On September 20th, GreenHouse hosted an ecosystem tour for St. Paul's staff, exposing them to organizations that support social innovation in the region. The tour was the second installment of a professional development initiative aimed toward improving all employees' understanding of subjects central to the college mission.
The tour kicked off with presentations from GreenHouse, Conrad School of Business and Entrepreneurship and the Centre for Peace Advancement, all located on campus. The presentations informed staff about some social innovation supports at the University of Waterloo and the work each of these groups does.
Following this, staff traveled to Communitech, Velocity and the Working Centre in downtown Kitchener. During the visits, staff were provided an overview of each organization and a tour of the facility.
The Velocity tour was given by GreenHouse alumna, Rachel Thompson, Founder of Marlena Books which creates books for individuals living with alzheimers and dementia. Rachel and her team currently work out of Velocity, receiving a network of support to help move forward the start-up. As a part of Velocity's tour, staff stopped by another GreenHouse alumni's venture, Curiato and were given a detailed demonstration of the bed sheet that collects real-time pressure, humidity and moisture data to detect the formation of bedsores.
When asked about their thoughts of the tour, Brianna Johnston stated,
I was really glad to be able to see what our GreenHouse students have been able to achieve and how our program runs to set them up for success. Meeting students at Velocity, working on the next steps of their projects and proudly presenting their work was a great experience.
Upon returning to campus, staff gathered at the Grad House to enjoy lunch and reflect on the ecosystem tour. GreenHouse staff shared their thoughts on how the tour went:
"It was great to be able to expose St. Paul's staff to partners in the innovation ecosystem in the Waterloo Region," - Tania Del Matto, GreenHouse Director.
"It was a wonderful experience to see the network of support that young social innovators have in the Waterloo Region. It truly is a community that puts social innovation at its forefront," - Anne Filion, Design and Innovation Coordinator.
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