Good 100 Experiment

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This past weekend I was in Edmonton for the Good 100 Experiment.  A social venture conference that brought together some of Alberta’s social enterprise community, both non-profit and for-profit.  The two plenary presenters, Lewis Cardinal and Joel Solomon each had something unique to say about the state of social entrepreneurship in North America.  Mr. Cardinal drew upon Cree culture to highlight the role that the locale and environment plays in the development of successful businesses.  Mr. Solomon shared his wisdom on impact investing and financial management with the Renewal, Renewal 2 and the Endswell Foundation.  The former drew upon the history of North American society and the latter presented a current state of affairs, together they painted a picture on what is influencing future growth in the social finance markets.

This blog is entitled Generating Social Capital.  I started it several years ago (just over 5) and since then the ideas around social finance, social entrepreneurship, strategic philanthropy and corporate citizenship have evolved.  I figure it is time I dust off what it means to generate social capital in light of the evolution of this sector.

Social capital is, at its base, the currency that we use to drive positive social change in our communities; the financial and human resources that we apply to philanthropy, investment practices, consumer behaviour, travel and volunteering.  More and more as the ideas economy takes shape and move from an information era to a consumer era, the social connections between individuals and organizations becomes more valuable, thereby driving up the social capital that one has. 

Lewis Cardinal spoke about the history of Canada from our First Nation’s perspective.  He shared wisdom from his elders, how the Cree Nation established their social capital; something that we can each bank on.  In Cree culture it is understood that in order to grow one’s social capital one has to have a gathering place for people to connect.  The shared energy of those who have gathered (wisdom of the crowd) establishes a bond (divine essence/creative power) that reinforces relationships between each other and the land that they inhabit. 

Phonetic spelling of Cree words

Today our social capital takes on these same principles.  Concepts that Joel Solomon outlined in the Carol Newell case study.  Ms. Newell inherited significant wealth and sought out guidance from Joel on managing her wealth.  They took a holistic approach that included three approaches:

  1. Whole portfolio activation
  2. Ability to Amplify impact
  3. Integrated strategy (so that all concepts were connected to each other)

While not all of us have millions to distribute into the economy, we all have some asset base that we use to live on, save, consume with and donate.  If we each take an approach that uses these concepts we can actually grow our social capital.

Whole portfolio activation: A wealth management strategy that looks at all aspects along your value chain

  • Financial
  • Humanity
  • Idea generation

Amplify Impact: Understanding the up and downstream affects of your consumer and investment power

  • Invest in people and projects that are localized
  • Inject the resources into the system that is known, understood and where connections can be strengthened

Integrated Strategy: Your wealth includes all aspects of finance

  • Creation of an investment portfolio that reflects personal values
  • Establish a mechanism for disbursing funds for philanthropy
  • Fund programs, services, projects, companies that strengthen leadership and capacity building of businesses and non-profits
  • Be engaged in public policy conversations

This approach to wealth management will take time to catch on.  Every generation has its social issues that it galvanizes around.  Anti-war movements, environmental issues, civil rights, etc.  The generation that will make social capital a central tenant of wealth advisory services and fund management are the Gen-Xers and Millenials who are just entering into their own wealth either through inheritance or self-creation.  New resources and strategies will be tested and proven in the markets as more people call for social finance legislation, support and products.

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