Photos with the Premiers

It week was a good week for 21inc. Our partners (Scotiabank, Emera, Knightsbridge Robertson Surrette) were able to join us as we promoted the Emerging Leaders Summit with two Atlantic Premiers. Here are some photos:

Strengthening NB's Nonprofit Sector

Two weeks ago nonprofit leaders from across NB came to Renaissance College for two days to explore how to better lead their organizations. It was called Community Perspectives/Perspectives communautaire. Here's the press release.

The innovation needed to solve challenges like poverty, economic development, and sustainability means we often don’t know where the ideas or inspiration will come from. In co-organizing the event with the Community Non-Profit Organizations Secretariat and Renaissance College, we wanted to create the conditions for idea generation and creativity.

Sessions occurred in both official languages and thoughtful practitioners engaged participants in topics such as partnerships, social innovation, social marketing, and community inclusion networks.

Following the event, one of the participants sent organizers this gratifying email:

I would like to thank all of you and the countless other participants that made the past few days so enjoyable – I have some new and strengthened partnerships – I knew I was in the right place when I knew half the people, and didn’t yet know the other half – The facility was great – the space was safe – everybody offered something of value to the conversation and responsibility was shared.

I don’t know exactly what will come next, however I am sure that it will be awesome!

Here’s to trailblazing!

Well said.

Here are some photos:

It’s a big week for 21inc. Today we’re opening nominations for our new program, the Emerging Leaders Summit.

(It’s actually been live on the website for a week since it “leaked” a week and a half ago. We started getting calls for more information or not being able to find the nomination page. As a result we put it up and already have a bunch of nominations!)

We’ve been working on this program since last fall and are really excited about the positive impact it will make. The Summit supports and develops Atlantic Canada’s most promising leaders and entrepreneurs, age 20 – 35.

From a pool of nominations, 50 young people from across Atlantic Canada will be selected to join some of the region’s most respected leaders as faculty and mentors at the Emerging Leaders Summit in St. Andrews, NB, this November 22-24. The focus is on skill development, facilitating the movement from “leading –self” to “leading others.” Nominations are open now!

Candidates are selected, in part, on how they can apply the experience to an actual leadership challenge. Programming is designed to enhance abilities to motivate self and others, build teams, strategize, design structures (that support the strategy), and measure success. Critical skills no matter what is being led. Participants then engage with leading doers and thinkers at the 21inc Ideas Festival, immediately following from November 24-26.

The Summit is supported by leading companies and organizations from across Atlantic Canada. Our private sector partners include Emera, Knightsbridge Robertson Surrette, Evolving Solutions, and Couleur. Our public sector partners include the Governments of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI, and Nova Scotia Business Inc. We will be confirming more in the next few weeks, stay tuned.

In discussions on the Summit, some people have asked how it relates to the 21 Leaders program. It’s a good question. They’re entirely different programs but similar in a few ways. They’re both leadership experiences (leadership is what 21inc does, after all). We’re taking lessons learned from the 21 Leaders program – creating that platform for leaders and entrepreneurs to develop tangible skills, knowledge, confidence and relationships – and applying it over an intense and stimulating 3 days (5 days with the Ideas Festival) to create a powerful leadership experience.

We’re also using it to try out a couple things that we may want to extend to the 21 Leaders program. For example, making the selection, in part, about how participants can use this learning. In what way will they apply this experience to leadership challenges in their professional careers or in the community?

Obviously the Atlantic element is critical. We’re a small, rural region without many opportunities to create connections and learn from leading doers and thinkers. Malcolm Gladwell comes to Toronto once every couple months for a talk at Rotman. Atlantic Canada isn’t exactly on the circuit. We need to create forums and spaces to learn, to develop the necessary abilities, to share, and find ways to improve on the things we do. The 21inc Emerging Leaders Summit seeks to do just this.

Nominate someone now (or get someone to nominate you)!

Get Your Debate On!

As part of our 21 Leaders program, the Leaders work in small groups (of 3-4) with a nonprofit or on a project of their creation that helps solve some of NB's most pressing challenges. We call this component of the program Community Solutions Projects. One of the groups this year has organized a debate to be held during our upcoming Accelerator in Bathurst. I asked team member Jennifer Dysart to write a post for the blog. This is what she sent. If you're in Bathurst you should definitely make time to attend.

What better way to learn about issues affecting your province than through a heated debate?

As part of the 21 Inc. program, David Michaud, Alain Parent, and myself had the opportunity to come together and transform this concept into reality. After a few weeks of brainstorming, Have Your Say! NB Debates/Debats NB: Prenez Position! was born.

It's a project aimed at increasing awareness among New Brunswickers about issues affecting the sustainable economic development of their province. The project will consist of a series of debates held in both urban and rural venues between local experts and leaders with a focus on public engagement. The topics of the debates and the debaters will be chosen based on current issues affecting the particular location and availability of suitable individuals.

The first debate is scheduled to take place at the final 21 Inc. accelerator weekend in Bathurst on May 28^th at 7:30 a.m. at Danny's Inn.

THE APPROACH & OUTCOMES

Three debates will be held in 2010; one in Bathurst, Sussex, and Moncton/Dieppe. The debate in Bathurst will be bilingual, the one in Sussex will be held in English, while the debate in Moncton/Dieppe will be held in French. Hosting of the debates will be a collaborative effort between Have Your Say! NB Debates and partnering organizations.

During the actual event, a poll of the audience will be conducted before and after the debate. The results of the debate will be publicized, and will hopefully act to educate and motivate public action.

If you are in Bathurst next Thursday please come join the debate!

Jennifer Dysart lives in Sussex and works to support rural economic development in New Brunswick.

Important Days in History (of 21inc, at least)

In 10 years time we could look back at last Friday as an important day.

A working group of four 21inc board members and myself met in Fredericton for an all day planning session to look at our governance model.

Our governance structure is by no means broken. But given our growth and future goals, to quote Marshall Goldsmith, what got us here won’t get us there. With the blessing of the board at large we set out to review, renew, and reshape how the board supports, guides and propels 21inc’s mission.

This time we had the benefit of two previous iterations of what 21inc’s governance structure should be. Some things really worked from those efforts, others didn’t. Perhaps the biggest change is our need to formalize roles and lines of responsibility. All start-ups depend upon informal communications. The founders have a close relationships and a shared vision – usually found in their heads and not on paper. The early phases of an organization emphasize entrepreneurship and creativity, testing various products and approaches until something sticks.

Once something sticks the organization focuses energy there and efficiencies are found. We’re in between phases. We know areas that need consolidation while others are still in the test & validate stage. We defined these areas on Friday and put in place a structure to support both the emergence of formal structures, and support for continued creative output.

We're also much more comfortable than we used to be with the idea of continuous improvement. It seems every non-profit (and for-profit, for that matter) is dealing with some kind of governance issue. I have yet to hear about or see a structure that is perfect. Organizations are human institutions and will never run like machines (and should not). They will always need methodical and strategic stewardship with an organizers touch.

What we designed on Friday will not preclude future change. It will give more direction. It allows for more effective delegation and autonomy. And in 18-36 months we might need to do it all over again.

New Favorite Quote

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the

chance to draw back, always ineffective,

concerning all acts of initiative (and creation).

There is one elementary truth the ignorance of

which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:

that the moment one definitely commits

oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts

of things occur to help one that would never

otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of

events issues from the decision, raising in one’s

favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and

meetings and material assistance which no man

could have dreamed would have come his way.

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin

it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Begin it now.”

Goethe

APEC luncheon

A few weeks ago, maybe a month, APEC hosted a luncheon with their board in Halifax. It was a great discussion and Elizabeth Beale and her team were able to impressively gather some heavyweights from the Halifax (Atlantic) business community. Here are a couple pictures I've been meaning to post here from that lunch.

This is Phil Holmes from Ambir conveying his experience with 21inc to the group

Elizabeth Beale and I

Myself, yammering away about something