The Sustainability Trust’s new HQ in downtown Wellington provided the perfect venue tonight for bringing skills in Social Entrepreneurship within the reach of anyone with an idea for a sustainable enterprise through the Good Enterprise workshop series beginning from next week.

Enspiral intern Kaye-Maree Dunn with Miles Thompson, an interested social entrepreneur in the making.
For more details and online registration information go to http://enspiral.eventbrite.com
Note: To ensure access for members of disadvantaged communities to workshops a crowd funding pledge is being run at Pledge Me until 30 March.

INSPIRED INTERNS

Brought together by the working example of interns from Wellington’s innovative business engine Enspiral, the 10-part Good Enterprise workshop series and additional masterclass promises to be an effective way to spread and plant the practice of being an active and successful Social Entrepreneur.

Speaking at the launch of the Good Enterprise workshop series, Wellington City councillor Paul Eagle praised the fleet footed energy shown by Enspiral and education platform Chalkle  for getting the Good Enterprise series off the ground.

Paul says he has been increasingly intrigued by what the concept of becoming a social entrepreneur encompasses. He had canvassed university students for their views, and particularly liked a definition from Louis Brown of the Student Volunteer Army to the effect that it means a “blurring and redefining (of) the boundaries between charity and commerce” (see Otago Daily Times article, Nov 2012)

A group of standout workshop leaders then stood up to outline the aspects of what each practical two-hour long workshop will entail, stacked up under headings such as Sorting Ideas, Building a Framework, Customer Validation and Make it Rain.

Each affordable workshop will cost participants only $30 (waged) or $20 (unwaged).  A day long masterclass will be run on Saturday 27th April at Kuratini Marae, Massey University to dive deeply into the lessons being delivered by the Good Enterprise series for just $85.

Photos from the Good Enterprise launch – with thanks to Stephen Olsen.

Wellington City councillor Paul Eagle with Enspiral intern and launch co-organiser Kaye-Maree Dunn.

 

 

 

A series of Good Enterprise workshops for budding social entrepreneurs is beginning with a launch party this Thursday evening (14 March) in Wellington.

The Good Enterprise workshop series is being put on by the crew from Enspiral, a Wellington hub for Social Enterprise, alongside the team behind the innovative locally based education platform called Chalkle.  These organisations have collaborated with the Sustainability Trust – whose new base in Forresters Lane, off Tory Street, will be the venue for the workshops.

Enspiral intern and co-organiser Kaye-Maree Dunn says the momentum for the Good Enterprise series reflects the rise and rise of social entrepreneurship as a distinct way of starting and growing new businesses.

“We knew the time had arrived to create this type of launchpad because there is a very real demand for it,” says Kaye-Maree.

“More and more people want and need to know more about what it takes to manage a venture that contributes directly to social or community goals. That’s the driving force for these workshops, which are being targeted to be as affordable as possible for anyone in the community who might be seeking options to upskill and to learn about social entrepreneurship from several angles.

“The workshops themselves will be covering everything from testing ideas for viability through to ways to survive as an entrepreneur. There is also a strong connection to the social entrepreneurship intern programme established at Enspiral and we expect there will be some stories that will be emerging from that programme as well,” says Kaye-Maree.  

“The workshops wouldn’t be happening without access to workshop facilitators who have a real depth of experience and expertise in this field to share. We’re very fortunate to have people involved like Viv Maidaborn, Michael Elwood-Smith, Joshua Vial, Rochelle Furneaux, Ray Wolken and many others”.

A total of 10 Good Enterprise workshops and one masterclass will be run between 19 March and 30 April. Details of the full programme are available online at www.chalkle.com and www.enspiral.eventbrite.com

ENDS

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