“We are in an age of heropreneurship: everyone wants to ‘be’ a social entrepreneur. The myth of the entrepreneur creates a false hierarchy with ‘start-up founder’ at the top. We foster this obsession in our education, our funding, our awards, and our media. But we don’t just need more founders. We need more positive social impact.”

– Tackling Heropreneurship

During this two-part workshop on June 23-24, you will learn how to use the Impact Gaps Canvas: a research tool designed by Daniela Papi-Thornton. The Impact Gaps Canvas teaches entrepreneurs how to take an “ecosystem” approach both at the outset of building their social enterprise and as an iterative process in working on initiatives that require us to constantly adapt, evolve, and respond.

This workshop is best suited for early stage social entrepreneurs who are looking to understand the landscape of their work: their problem space, existing solutions, and gaps to meaningfully catalyze impact and innovation. Please note that by registering for this event, you are committing to Part 1 and Part 2 of this workshop.

June 23, 2:00-5:00pm ET | PART 1

Focuses heavily on understanding an ecosystem approach based on a foundation of research. By the end of the session, you will:

• Understand the value of an ecosystem approach to problem solving
• Frame ecosystem research using the Impact Gaps Canvas
• Begin to uncover the root causes of the challenges in your landscape

June 24 , 2:00-5:00pm ET | PART 2

Explores how well-rounded research identifies landscape gaps that lead to more impactful solutions and enterprise models. By the end of this session, you will:

• Use the Impact Gaps Canvas to research an issue you are passionate about
• Understand how to identify meaningful gaps within the landscape
• Learn the importance of interviewing a variety of landscape stakeholders
• Test assumptions through guided research

Participants are encouraged to watch this video and come to the sessions with the Impact Gaps Canvas tool downloaded and ready to be worked on. Printing the tool is not necessary.

This session will be facilitated by Peggy Sue Deaven, Program Lead and Facilitator at the Centre for Social Innovation.

Please note that we’ll use Zoom to connect. You’ll receive a meeting link closer to the date.