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.

What will we do if we win?

We’ll launch InVenture – Canada’s first program to help young people launch businesses that can change the world.

We’ll bring 20 of the best start-ups we can find, have them learn from Canada’s best business minds, and then fill a room with investors interested in them.

We’ll help build businesses driven by social missions. Businesses that focus on renewable energies & cleantech, micro-finance, global education, health access, arts & culture, etc. Businesses that propel us toward a more social, greener economy as fast as possible.

So why is InVenture important?

• It will create jobs. 97.5% of businesses in Ontario are small businesses. And they account for 52% of net job creation across Canada, according to Statistics Canada.

• Young social entrepreneurs are asking for it. Since January, we’ve had nearly 60 requests for this kind of help.

• We can make it happen. That’s why we’ve recieved letters of support from PM Paul Martin & Premier Dalton McGuinty. We just need the money.

• There’s nothing like it in Canada.

Please vote for us.  Everyday if you can. Here.

Thanks!

- From the YSEC team.

Before the mix of festivities and chaos hit the streets of Toronto this past weekend, YSEC joined a panel of young entrepreneurs representing the city at the G20 Youth Summit. Known as MY SUMMIT, the event convened youth delegates from all the participating nations.

Moderated by Gavin Sheppherd of The Remix Project – a community organization with several budding social enterprises – the panel was prodded on their thoughts about the challenges and opportunities the city holds for young entrepreneurs.

Their verdict? Canada needs more community hubs and informal associations dedicated to young entrepreneurs, but stands to gain significantly from looming transformations in all social systems – from energy and agriculture, to healthcare and education.

As the delegates spoke about means of influencing the future, social entrepreneurship seemed to captivate their interest.

A delegate from South Korea contemplated the distinction between social enterprise and corporate social responsibility, while another from Mexico was concerned that developed nations were yet again dictating a prescribed development path for emerging economies by suggesting that they develop in cleaner ways. The latter point was an important cue in establishing a framework for collaboration among nations, but misses the point that a global full press of social innovation is needed to adapt to a rapidly shifting world. While it is entirely reasonable to demand that developed nations assume much of the burden of ensuring better social and environmental practices, it is also vital for all nations to do what they can to stimulate, aid and practice wide scale social innovation.

The event revealed the depth of interest young leaders from around the world are taking in social entrepreneurship as a concrete way forward. In contrast to the weekend’s moments of despair in the streets, the sense of promise was palpable. And that’s a very good thing.

A great book that helped us in this process was Peter F. Drucker’s “The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask Your Organization“, which is a self-assessment tool for non-profit organizations and businesses.

The book lays out 5 questions that appear simple and straightforward. However, discussing the answers out loud with our team forced us to articulate our answers in new ways and turned out to be a clarifying and useful process.

What do you think? Are these questions useful or obvious?

The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization

By: Peter F. Drucker

Question 1: What is our mission?

• What is the current mission?
• What are our challenges?
• What are our opportunities?
• Does the mission need to be revisited?

Question 2: Who is our customer?

• Who is our primary customer?
• Who are our supporting customers?
• How will our customers change?

Question 3: What does the customer value?

• What do we believe our primary and supporting customers value?
• What knowledge do we need to gain from our customers?
• How will I participate in gaining this knowledge?

Question 4: What are our results?

• How do we define results?
• Are we successful?
• How should we define results?
• What must we strengthen or abandon?

Question 5: What is our plan?

• Should the mission be changed?
• What are our goals?

Presented by YSEC & George Brown College’s Institute for Entrepreneurship & Community Innovation (IECI).

This 4-part series will take you through the steps of creating a business plan for your enterprise, social enterprise or nonprofit.

Outcomes:

- Draft a business plan
– Get an expert opinion on your idea’s strengths & weaknesses
– Utilize market research to create financial plans
– Create a draft marketing plan

Taught by Professor Mark Simpson, Co-ordinator & Professor of Management Studies, International Business Management, Small Business Entrepreneurship

June 2, 9, 16, 23   I    6-9pm

George Brown College
230 Richmond Street East

50% discount for YSEC Members. To become a member click here.
35% discount for additional members of your team.

Limited seating available. Register here.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ghindo/1739299123/

- Assaf Weisz, Executive Director, Young Social Entrepreneurs of Canada

Last week I had the glorious task of looking back at all the group meetings our organization has had in the last 9 months. The record: 550 hours of meetings, and over 200 meetings. That works out to almost a meeting every day.

The fact is, most start-ups rely heavily on group meetings to move forward. In fact, at the earliest stages of group formation, sometimes meetings are the only places where the initiative “exists”. That’s all well and good because at the start there are many important conversations to have. The task of the organization is to concretize their vision, values, group dynamics, planning, etc.

It’s important to know when your team is at this stage, but critical to know when you need to move on. If you find yourself doing most of your work in meetings, that’s an indication of trouble.

My advice: use meetings to set the plan & policies, and use the rest of your time to actually do the work.

So how can you make group meetings more effective?

Here are 7 nuggets of hard-earned advice:

1. What Do You Want? Start with the end in mind. Even if the conversation changes direction organically, come into every meeting knowing what you’re looking for from it, and make sure everyone is one the same page.

2. Prepare! Whatever you’ll need at the meeting should be prepared beforehand to make the conversation more effective. If that means sending around a presentation 2 days before so everyone is caught up, do it.

3. What Is It About? Making an agenda is really about taking your best guess at what you’ll be discussing, and how long you expect to discuss it. The length of time you allot for a discussion is often a signal of how you expect the conversation to unfold. Every agenda item should have a desired result, outcome or next step.

4. Use Your Agenda. It should be a guide for the evolution of the conversation. Warn the participants a minute or two before it’s time to move on.

5. Be Willing To Ditch It. Sometimes, the conversation that emerges is more important than your original agenda, or completely changes the context in which the first one was planned. You decide what’s more important, but use this sparingly.

6. Is It Worth Everyone’s Time? This refers to a lot of things. First, when thinking about how long a meeting should be, multiply the timeslot by the number of participants (ex. 2hrs x 5 participants = 10hrs). The answer is the amount of productive time your organization is devoting to this. Prioritize accordingly.

Second, expect everyone to be on time and finish on time. These are signs of respect for everyone’s time. If your team stretches these boundaries a lot, make a change by starting on time (and not reviewing the discussion when people come in late), and by finishing on time.

7. Relaaaaax. Bring a good mood to the table! This will make your team better problem solvers, and ensure that you enjoy your time with eachother more. Some groups start and end with a ritual. Whatever you end up doing, own the time and space – make it uniquely yours.

Meetings are necessary, but misusing the time can lead to frustration and stagnation – things start-ups can’t afford. By focusing on how you conduct them, and by only having them when you need to, you’re likely to be far more productive.

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?

Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below!