Coffee with Ottawa’s Impact Entrepreneurs and Social Innovators
Archive of #Impact30Coffee



We learned from the well-caffeinated interviews that Ottawa dreams of being a world-class city that is compassionate, creative, and innovative. Ottawa has no shortage of talents — what we need in this city is for our communities to be connected so that we can lift each other up without feeling that we are in this alone.
1 Frontline Care
The cofounders Veda and Ghummaz are using their medical expertise and military background to change the way Canadians access #healthcare services in the #future. Frontlinecare.ca is eager to solve difficult challenges such as the current lack of ethical standards in ownership and access rights to bio-data that will function outside of the military environment. They are looking for physicians to join their team in prep for pilots. “One patient, one record” is a standardized practice in the military. The services and technologies involved in this practice work well in a closed environment where the records are handled under strict security protocols. It needs to be modified and scaled to serve civilians.
2 Random Hacks of Kindness



Brett organizes RHoK. We had the opportunity to explore “future of kindness” and forces such as the exponential growth of technology will bring. The future is not necessarily “explosions in space” or what you see in Star Wars, but technology will make us live longer and physically healthier. The future of kindness lies in our human nature of wanting to make people around you feel safe, secure, and ultimately: happy. Brett saw that there are so many companies and individuals who wants to do good but have trouble seeing where their skillsets and resources would fit. Tying people together through Random Hacks of Kindness is one of the many ways to build software products for charitable causes.
3 Erica Howes



Being part of a larger organization enables her to focus on what she wants to accomplish with support from other teams. Erica’s background in Journalism has taught her to dig deeper into the truth and tell powerful stories. When she noticed that she was always trying to help give people a voice through her stories, she decided to take the advocacy role. Erica (right) is an altruistic storyteller, a community builder, and a young leader in social change. At the time of the interview, she helped lead @gennextott, a United Way program about bringing young philanthropists together.
4 Luc Lalande



“In the higher education sector, the prevailing culture, ironically, was not to share ideas and protect our intellectual property.” Luc said, “The experience of going to my first MakerFaire changed my mind about creating a culture of creativity and innovation. These people want to share, and co-create.”As Luc explored deeper into both the maker community and the open-source community, he was inspired to explore pre-industrial era guilds where the teaching and learning happen in the “making” of goods. In giving people access to the tools and the knowledge of using the tools, it gives people the freedom to produce and create. In a way, we are empowering people first by giving them the tools that they can rightfully use. At the end, the people are in control of the tools.”
5 Stephen Perelgut



10 years ago, Stephen advocated for higher education to build partnerships with local social benefit organizations. He noticed that many students shy away from the “low return on investment” in social benefit and opted for opportunities in tech startups instead. Today, he sees more and more educators bringing social challenges into the classroom and teaching students to apply their knowledge for the public good. He used “ugly food/wasted food” as an example of re-imagining the lifecycle of products through thoughtful design: Fruits that are not aesthetically pleasing are still perfect for other uses. Catering at conferences should be designed to minimize waste and moreover: using design and tech to change the status quo of conference catering so that the surplus can be donated and consumed safely.
6 Artengine



When Artengine started experimenting with digital manufacturing, 3D printers were only available in institutional research labs. Today, people can easily access a 3D printer at the libraries. Staying true to it’s mission, it’s time for Artengine to re-invent itself again. Moving to a new studio at the Ottawa Art Gallery @ottawaartgallery , Artengine not only brings technology to people through art and design, but also through creating an environment for people to experience the possible futures and imagine the futures to come. In a time where technology can help us achieve almost anything we want it to achieve, it is important to think about what we want. Remco suggested that a table where people can gather and share their thoughts is a good place to start.
7 CrowdBridge



Stakeholders involved in the project can “buy” into the confidence level and predict the probability of a positive outcome based on their lived experiences and perception of the progress of a project. When we ask people “should we improve our services?” The answer is obviously yes. If we ask this question differently, for example, “will we meet our objectives in reducing youth unemployment?” Now we are going to have to think about it probabilistically. Are we 85% confident or 20% confident that certain objectives are going to be met? Based on this information, leaders of a team can take corrective actions instead of pretending that everything on the right track based on a “yes/no” question. John is aware of the cynical people who latch onto the bad news, however, that becomes an opportunity for leaders to identify problem areas and take actions. In a climate where companies are very active in translating people’s interactions online into dollars, we should be looking into more responsible applications of people’s data and the social value it can create. It’s not about selling the latest cleaning product that gets the stains out better. We need to sell products that can help people gain more control over their lives and thrive. That’s social entrepreneurship.
8 Douglas Pawson



Social innovation works to support the development of marginalized communities by creating new opportunities for full economic, social, environmental and political participation in daily life. 4 social enterprises were built under @causewayworkcentre . Generating earned revenue gives the organization not only financial capabilities but also the opportunity to use its businesses as a tool to create social impact for disadvantaged communities. It’s not enough to just think of yourself or your business as a social enterprise. Social innovators need to know not only their impact but the business sector they operate within. Social innovation is not one separate sector, it is a layer covering all the business sectors we already have. If you are a social innovator wanting to create change by operating a catering service, you should know the margins of a catering business, and how to operate a catering business.
9 Bryce Colenbrander



Bryce constructed his own liberal arts education through school and work projects before basically finding a like-minded community through service design. Design research and service design are often afterthoughts in organizations when there is a bias towards action. The emergence of service design and UX show that organizations are catching on that design de-risks strategy. Often innovation looks like tweaks to an existing solution. But if the solution space is misaligned with (or misinterprets) the problem space that it seeks to address, your impact is limited. Increased complexity makes this even more important.
10 James Chan



In February 2018, @hubottawa and @Artengine convened over 250 engaged citizens and 60 young leaders to explore and examine the social and cultural implications of smart city technologies at the Future Cities Forum.
“The concept of smart cities has been around for a while, but it’s typically discussed with a very tech-centric focus.” James says, “We wanted to have a people-centric conversation about smart cities and contribute a different perspective and context, from the very people who are and will be shaping the future of our cities as civic leaders. Communities across Canada are all trying to remake themselves into smart cities, in large part due to the federal government’s Smart Cities Challenge with $75M of prize money at stake. We felt it was important for citizens — especially our next generation of civic leaders — to have an opportunity to really talk about what that means.
Technology is not a silver bullet. It has benefits and pitfalls, and they are usually not distributed evenly. Smart cities are more than just smart technologies — it needs smart leaders and smart citizens in order to realize its promise and potential.
11 Women of Architecture!



In architecture, many female professionals end up leaving the field due to the high stress and lack of support. It is harder for women to have a say when the decision-making group often excludes female practitioners. This fact is reflected in a recent survey done by @dezeen, which revealed that only one in ten senior positions are occupied by women. Another difficult truth is that the perception of women in architecture or any creative field — the “catty-ness” — where it is assumed that women must be pitted against each other, rather than empower each other. This image needs to change.
We want Women of Architecture to be a place where (self-identified) women can support each other and inspire other diverse voices to take part in the field of architecture.
12 Phillip Lizotte



The stories told by Charity Water are captivating. These stories make people feel the excitement of participating in something larger than their own lives. Design is often undervalued or misunderstood as a purely aesthetic decision, but it makes a huge difference in the experience of “doing good”.
Strong, thoughtful design paired with well executed strategies will help charitable organizations cut through the noise. Through that, more people can be convinced to join the movement and create social impact.
13 Suits His Style



Although there are services helping the underprivileged population with career advice, resume-writing, and language training, there is still a critical gap that needs to be bridged: professional attires play a big part in making a good first-impression during job-search, but are also a huge investment for those in poverty. Suits his Style fills this gap.
Suits his Style provides job-ready men with professional attire to build self-confidence and give them an ability to make a good first impression both during an interview and after they find work.”
As a volunteer director of Suits His Style, Scott and a dedicated team of volunteers keep the charity running so that men in need get the professional clothing they need to succeed and thrive.
“99% of Suits his Style funding go into providing frontline services to our clients. Efforts to improve services by acquiring more funding are constrained because no donor wants to pay to keep the lights on, an essential function which ensures core services are provided to those urgently in need.” As a public sector service designer, Scott is keenly aware of the reality facing charities and non-profits when it comes to funding. Charities and non-profits need to invest in design and technology especially if they are to stretch every donated dollar to help as many people as possible. However it is simply very difficult for volunteer-run organizations to set time and resources aside when they are already busy serving those in need.
14 Godzspeed



We’ve all been in that awkward place where we feel we are not quite experienced because we don’t have 20 or 30 years of experience, and we are also not as energized as our younger selves. The question for Thomas was, how did he get through that phase. He said, “I remember being at that place, it’s odd. To pull yourself out of that, you need three things: time, experience, and confidence.”
“You are gonna be in this place for a certain amount of time. At some point, you are gonna gain a certain level of experience. At some point, you are gonna HAVE to have the confidence to leave that place. That’s a choice you make as an entrepreneur. I will learn from and be energized by young people and to be taught by the older. I will choose to use my time, my experience, and my confidence to influence something. That’s very exciting. I think I am just starting that phase.”
“It’s very important for brands that do good to be Bold, Meaningful, and Influential, because what they are trying to do is to take their philosophy and ideology, then make it status-quo.” Thomas said, “The status-quo would not even listen if it is not bold, meaningful, and influential.”
15 Zainab Muse



With social change, it can’t be done alone. The North American culture is very individualistic — people exist in silos. Each one of us need to get out of the little bubbles and get to know the amazing people around us. In Nigeria, Zainab’s home country, people are constantly in their neighbour’s businesses. Everyone in the community cares about each other.
“Juvenoia” -[The fear one generation of adults holds towards the younger generations succeeding them.] , is keeping a lot of young entrepreneurs away from realizing their dreams. Many young people leave Ottawa because they cannot find communities and the support networks to fuel their creativity. More young and creative people should be at the decision-making table to shape a more diverse and inclusive Ottawa. We as creators and entrepreneurs need to build a supportive tribe of our own to lift each other up.
16 Shauna Pollock



Knowing the limitations and challenges in the education field, she started running volunteer programs to teach English to children new to Canada. The programs grew tremendously well and have inspired her to design modules that helps learners gain problem-discovery and critical-thinking skills. Upon returning to Ottawa, Shauna and Karen, the other co-founder of Blue Sky School, started to critically examine the current education system and began to develop curriculums that sparks creativity. They believe that the time students spent at school, typically 6 hours per day, should inspire them to become future thought leaders and change makers in our community.
Three pillars of Blue Sky School
1. Help each learner learn how to learn — build capacities in the creation of content and critical thinking
2. Empowering our next generation to become community change makers
3. Change education for all, prototyping new ways to teach and learn. Innovate and iterate on what education could be in the future.
17 Our Athenas



Lucy was genuinely surprised by how much impact the initiative can achieve without any money. People come together to contribute their time and creativity for this community. Although Our Athenas are not currently funded, Lucy said that creatives need to be compensated fairly even if it is only through honorarium. Creatives are taking risks, pushing boundaries, and constantly refining their crafts, and those aspects of their work should be respected.
A lot of the creatives Our Athenas work with are juniors. It creates mentorship opportunities for leaders in the community to help the newer generations to grow and be better at their craft or turning their passion into viable businesses. Lucy continues to build this community by learning from others she work with. After being doubted previously for her non-design background and eventually figuring out her place in the creative field, Lucy sees Our Athenas as a place where creatives don’t have to be confined by what others think “being creative“ is.
18 Rian Alston



@thespaceottawa offers learning opportunities to help individuals to self-actualize. Many members have fear over making mistakes and sharing their thoughts as they often feel that they are not heard. Rian feels that technology has made self-expression easier for the members. Many tools they use are intuitive and are relatively accessible — this removes barriers for individuals to create artwork. He favours open-source tools as it also removes the financial commitment for their members. Rian believes that anyone can succeed in what they are passionate about if given the right support, the opportunity to learn and grow, and sufficient time to refine their skills.
Everyone needs an environment where there’re less assumptions, and more options and flexibility to accommodate a wide range of intellectual abilities, especially in today’s fast-paced workplace.
Rian’s experience lead him to be more compassionate about giving everyone a chance to be heard. @thespaceottawaoffers workshops to teach their members how to record and launch their own podcasts. With digital editing tools, members now have control over what they want to share with the world, without the anxiety and fear of making mistakes.
19 Tanya Woods



From the experience of building their own digital platform, Tanya recognizes that building technology is not a quick process. Organizations should know that hack-a-thons are awesome to brainstorm and test ideas, but generally they don’t result in a full solution that’s ready for to go Monday. Community builders with a desire for digital solutions should take the time to explore and understand the problems and the needs of their community before building solutions.
Having worked in building a sustainable community based entirely on social capital, Tanya’s advice for entrepreneurs carving their paths in the social innovation ecosystem is: “build a network of awesome people, be grateful for their support and care for the relationships you build — we are all in this together and we need each other!”
20 Jeff Leiper



Digital tools are slowly fulfilling the 2 way engagement between citizens and government. “Third party tools” built with open data can help citizens create data: crowdsourcing policy recommendations. These tools, although limited today, are going to make it easier for citizens to be engaged in real-time in the coming years. It is an alternative to the “smart city“ that focuses on specific technologies such as autonomous vehicle, it is a “smart city” where citizens can create data, share data, and co-develop policy recommendations based on data with the city.
In today’s society, we have became accustomed to instant gratification. We lost connection with advocacy and how it creates change. We have lost sight of how how to work thoughtfully and collectively to achieve change. Communication channels and technology have evolved, but politics at its core has not changed: it takes persistent and committed collective desire for change, a demonstration of collective power.
21Kevin Holmes



When Kevin Holmes began working in education, he wanted institutions to make more neighborly interactions happen. School campuses are becoming little cities. There is food and there are great people, but people tend to forget that school campuses are part of a bigger city. It is time for institutions to better integrate with the surrounding city.
The Social Innovation Lab @slidelab7 does not need to look around and develop new solutions for everything we see as a social problem: there are already many great people solving these problems. They are the people who understand the social problems and they are knowledgeable and already creating impact. The role of institutions nowadays is to support social innovation initiatives with the resources they hold in the public trust. For educational institutions that is largely students who are so passionate about using their skills for social impact.
Originally Posted on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/nomadic_labs/




