Giving the People What They Want: Positive Change Through Social Enterprise
GEOFF DAVIS
MANAGING DIRECTOR, CONSULTING, DELOITTE
CHELSEY MACNEIL DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE, CHOICES FOR YOUTH
With the release of Deloitte’s 2018 Global Human Capital Trends report, aptly titled ‘The Rise of the Social Enterprise’, many factors, such as youth perspective and workforce participation, technology, and the need for corporate leadership were identified as contributing to a clear shift, locally and globally, toward more sustainable and socially-conscious business models. Included in this shift are social enterprises that operate to turn business practices into opportunities to solve social problems and build value to communities. This shift cuts across sectors; from the increase in environmental awareness and considerations for the impact on renewable resources, to combatting social inequality.
the workforce, the workplace, and work technologies undergo seismic change. The province of Newfoundland and Labrador has responded to these economic and social challenges with the release of its first Social Enterprise Action Plan. At the federal level, government is also crafting a comprehensive social finance strategy which looks to strengthen the role of social procurement and investment in how it spurs innovation.
While embedding social, cultural or environmental into their purpose, social enterprises sell goods and services, just like any other business. For this reason, although social enterprises come in many forms, their goal is to reinvest profits into their social mission. These businesses also offer a unique approach in how government and private sector purchasing, and even impact investing, can be leveraged to create very real social and economic value.
David LePage, international expert on social enterprise, makes a strong case for social value purchasing by businesses and governments. "Every purchase, intentionally or not, has an economic, employment, environmental and social impact. When governments and businesses use social procurement, they intentionally add social value.” (David LePage, 2018). Buying from social enterprises means leveraging money that will already be spent on contracts by governments, private companies or nonprofits to provide community benefits through economic and social returns. But in order for social value purchasing to take hold, we need to challenge our purchasing policies, both in the private and public sector, to value social contributions.
Increasingly, both governments and the private sector are recognizing how vital social enterprise will be in the future as
There is a strong economic and social case to approach complex social issues with positivity and collaboration. We have a
Congratulations NANCY HEALEY 2018 CCEC EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
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