February 24
Fifth Annual General Meeting / Celebrating Business Leaders in Sustainability
Socialize. Participate in our short, efficient annual business meeting. Then learn how Victoria businesses balance the triple bottom line, purchase sustainably and take care of their staff, their community and the environment. Business Leaders in Sustainability showcases four businesses and a successful VBN initiative.
When: February 24, 2010
6:30 Mingle and munch
7:00 AGM
7:30 Business Leaders in Sustainability Roundtable
9:00 Close
Where: Burnside Gorge Community Centre, 471 Cecilia Road, Victoria
Cost: (includes snacks and beverages) free for members, $15 non-members
RSVP: connect@vbnetwork.ca
Business Leaders in Sustainability (BLIS) is the first of two workshops based on this VBN project. We will present and discuss case studies on four Victoria-area businesses and how they achieve sustainability – Hemp & Company, Ecoeverything (formerly Fiber Options Naturals), Red Fish Blue Fish and The Good Planet.
VBN gratefully acknowledges financial support for BLIS from Vancity, the City of Victoria and BC Healthy Communities.
At our 5th Annual General Meeting, we will elect new board members, vote on a bylaw change, and honour those who have helped make VBN a success. Interested in getting involved in the board? Please contact Alan Dolan chair@vbnetwork.ca
The bylaw change reflects the need to ensure that VBN includes all aspects of the sustainable business culture in greater Victoria. In the past, our bylaws stated that those seeking VBN membership needed to be selling a good or a service. The proposed bylaw reflects our desire to include everyone, whether they are small businesses, enterprising non-profits or other types of sustainability organizations.
WORDING OF PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGE (Under the Societies Act, this is a Special Resolution and requires a 75% majority vote to pass.)
Part 2 — Membership
4. The membership of the association shall consist of the following:
(1) Business members – corporations, partnerships, cooperatives and sole proprietorships operating in the Capital Region.
(2) Organizational members – government agencies, non-profit societies, associations, cooperatives and organizations operating in the Capital Region that provide products and services for reimbursement and/or support the principles of the society through their activities.
(3) Individual members – any person nineteen (19) years of age or over, in the Capital Region who: does not own a business or has not started an organization, but aspires to do so; previously owned a business or started an organization and wants to be part of the society; and is presently a student.
Nominees to the Board of the Values-Based Business Network
AGM February 2010
Alan Dolan
Alan Dolan has operated Alan Dolan & Associates for the past 16 years, a Victoria-based company that provides communications, community engagement and facilitation services to a variety of clients. Prior to that, he held a number of senior communications positions in the BC provincial government.
Alan is formally trained an environmental biologist, obtaining his BSc from McGill, an MSc from Waterloo, and pursuing further graduate studies at Queen’s. Most of his communications work has been in the environment, resource management and sustainability fields.
Alan is a founding member of the Values-Based Business Network and has sat on the board for two years, the first year looking after communications and the second as Chair.
Alan sat on the CRD Roundtable of the Environment for seven years, working mostly on issues related to the cosmetic use of pesticides. He presently sits on the steering committee of Pesticide-Free CRD. He is a member of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce and sat on its Environment Committee for a number of years until it was cancelled. Alan also sits on the Steering Committee of the Greater Victoria Food Exchange Co-op.
For many years Alan was politically active with both the federal and provincial Green parties. He sat on federal council for one year and the Green Party of BC Provincial Council for six years, serving as Chair for the last two years.
Alan has lived with his wife Susan in Victoria for 20 years and they have two grown children, a daughter in California and a son who lives in Victoria.
Jacqui MacDonald
Jacqui currently is a consultant on fair and ethical trade issues (Just Trade) with a range of clients including Verité, The Body Shop, The Ethical Trading Initiative, The Co-operative Group, UK, The Commonwealth Secretariat, IFC, ITC, NGOs and fair trading organizations in N. & S. America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
She is a highly experienced and committed senior manager with a strong track record in building ethical and fair trade international businesses and developing dynamic partnerships. She co-authored Business and Poverty: Bridging the Gap. She was the Director of the DFID Resource Centre for the Social Dimensions of Business Practice after serving as General Manager, Fair Trade in The Body Shop International. For six years Jacqui held a key role in creating The Body Shop International’s cornerstone fair and ethical trade strategies, as well as its Statement of Human Rights and Trading Charter.
She is one of the pioneers of Fair Trade in Canada leading Bridgehead from the late 1980’s to 1994 when she left for the UK. She brought expertise in operations, retail, and merchandising and marketing to Bridgehead, Oxfam Canada’s trading arm. Developed policies, guidelines, trading relationships, products and people, on the strength of which the organisation grew during 1989-94 by 350%, wiping out a significant financial deficit with an accumulated surplus. Her early career spent in retail and merchandising roles within leading Canadian and international retail chains.
Jacqui complements her MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice with many years of service in a variety of socially progressive organisations and businesses. Her positions have included the following: chair of Divine Chocolate Company( UK Fair Trade); Vice Chair of the Values Based Business Network in Victoria; Board member of Ten Thousand Villages Canada; director/trustee of Serrv International( US Fair Trade organization), New Academy of Business, the fair trade charity TWIN, the Advisory board of WEIGO( Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing) Global Markets Programme, Verité and the Co-operative Retail Responsible Retailing Advisory Panel; former board member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (UK) ; Executive Committee of the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT); member of IBLF’s International Partnership Unit’s Advisory Board; founding member of the UNAIDS Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS; and vice-president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (Canada).
Joshua Schmidt
Joshua Schmidt is an entrepreneur who, while starting several businesses, traveled worldwide to gain insight into assisting developing countries. Joshua holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Royal Roads University where he grew a passion for sustainable practices and helped found the Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurs (ACE) branch of the Eric C. Douglas Center for Entrepreneurship, guiding future students to "make a difference while making a dollar" with great success, and continues to serve on its Board of Advisors.
Today Joshua brings his passion for sustainability, social change, and thriving communities to all his endeavours, and is always seeking ways to connect people and ideas in the interest of positive development. Whether it’s helping a company improve its environmental impact with Small Feet Inc. (www.SmallFeet.ca), organizing “positive activism” Carrotmob events (www.Carrotmob.org) that foster values-based business, speaking with high school students about the emerging values-based economy, or aiding rural communities in India gain access to the education and tools needed to alleviate poverty and move agricultural practices towards organic crops, Joshua’s focus stays clear: assisting in community development to help local businesses and populaces thrive!
Ben Ziegler
I am currently a mediator, and consultant, based out of Victoria, BC.
As a mediator, I’ve successfully mediated hundreds of civil disputes. I contract as a mediator and mentor to the BC Court Mediation Program. I conduct mediations face-to-face and online (building on 3 years as an online mediator of eBay disputes). My goal as a mediator is to make it easy and safe for people to participate in difficult conversations, find common ground, and resolve their issues and disputes.
On the consulting side, I worked 15 years as an IT consultant with large systems integration firms (Accenture, Sierra Systems); in project management, business analysis, facilitation, and implementation support roles, in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. Before all of that, I worked in the civil engineering and construction fields.
Increasingly, I find myself more and more interested in the diverse ways people and communities build consensus, and move forward, in positive ways. Acting on that interest, in January 2009, I started a blog, Collaborative Journeys. It’s a place where I promote collaborative people, organizations, ideas and stories. I update it weekly. I just (hot off the press) published my first e-book, “Collaborative Maxims: Principles for Working Together in an Organization”. You can download a copy from my blog.
Currently, in addition to my Values-Based Business Network membership, I also belong to the Victoria Chamber of Commerce, and am a board member with the Victoria Restorative Justice Society.
With the Canadian Executive Service Organization, I work as a Volunteer Advisor, most recently in 2008/09, when I spent 10 weeks in the Philippines, as part of an international, collaborative e-Governance project.
I live in the South Jubilee Neighbourhood, with my wife Jackie, and two young adult children. I recently signed up to a “sharing backyards” food program coordinated by LifeCycles. I routinely make forays to local contra dances; as a dancer, fiddler or caller.
Chris Burdge
Chris Burdge first got involved with online marketing in 1993, just prior to the launch of Netscape (Mozilla) the world’s first web browser.
Since that time Chris has been leveraging Internet based communications to build brands and move products for fortune 1,000 companies such as BMW Japan, HP, Kia, Nestle Purina, as well as smaller businesses like AbeBooks and Planet Organic Market.
In 2009 Chris founded bWEST Interactive, a new type of social media consulting business focused on helping environmentally and socially responsible companies grow their businesses using social media and emerging web technology.
Prior to starting bWEST, Chris lead interactive marketing strategy at Suburbia Advertising, AbeBooks, Publicis and Cove-Ito Advertising in Tokyo, Japan.
Chris regularly speaks at conferences, trade shows, and corporate events about social media and online marketing strategies, trends, and tactics. He and his family live in Victoria, British Columbia.
bWEST is a member of the West Shore Chamber of Commerce and the Values-based Business Network, an organization that develops and promotes a values-based, sustainable business culture in the Capital Regional District.
Maria Lyons
Since moving to Victoria in 2003 with my husband and daughter I have been involved with Ten Thousand Villages, a not for profit Fair Trade organization, at first as a volunteer and more recently as a manager of the Oak Bay store.
Prior to 2003 we lived in Chelsea Québec a rural community in the Gatineau Hills where I worked part time as a graphic designer (I have a degree in graphic design from Newport, Wales and post grad diploma in marketing from Bristol England). I believe however that during this period I my greater contribution to my community was through the volunteer work I did at my daughter’s school and with an environmental group called ACRE, Action Chelsea for the Respect of the Environment (Action Chelsea pour le respect de l’ environnement) for which I was the education co-ordinator for a lecture series, and special events such as Earth Day and graphic designer responsible for promotional material and setting up ACRE’s web site.
Protection of the physical environment and social justice have been and continue to be my driving passions. I believe in strong community-based relationships based on respect. I am a member of VBN because I believe in upholding the values of a sustainable business culture and enjoy and find it stimulating to be in the company of liked minded people.
My spare time is spent hiking the coast line whenever possible, biking around town, running and yoga. I can also be found far too frequently trying out new restaurants with interesting vegetarian menus in and around Victoria.
VBN Workshop: Coaching Circles
Solving your business challenges with the help of your peers
Postponed until March
Watch this site or upcoming newsletters!
Coaching Circles provides an opportunity to spark new ideas, discover solutions and resources by drawing on the collective wisdom of professionals in your community. Participants will break into small groups and each person will have an opportunity to bring up a business challenge or problem that he or she is facing. The other participants around the table will offer suggestions and solutions.
Bill Weaver is a media strategist and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker and journalist, with over three decades of experience creating meaningful content for U.S. and Canadian television. For the past five years, he has been producing web-based film shorts that promote the missions of values-based businesses and social profits.
Bill is founder and facilitator of Media that Matters, a yearly conference at Hollyhock committed to sparking new ideas, broadening collective wisdom, and building a stronger, smarter community among media professionals from all disciplines of conventional and unconventional media. The conference begins its eleventh year in 2010.
Lunch and Learn: Business Culture Matters
Designing an effective values-based company culture
With VBN member John Farquharson of Culture Care Technologies
When: January 21, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
Where: Fernwood Inn, 1302 Gladstone, Victoria
Cost: (includes lunch) $20 members, $25 non-members
RSVP: connect@vbnetwork.ca
John Farquharson, President of Culture Care Technologies, a human resource and organization development firm specializing in company culture, facilitated a workshop to help small and medium-sized businesses:
-
Learn about the effectiveness of collectively held beliefs and values in your business
-
Recognize that sustainability, teamwork, service excellence, etc. are all learned
-
Understand the five main steps to gaining sustainable competitive advantage through company culture
-
Bring your company's mission and vision from "out there then" to "in here now"
-
Use culture to become an employer of choice and enhance the market value of your business
Prior to his work as a consultant with Culture Care Technologies, John had a successful career in the health care field and was the former Director of Education at Victoria General Hospital. His interest in culture began as a doctoral student in the psychology and sociology of religion at McMaster University. He later completed a M.Ed. in Adult Education at the University of Toronto and additional graduate studies in organization development at the University of Victoria.
John has consulted on several large cultural change initiatives involving organizations with hundreds of employees. But he has found that helping small and medium sized businesses develop an effective culture early on is a much more productive undertaking.
December breakfast at Solstice Cafe with MP Denise Savoie.
Lunch and Learn: Social Media Marketing
— The Next Step
Making it work for your organization
VBN member Chris Burdge of Bwest Interactive hosted two workshops in the fall helped VBN members better undertand and use Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools.
For beginners and for those already using social media, these sessions helped optimize social media to get the results businesses want.
Chris' workshops help attendees:
- Gain a deeper understanding of the social media landscape
- Leverage social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs to market and connect with your customers
- Develop content and engagement strategies
- Set-up systems to maximize your time online
- Track and evaluate success and return on investment
Victoria Business Leaders in Sustainability Project
The VBN is pleased to announce its newest initiative, the Victoria Business Leaders in Sustainability Project, which will foster environmental and ethical practices in Victoria by showcasing businesses at the forefront of sustainability.
With the Victoria Business Leaders in Sustainability Project our goal is to identify and effectively showcase local businesses that represent leaders in positive change. Through this process, we hope to create opportunities for learning and education and to inspire other companies in the Victoria community about business sustainability.
The VBN has received funding for this project from Vancity, the City of Victoria, and BC Healthy Communities.
Click here to see recent VBN events