Developing independence from the grid and food self-sufficiency are just two of the goals Winnipeger Shaun Loney sees social enterprise solving.
“We can use entrepreneurial tools to solve social problems and environmental problems,” Loney told The Current’s Anna Maria Tremonti.
According to Loney, social enterprises are economic ventures that solve problems while shying away from government funding.
“In Canada, we believe the defining issue is connecting people who most need the work with the work that most needs to be done,” he explained.
Loney co-founded Akki Energy, what he calls a social enterprise incubator, in Manitoba.
“Aki’ is an Ojibwe word for Earth and we’re doing geothermal on First Nations. But we’ve started several other social enterprises through it on many other First Nations in Manitoba,” Loney told Tremonti.
Above quote from CBC website. Loney was on The Current this morning (Nov. 29th, 2016) as part of their series The Disruptors.
Loney has a new book out (and you know how we LOVE books!):
Loney says his new book, An Army of Problem Solvers: Reconciliation and The Solutions Economy, looks at all the different ways the government gets in the way of progress happening and wants to challenge the government to think beyond the colonial past.
“Let’s look at Canada and how it can be in its next 150 years.”
Indeed, on the cusp of the sesquicentennial there is no better time for forward thinking innovation.
