Social Venture Institute (SVI)

At SVI we will feature three enterprises that have identified a specific strategic challenge to a panel of experts. The format of SVI is highly interactive and experiential. Participants present their business problems to a panel of experienced business leaders and fellow participants. In return, they receive advice, tools, and resources to strengthen and grow their enterprise in a socially conscious way.

• Zego Foods: Colleen Kavanagh
  • Zego Foods is revolutionizing the food industry with their clean, allergen-free products. Their innovative approach ensures safe, nutritious options for consumers with dietary restrictions, setting a new standard for food safety and quality. Be a part of Zego’s Case Study to explore how to shift an industry, with their example of toxin-free foods.
• Granville Island: Tom Lancaster
  • Granville Island is a vibrant cultural hub in Vancouver, attracting over 10 million visitors annually with its unique blend of artisan shops, public markets, and performance spaces. With a thriving community of over 300 businesses and artists, it generates more than $215 million in economic activity each year. Join SVI to crack the code on how Granville Island’s strategy for the next 40 years, keeping culture, reconciliation, and financial stability at its core.
• Nuqo Modular: Rory Richards
  • NUQO Modular, a trailblazing, woman-led, Indigenous-owned company specializing in modular construction, recently received a multi-million-dollar investment from Raven Indigenous Capital. Join NUQO to navigate this crucial time and explore how to accelerate modular solutions in the child-care and education sectors.

Learn practical tools and tactics in SVI workshops. Workshop topics cover sales, marketing, finance, strategy, and leadership. Stay tuned for the full workshop list!

• Introduction to Somatic Abolitionism (Resmaa Menakem, New York Times Bestselling Author of My Grandmother’s Hands)

  As a person of color, an Indigenous person, or a white person, are you open to exploring and healing the effects of racism or supremacy within your own body? Are you interested in doing the challenging work of releasing racialized trauma and building an anti-racist culture? Resmaa guides you through an introduction to somatic abolitionism—an embodied anti-racist practice and process of culture building that he developed. Resmaa’s emergent somatic abolitionism practice is a form of maturation into a more integrated human experience and a way of being in the world.

• Agile Strategy for the Social Venture (Mike Rowlands, Junxion Strategy)

  Today, effective strategy integrates culture and brand, embraces the change that’s all around us, and is captured in a living document that empowers leaders through change, growth, and organizational development.

  In this session Mike Rowlands will share insights into Junxion’s Turning Point™ approach, which blends Agile methodologies, Appreciative Inquiry, stakeholder engagement and systems thinking in an integrated model that’s been implemented by many SVI alumni in their ventures—and a long list of visionary, social purpose organizations.

When you register for SVI by July 31, you will receive a complimentary copy of SVI alumni and award-winning social entrepreneur Madeleine Shaw’s book, “The Greater Good: Social Entrepreneurship for Everyday People Who Want to Change the World.”

In this inspiring book groundbreaking menstrual health innovator Madeleine Shaw (co-founder of Aisle, previously known as Lunapads) shares insights from her 25-year journey and offers tools and encouragement for others considering starting their own impact-based projects or ventures for the greater good. Don’t miss this chance to gain valuable insights and inspiration while securing your spot at SVI!