have the chance to share their ideas / projects.  You’ll spend 20 minutes working with serial entrepreneur, Tim Harris, to perfect your pitch and then present it to a crowd of your peers. It’s good practice for next month’s Pitch Competition on March 25 at Centre for Social Innovation where social entrepreneurs will have the chance to win a $1,000 interest free loan to kickstart their ideas.  Register online and email us if you want to participate. First come, first serve!

Not interested in getting up in front of a crowd? Come out and hear more about the fascinating projects your peers are working on!  See if you have any resources or ideas you can offer to help them (and vice versa).

The rest of the evening will be devoted to networking – so come and get to know other young changemakers in the city.

Register online at http://meetupfeb.eventbrite.com/

Free for YSEC members.  Membership can be bought in person at the MeetUP or online.

Announcing re:Vision 2010: The Young Social Entrepreneurs of Canada’s Inaugural Conference.

The Young Social Entrepreneurs of Canada is looking for young people who are spearheading incredible change in communities across Ontario.  YSEC is bringing together 100 young leaders in Ontario: a critical mass of organizers, activists and entrepreneurs who are taking changemaking to the next level.

re:Vision 2010 is a weekend conference for leaders 17-34 featuring experts of local and international acclaim. It’s an intensive weekend focusing on building sustainable initiatives, targeting the root causes of social issues, creating systemic solutions, and growing peer networks.

At re:Vision 2010, participants will:

• Be among 100 young leaders of enterprise and innovation in Ontario.
• Gain insight and advice from accomplished leaders in the field.
• Learn the analytical strategies critical to better understanding their social cause.
• Discover the practical changes their initiative needs to better meet its goals.
• Understand how social enterprise challenges traditional organizational structures.
• Collaborate for innovation, test assumptions, and learn from their peers.

Join us March 27th-28th in Toronto. Applications are accepted with rolling admission.

Apply. Visit: revision.ysec.org Pass it on.

For this month’s YSEC MeetUP, we’re hosting a Dragon’s Den style (but nicer) Pitch Competition.

Three of Toronto’s top youth-driven ideas will be presented to a panel of Toronto’s social entrepreneur and finance experts. The winner will receive:

• $1,000 as an interest free loan from the YSEC Fund, Canada’s first for youth, by youth, fund for social entrepreneurs
• 5 hours of free consulting with George Brown’s Institute of Entrepreneurship and Community Innovation
• Applicants that fit with the Toronto Enterprise Fund’s (TEF) program mandate will be considered for entry into TEF’s seed funding program (grants run from $5,000 to $50,000).

Who are the judges?

• Sarah Hashem,Business Manager for Central Ontario, Canadian Youth Business Foundation
• Magnus Sandberg, Director of Investments, Social Capital Partners
• Mark Simpson, Professor and Founder, George Brown College’s Institute of Entrepreneurship and Community Innovation
• Eli Malinsky, Director of Programs and Partnerships, Centre for Social Innovation
• Assaf Weisz, Executive Director, Young Social Entrepreneurs of Canada

It’s going to be a great show. Don’t miss this entertaining, edge-of-your seat, and historic night!

Admission is $10 online for non-members, and $12 at the door
YSEC Members have free admission! Aren’t a member yet? Learn more here.

Please RSVP to watch the Pitch Competition by March 18, 2010.

This event is made possible with the generous support of the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, the Laidlaw Foundation, Sherwood Park Management, and Toronto’s burgeoning movement of young social entrepreneurs.

How does the YSEC Fund work?