Community Micro Lending

Event Summary

What exactly is “entrepreneurship”? Who is it for? Who *can* it be for? And how can it be used to build thriving, diverse communities?

Join Community Micro Lending for a moderated conversation exploring how cultivating entrepreneurship can be directed to overcoming inequality and nurturing resilience.

OUR EXPERT PANELISTS

Paola Qualizza
Managing Director, Co-founder of Groundswell Social Ventures

Paola Qualizza is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of Groundswell Social Ventures, an alternative business school in Vancouver, BC. Driven by a commitment to growing equity and the common good, she is a strong believer in the power of relocalization and an entrepreneurial spirit (AKA creativity and action) to create a regenerative, people-first economy.

Paola co-founded a Vancouver community currency called Seedstock in 2012, and was co-director of the second annual Living the New Economy Convergence in 2013. A regular panelist and speaker on topics of economic change and community building, Paola has been Chair of the Vancouver Public Space Network since 2015 and sits on several City of Vancouver Civic Committees where she advocates for social justice, inclusivity, and a more fun urban experience.

We are very excited to welcome Paola as a panelist and to hear more about her work with people who are mobilizing the possibilities of alternative economies and building the better world we all know is possible.

About Groundswell: Groundswell is an alternative business school where young ideas and budding social entrepreneurs connect and flourish based in Vancouver, BC. Learn more at www.groundswellcommunity.ca.

Victoria Pruden
Executive Director of the Bridges for Women

Executive Director of the Bridges for Women Society, Victoria Pruden is provincially and nationally recognized as a leader in trauma-informed programs for women impacted by violence, abuse, crime and neglect. She has extensive experience working for not-for-profit agencies, and with Metis and First Nations communities and we look forward to bring her depth of experience to this conversation.

About Bridges: The Bridges for Women Society provides connections for the creation of trauma-informed Women’s programs at the community level, as well as professional development workshops for communities, individuals and staff teams on the Impacts of Trauma and Abuse on Employability. Community Micro Lending is honoured to count Bridges for Women as a self-employment program partner, co-delivering self-employment training and coaching to its clients in a supportive setting.

Karrie Hill
Chef and Founder of Deadbeetz Food Truck

We’re very excited to feature a member of the CML entrepreneur community at this event, Chef Karrie Hill, co-owner and operator of Deadbeetz Food Trucks. Karrie combined twenty years of experience in the kitchen with her love of zombies and beets to launch one of Victoria’s most popular food trucks.

Karrie received a $5,000 loan from CML in May of 2013 to complete the construction of her first food truck and a second loan a few years later to launch her second.

The Deadbeetz Trucks are now a fixture in the Victoria Food Truck community and can be found behind the Royal BC Museum and at festivals and markets across the south island. Karrie has apprenticed employees and helped them into BC Apprenticeship programs for cooking. She has also done part time work with the culinary program at Stelly’s Secondary School, helping students who plan to enter the culinary program at Camosun after graduation. “(Community Micro Lending) made a difference in helping me start and run my own business allowing me to contribute to my community with my skill set”.

The Community Micro Lending Society is based on the traditional and unceded territory of the Lekwungen-speaking people, today known as the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations and respectfully acknowledge that this is where this event will take place.

Accessibility information: the venue is wheelchair accessible.