by: Rebecca Wagner, Director of External Relations at United College
A catalyst for human growth and connection. Spearheading impactful local partnerships. Tackling pressing social and environmental challenges. Community-supported innovation. Building diverse pathways for changemaking.
These are among the qualities recognized by the Canadian Council for Small Business & Entrepreneurship (CCSBE) when United College was recently recognized with the inaugural “Award for Outstanding Contributions to Inclusive Venture Creation and Community Engagement” at the 42nd Annual Conference for the CCSBE in Calgary that brought together hundreds of people dedicated to the advancement of small business and entrepreneurship.
GreenHouse founding director, Tania Del Matto, was on hand to accept the award. “Receiving this award is a huge honor and re-energizes our continued work to foster a social impact community where ideas flourish and inclusive ventures thrive. This recognition celebrates the collective spirit of innovation, resilience, and commitment that defines GreenHouse and FlintHub, and it strengthens our dedication to real-world impact through strong community partnerships and collaborative efforts.”
This high profile, national recognition, speaks to the impact of United College’s social impact and Indigenous entrepreneurship incubators locally, nationally, and globally. United by a shared commitment to making the world a better place, GreenHouse and FlintHub engage intergenerational participants from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, building warm and enriching communities that bring students together to address community supported challenges.
"Empowering Indigenous entrepreneurs, innovators, and changemakers is at the core of what we do at FlintHub,” shares United College director of Indigenous entrepreneurship, Ashley Richard. “We are honoured to collaborate with our friends at GreenHouse to amplify and uplift each other’s programs. This recognition is accepted with humility and a commitment to keep pushing for great inclusivity in entrepreneurship."
Strong local partnerships and community engagement are key, as solutions that students bring forward to tackle real-world problems are much stronger when they collaborate with existing organizations and leaders. A recent partnership between GreenHouse and the City of Kitchener on the Youth Climate Action Fund and FlintHub’s work fostering academic partnerships with post-secondary institutions across the country for the recently launched Indigenous Entrepreneurship Diploma, are just two examples of the success of this model of deep community engagement.
United College, through GreenHouse and FlintHub, has supported a diversity of talented students, participants, and community members on their social entrepreneurship journeys. These journeys have had, and will continue to have, profound ripple effects beyond the borders of the University of Waterloo campus community.
In keeping with the spirit of thriving community partnerships, United College would love to extend a big thank you to neighbour and friend Conrad Grebel University College for the award nomination.
Article originally published in the University of Waterloo’s “Daily Bulletin” on November 13th, 2024 (here).