Presenter: Lise Birikundavyi, CFA, Impact Investment Professional

Lise Birikundavyi is the principal and fund manager for Black Innovation Capital, the first institutionally- backed black-led VC fund in Canada. Lise is an innovative finance specialist who has worked with several international institutions, most notably the Jacobs Foundation for whom she managed an edtech impact investment strategy. Lise also mentors and supports highly promising and impactful start-ups in emerging markets.

Lise began her career in the hedge fund industry in Montreal and her interest in mixing attractive financial returns with long term societal impact is what inspired her to transition to the impact finance sector. She has experience across the investment spectrum: from funds of funds and VCs, to being the transition CEO of a tech start-up.

Lise is a CFA charterholder; she also holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, where she wrote her thesis on impact investing, and a trilingual BBA from HEC Montreal. Lise is fluent in French, English and Spanish, and has a conversational level of Mandarin. She is a firm believer in using the forces of capital markets as a basis for more inclusive wealth creation and sustainable poverty alleviation.

Presenter: Omar Yaqub, Executive Director, Islamic Family & Social Services Association

About IslamicFamily.ca (IFSSA)

IFSSA is an Imagine Canada accredited charity, the winner of the Government of Alberta’s Inspiration Award for its work combatting domestic violence (2020), the Canadian Mental Health Associations Professional Service Award (2020) & the creator of the Canadian Prayer Rug (canadianprayerrug.ca).<p>

People come to IFSSA for support with security, safety and growth. IFSSA serves 5000 clients every month, runs Edmonton’s second largest food bank, provides aid in financial crisis, supports victims of gender-based violence, settles refugees, and delivers a range of preventative programming for youth. IFSSA’s services are open to all.

IFSSA's current moonshots are...

1. Moving intake and assessment in social services sector from an interrogation to a conversation focused on clients goals share.islamicfamily.ca/transform
2. Melding local economic development, food justice in sustainable new ways share.islamicfamily.ca/amplify
3. A therapeutic Hüb for community, geared towards post-pandemic reconnection, creativity and wellness. islamicfamily.ca/hub

Panelists: Raissa Espiritu (COSM Medical and Centre for Social Innovation), Liz Hunt (Smith Assembly), Julian Giacomelli (Druk Training and Consulting) 

Facilitator: Mike Rowlands (Junxion Strategy)

Simple Sales Strategy for Impact Entrepreneurs

Presenter: Shannon Ward

Location: Olatunji Hall

It doesn't matter how much potential the thing you do or produce has to change the world if you can't clearly communicate to your target market in a way that motivates them to take action.

Sales is essential, but struggle is optional.

This workshop will give you a framework and the knowledge you need to build a simple, effective sales plan for your business so you know who to approach, how to approach them, and what to say when you're in front of them! You'll also learn key psychological tips to help yourself stay motivated to take action when it comes to sales.

You will walk away with:

1.       Deeper understanding of your clients, their needs, and what you mean to them;

2.       Tactics to find your target market quickly and easily (online & offline);

3.       Knowledge of behaviours and milestones required to achieve your goal;

4.       How to know if you’re off-track with your sales efforts before it’s too late to change course;

5.       Powerful strategies to leverage every sales action you take in a focused way to ensure you enjoy the greatest impact with the least amount of sales effort

Think like a Product Manager - how to launch a viable business without spending lots of money!

Presenter: Ravi Patel

Location: Raven

Product Managers are responsible for creating valuable, usable, feasible, and business viable products and services at more established startups and larger companies. In this workshop, you will learn how to think more like a Product Manager when creating your social business or launching a new service/product. Learn how to save time and money on validating your ideas; understand the importance of design thinking, and see how you can run more effective customer/user interviews without your own biases impacting your findings! This workshop is relevant for any type of founder/ entrepreneur, whether you are offering a new consulting service, a digital product, or launching a physical product.

Cultivating and Sustaining Human Connections in Teams with the World Climate of COVID-19  

Presenter: Jodi Rai

Location: Kiakum

Feeling and being your full human-self in the workplace may have been challenging pre-COVID. Organizations and humans working in them quickly adapted to a 'new way of working' in a time of crisis. Over a year later we are continuing to adjust our way of thinking and doing as teams look to working in person, virtually, or a combination of both. In this workshop concepts related to employee engagement, organizational change, organizational behavior, wellness, and human resource management processes such as goal setting will be explored in the context of different workplace scenarios.

Panel: Raising Capital

Featuring Lise Birikundavyi (Black Innovation Capital), Bill Stoddart (45North Partners), Colin How. Hosted by Mary Lou Miles (Genus Capital Management)

Location: Event Tent / Lodge

Presenter: Tarun Nayar, Director at 5X Festival, Founder at Snakes x Ladders

Tarun has built his world at intersections. Of east and west. Of music and business. Of science and art. Born to a white Canadian mother and an immigrant Indian father in French Canada, he has always lived in multiple worlds. He is comfortable in discomfort and fascinated with helping people find common ground, opening doors, and equalling the playing field. He is passionate about changing perceptions and championing unheard stories and talent.

Trained formally in Indian Classical Music from the age of 7, Tarun’s involvement in Vancouver’s underground electronic music scene in his early 20s led to the formation of well-known Canadian band Delhi 2 Dublin in 2006. He has since led the band to Glastonbury (UK), Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (US), Woodford (AUS) and almost 2000 other club and festival gigs around the world. Tarun is passionate about creating opportunities in the arts for people of colour. He is Executive Director of 5X Festival, Canada’s largest South Asian youth event. He is the interim co-chair of Vancouver’s New Forms Festival, a board member of the Canadian Live Music Association, a member of FACTOR’s Diversity and Inclusivity Committee, and the leader of the 2019 + 2020 Music BC Trade Mission to Mumbai. Tarun manages emerging Pakistani-Canadian electronic artist Khanvict, and is the co-founder and owner of digital label Snakes x Ladders which focuses on the new wave of hybrid South Asian artist

Presenter: Devon Brooks, CEO of Sphere

About Sphere

A membership-based marketplace-platform supporting consciousness in the world by democratizing access to personal and professional coaching experiences. Sphere is the smartest, most affordable way to get tailored personal and professional coaching experiences that drive your growth, well-being and resilience.

Panelists: Lystra Sam (Sisters Leading Sisters | QmooniTi Travel), Jackee Kasandy (Kasandy Inc | BEBC Society), Chloe Gow-Jarrett (3Fold Partners)

Facilitator: Philip Lozano (Momentum)

Afternoon Eco Kayak & Swim

Friday, Sept  24. 2:30-5:30pm. Departs Hollyhock Beach.

Pack your bathing suit, water bottle and camera for this “intertidal ecology exploration” as we paddle our kayaks around the southern reef. Keep your eyes open for jellyfish, sea stars, harbour seals, porpoises, dolphins, whales and orcas! We will stop for a swim on a beach halfway through our paddle.

Sign up at the Hollyhock Store
$90/person

Guided Group Forest Therapy Walk 

Friday, September 24, 2021
2:00 - 5:00pm Join us for this slow, quiet, and meditative nature immersion experience on the beautiful forested trails of Hollyhock. Forest therapy is inspired by the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, which translates to “forest bathing.” Studies have demonstrated a wide array of health benefits, especially in the cardiovascular and immune systems, and in stabilizing and improving mood and cognition. Through a series of simple, sensory-based invitations, your certified forest therapy guide, Sobhana, will work in partnership with the forest to invite you into deeper states of health and well-being. Come discover the many healing benefits nature holds for you! For more information and registration details, please visit: https://forestawakenings.com/bookings/svi-2021/

Registration deadline: Wed. Sept. 22
Cost: $75 + GST per person 
Partial scholarships available - please inquire.To register, please email sobhana@forestawakenings.com

Guided Nature Hike - Meet on Garden Deck

Join Hollyhock Naturalist Bill Ophoff for this guided exploration of Cortes Island’s beautiful Kw’as Park. Hike past Hague Lake, the elder “Survivor Fir” and other ancient trees, as Bill shares stories of the preservation of this land, and the flora and fauna that call it home. Pack your camera, water bottle, rain gear, and wear your most comfortable hiking shoes.

Silvana Rivadeneira, Parque Studio

Location: Raven 

Trixie Ling, Flavours of Hope

Location: Kiakum

Justin Goodhew, Trellis

Location: Olatunji

Agile Strategy for the Social Venture

Presenter: Mike Rowlands, Junxion Strategy 

Location: Olatunji Hall

How do you translate ideas into impact? How do you hold to your values, while competition and opportunities try to push you off course? And how do you decide what's most important now—compared to what you thought was important during your last planning retreat?

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.

Strategic Social Media

Presenter: Jeremy Kirouac, Hollyhock

Location: Kiakum

Get Shifted: Upgrade your mindset to take empowered action in challenging times

Presenter: Chloe Gow-Jarrett, 3Fold Partners

Location: Raven

Leading an organization or business through constant uncertainty can be deeply uncomfortable. Many leaders feel disempowered, stuck, confused, and exhausted, impacting their ability to take intentional action. In this workshop, explore where you consciously and unconsciously blame other people or situations (ahem, COVID) for your circumstances, deferring responsibility while reducing your ability to confidently and effectively lead your organization. Join Chloe for an inquiry into the professional (and sometimes personal) places where your reaction to circumstances compromises your innate strength, and begin to experience the powerful freedom of your creative choice.

Panel: Funding for Non-Profits

Featuring Matthew Smith (Strategic Communications Inc), Fatima Kamenge (Social Ausum ). Hosted by Penelope Naldrett (Hollyhock).

Location: Event Tent / Lodge