Our Trampoline 2 program is in full swing, bringing together a diverse cohort of social entrepreneurs – from upcycling design to health through social innovation, from pianos in public spaces to child care that fosters deeper connections between generations, and more. Trampoline is a validation stage program for impact focused entrepreneurs and ventures looking for support to test and refine their business model, to better position themselves for success. Our June 2015 intensive cohort is delivered by RADIUS Ventures Director Donovan Woollard and Entrepreneur-In-Residence Mike Rowlands.
Meet the Trampoline 2 entrepreneurs!
Basic Design
Basic Design is a social enterprise based in beautiful Vancouver. We are actively redefining the value of waste by giving a second life to landfill-bound materials and creating unique, cruelty-free products. We also work collaboratively with clients on a variety of interior, furniture and communication design projects, striving to use up-cycled, local and sustainable materials whenever possible.
Additionally, Basic Design is in the process of launching an initiative called Vancouver Trash Lab, which we hope will help educate participants about up-cycling and the design process, and potentially catalyze further closed loop systems and innovative ideas.
Jesi Carson
Jesi is inspired by compelling stories, engaging spaces and discovering cultures through travel. She holds a Bachelors Degree of Interaction Design from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, where she undertook interactive systems and advanced sustainability studies in addition to human centered design and research. As Design Partner and Communications Manager of Basic Design, a social enterprise with a passion for up-cycling, and Co-Founder of Cultivate Projects, a non-profit focused on building collaborative food gardens, Jesi strongly believes in the power of design as a tool for activism.
Theunis Snyman
Theunis is an aspiring social entrepreneur working his way to not working at all, but doing what he loves. As Design Partner and Principal Industrial Designer of Basic Design, Theunis strives to be socially conscious while practicing good design and having fun. Theunis holds a Bachelors Degree of Industrial Design from Emily Carr University of Art and Design and his creative strength lies in his ability to make and prototype using unconventional materials. An avid dumpster diver, Theunis is not afraid to take risks and fail often on the path to the right design solution, and he believes that good design should have a purpose.
Contact Info
twitter: @basicdesignvan
instagram: @basicdesignvan
etsy: @basicdesignvan
#BasicDesignVan #VancouverTrashLab
Bridge 4 Health
Bridge for Health is a local and global network committed to social innovation towards health and wellbeing for all. Our mission is to shift the public dialogue to promote a collective and holistic understanding of health and to advocate for its support by:
a) Promoting broad-based participation in creating conditions that support health & wellbeing for all.
b) Fostering innovative strategies to promote health and wellbeing across sectors.
Health is created outside of health-care. It is created in our communities, in our businesses, organizations and governments. It cannot be created if we are excluding or not engaging those who live, love, work and play in those settings.
OUR VISION: Through sharing diverse perspectives & experiences, and tapping into existing resources, knowledge and skills, we aspire to contribute to the creation of safe, just, diverse, sustainable and vibrant environments that enable individuals, groups and local communities to flourish.
Paola Ardiles
Paola Ardiles has been recognized for her innovative, collaborative and inter-sectoral approaches in health promotion research, policy and practice and was recently nominated for the 2015 YWCA Women of Distinction Award (Metro Vancouver). Paola’s passion is to create spaces that facilitate dialogue to foster the development of relevant, practical and creative upstream solutions to tackle complex health issues.
Paola is an active volunteer and board member of the Public Health Association of British Columbia, a provincial non-profit organization that advocates for healthy public policies. As an Adjunct Professor in Health Sciences at SFU, Paola has published and contributed to numerous public health issues and is known to be a catalyst for change by supporting paradigm shifts in the way we conceive health. In 2012, Paola was awarded the 2013 Dr. Nancy Hall Public Policy Leadership Award of Distinction, for her local, provincial and national work to advance the mental health agenda. In 2013, Paola founded Bridge for Health, a local and global network aimed to promote social innovation in health. With local, provincial, national and global partners, Bridge for Health is building a social enterprise to support the design of healthy businesses to advance the triple-bottom line.
Contact Info
twitter: @Bridge4Health
Devon Carr
Devon is a freelance consultant, activist and entrepreneur. Working with a variety of organizations including universities, non-profits and private sector companies, he advises and contributes to multiple initiatives and assists on the federal election campaign of a candidate for Member of Parliament.
Founder and Principal of Guerrilla Consulting, a small consultancy with a focus on project start-up, and new venture leadership, his core values are sustainability, stewardship, innovation, people and most of all, adventure.
Experiences working overseas motivated him to leverage both public and private-sector growth for social and economic development in emerging and domestic markets. During three years in Malawi, Devon ran an entrepreneurial support network in water service delivery (a multi-stakeholder partnership of non-profits, the Mzuzu University and the Malawi government) before serving as Director for a large-scale agri-processing start-up.
Originally from Vancouver Devon is also a classically trained chef, and an avid adventurer.
Guardian Angels
My name is Mohak Goel, I am from India and I am a 4th year Business student, concentrating in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Operations Management. Last semester I wanted to work for the betterment of the life of seniors in Vancouver. After doing primary and secondary, my team found this can be done by connecting generations.
My team then launched Guardian Angels: “We offer educational babysitting service by connecting wise elders and young life learners in Vancouver area to create meaningful and trustful relationships.” Our aim is to connect families with grandparents through this, a two-way relationship will be fostered, wise elders will get an opportunity to meet the young ones; the children on the other hand will gain invaluable wisdom and nurturing.
Currently, I am working as a Teaching Assistant in Simon Fraser University. I believe “When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a way that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.”
Keys to the Street
Keys to the Streets placed 10 free pianos in Vancouver public spaces from July 1 to August 23, 2014. This project is inspired by similar pop-up piano initiatives which have appeared in cities such as Montreal, Toronto, and New York, and will be back on the streets of Vancouver for the 2015 season starting July 1st. Join the conversation with #Keys2Streets.
Aaron Tilston-Redican
Aaron was born and raised in Merville, British Columbia, a sleepy town on Vancouver Island’s east coast. Being surrounded by ocean, mountains and forest, Aaron developed a deep appreciation for the environment and a love of exploration. Aaron just recently completed his undergraduate degree in Environmental Geography at Simon Fraser University. Aaron is currently employed as a research assistant at CityStudio, as well as being one of the project leads for the Keys to the Streets program. In his spare time Aaron can be found cruising the coastline on his sailboat, surfing, or hiking. Aaron is passionate about outdoor learning, and one day hopes to teach at an outdoor school.
Becky Till
Becky Till is a graduate of Human Geography and Dialogue from SFU and is ready to take on the world of sustainability and social justice through alternative education. She feels she is in exactly the right place working to make the CityStudio vision come alive and when she’s not there, she spends her time as a committee member of Youth For Policy Alternatives, singing in her band, and dreaming about her next meal.
Kim Luu
Kim is an aspiring change maker and creative professional. She has over 15 years of experience in fashion industry, primarily as a fashion designer for an international label based in Vancouver. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Design in Fashion Design and Technology from Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Kim is excited to get back into the workplace after taking a few years off to be a stay-at-home mom. Never happy with keeping the status quo, she is inspired by stories of entrepreneurs who are bringing innovative solutions to create positive social impact. She looks forward to utilizing her fashion experience to promote sustainable design and help elevate the lives of others. In her spare time, she enjoys thrift shopping, sewing, pinning beautiful photos of tiny houses and small spaces and photography. Connect with Kim on LinkedIn.
VIM House
The Vancouver Independent Music Centre Society is a non-profit, charitable organization made up of musicians, music presenters, managers, concert goers, business people and professionals who support the development of an affordable, accessible, sustainable and culturally diverse music centre in Vancouver.
We’re dedicated to getting it right. We’ve come a long way over the past three years and responses from all sectors of the community continue to drive us forward. A series of studies has determined the feasibility for a new state-of-the-art venue that suits the needs of audiences and the greater music community. Those studies have given us the foundation to move on to the next stage of the planning process.
We are developing an operational model that will work for audiences as well as the diverse music community. A favoured model, based in part on the Roundhouse Community Centre, is that the VIM House would partner with existing and emerging presenters as well as individual artists to present concerts and to support community, neighbourhood and educational programs, classes, workshops, clinics, creative residencies and music appreciation. This will enable a wide range of music programming over time.
Diane Kadota
Through Diane Kadota Arts Management, Diane is dedicated to supporting the composition, development, presentation and dissemination of creative music by Canadian artists. DKAM represents artists who have a high level of musicianship and artistry, creative vision, a respect for and knowledge of cultural traditions, professionalism and a commitment to the artist/manager relationship.
Contact Info
email: info(at)vancouvermusiccentre.ca
facebook | website
twitter: @VIMHouse
Wuchild
Evolving mom collective. Handmade head wraps for the stylin’, individual, adventurous child.
Watch our story unfold! Drop us a line at hello@wuchild.com.
Bernice Paul
twitter: @BernicePaul
instagram: @peartreepaul
Bernice is one of those dime-a-dozen chemist-turned-marketers. Through high school she had wanted the career of the fictional FBI Agent Dana Scully, so after her BSc she started out with the RCMP forensic lab in Vancouver. After almost six years there she felt that operations could be greatly improved so she embarked on a part-time MBA program offered through UBC’s Sauder School of Business. It was during the MBA experience though, that Bernice transitioned into the business world: first in the green sustainability space and then quickly moving toward marketing and branding for values-based organizations.
Prior to her first maternity leave, Bernice was Marketing Director at Modo, where she enabled cultural shift within the organization and shepherded the rebranding project. After a protracted “matirement” Bernice has now rejoined the marketing world, currently enjoying part time work for the BC Co-op Association.
Hailing from East Van, Bernice now calls North Vancouver home with her husband Christian and daughters Pasha (1) and Bowie (almost 3). Bernice is the thinker behind Wuchild, always in search for the right approach.
Yvette Wu
twitter: @YvWu
Born in Winnipeg and raised in Steveston, BC, it was in her late teens that Yvette headed to Montreal to start her undergrad at McGill. The energizing atmosphere and thought-provoking leadership on campus was where Yvette was first exposed to the idea that business could be a vehicle for social and environmental change. Not yet brave enough to explore this as a future career option, Yvette readied herself for the long haul in academia, in childhood development. Her inner calling to explore impact business was too strong to ignore so she took a leap of faith and enrolled in UBC’s MBA program. Since the MBA, Yvette has held various consulting roles as a strategic advisor to different business functions. She built her business foundation at Best Buy and Aritzia and then entered into the social enterprise space through Lunapads and Vancity. Her current work led to the design and launch of Vancity’s “Fair & Fast Loan” an alternative for payday lending. Disrupting the payday loan industry has been exhilarating and rewarding for her.
Yvette is mom to one-year-old Henny, the original muse and inspiration to start her own business. Yvette is the heart of Wuchild, a natural connector with big dreams
Contact Info
email: hello@wuchild.com
twitter: @hellowuchild
instagram: @wuchild