Strategy Made Simple

In this episode of the Strategy Made Simple podcast Beth Cougler Blom explains how we can make better learning experiences by taking a learning design approach. She explains how her experience in learning ...

Lauren Lee is the social enterprise manager at Resource Assistance for Youth. The main social enterprise at RaY is a moving operation called RaY Works, where they help nonprofits move between office spaces, as well as helping people in residential support programs move between homes.

Because RaY Works is a program within the larger nonprofit, there are various benefits to both the nonprofit and the social enterprise. RaY Works gets...

Lucas Stewart has many titles. Presently he is the Executive Di...

Robin Bryan was the General Manager of Compost Winnipeg at the time of recording (Jan 2022), and continues working with the team in a consulting and advisory role. Compost Winnipeg works to take food and other organic waste that would end up in the landfill and instead use it to make compost.

Through this work, they have needed to work through some critical part...

Jessica Floresco is the General Manager at Mother Earth Recycling (MER). Mother Earth Recycling does a variety of electronic and mattress recycling which reduces waste in the Winnipeg area. In addition, they are a work integration social enterprise, providing good jobs to people who have otherwise been excluded from the workforce, and MER gives their employees the skills and experience for them to build confidence and self directio...

Hazel Corcoran is the Executive Director of the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation. The Federation acts as a bridge and advocate for the various worker cooperatives across Canada that form it's membership. They also manage some investment options for cooperatives so they can receive investment through RRSPs and TFSAs. 

Hazel also describes her transition from a student attending a conference, to providing legal support, to becoming t...

Nancy Neamtan has been working on developing community economic development and the social economy ecosystem in Quebec for decades. Throughout that body of experience, she has been able to work on the challenges that come with building up a sector. In addition, she was one of the founders and builders of the Chantier de l’économie sociale, a major network of networks for the social economy in Quebec.

In this conversation with Nancy...

Sandra Allen is a Member, Co-Owner, Board Member and People Team Lead for Shift Delivery Co-op. Shift Delivery is a last mile carrier based in Vancouver, Canada that uses e-assist trikes instead of motor vehicles for their deliveries.

Sandra describes the value that Shift has in it's people, how they onboard new staff and help them prepare and transition into becoming members, and how Shift has been able to maintain their company c...

Chris Nichols is a Worker, Co-Founder, Director and Operations Coordinator for Wood Shop Workers' Cooperative. Wood Shop is focused on creating wood furniture out of reclaimed wood for customers in the Vancouver area.

They are working towards creating a more circular economy through their work. They started by using reclaimed pallet wood to create their furniture, but now they take materials from places such as residential deconstr...

David Thuss is the current Director at the London Brewing Cooperative, and one of the founding worker owners of the Co-op. He has experience in many of the areas of the brewing business, but now works in a supporting role for the other workers in the Co-op.

London Brewing follows a triple bottom line approach to running a social enterprise, and also emphasises partnerships with other values aligned organizations including an organi...

Joey Pittoello is the General Manager at Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op, and has worked in many different roles within the company. Just Us! is a worker Co-op, where each worker has the option to join as a member with a stake in the organization, and the opportunity to influence it's overall direction.

One of the significant challenges that has been present throughout the history of Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op is ensuring that e...

Susan Holt is the Chief Growth Officer for Plato Testing, a software testing service that hires and trains people with indigenous backgrounds. She also acts in the same role for their sister company PQA. She has been part of Plato Testing's growth from a single office to five offices across Canada over the past five years.

Throughout the growth of the company, there have been decisions that have contributed to Plato's ability to pr...

Olowo-n'djo Tchala is the founder and CEO of Alaffia, an international fair trade hair and body product company based in the USA. He was able to take this company from the garage, to supplying large national grocery store chains with their products.

Throughout the growth of the company, he has put the mission first, and ensured that the workers in West Africa continue to get fair wages for their work, and that the products that Ala...