Engagement

Friends with Benefits: The Rise of the Sharing Economy

What is the Sharing Economy?Also known as collaborative consumption, the sharing economy is broadly based on the lending, borrowing, renting, swapping, bartering or co-owning of goods, spaces, time and talents. This includes, but is not limited to, bike/car sharing, forgoing expensive hotel rooms and renting people’s apartments and houses, crowdfunding, recycling/upcycling, or even sharing one’s talents and skills.

Why I've Learned to Love Disruption

If you had asked me four months ago, my definition of disruption would have consisted of pop-up ads, an illuminated gaslight, delayed flights, or when you’re the only one left at baggage claim and it sinks in that Air Canada has (not surprisingly) lost your luggage.But that was before I started my internship at JS Daw & Associates. During my four month stay, I have worked with leading Canadian companies and have been given the chance to help re-wire and re-imagine their Community Investment Strategies.

10 Years On: Learning From Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty

They say necessity is the mother of invention (humans required a more efficient mode of locomotion, so we invented the wheel; college students wanted a virtual way to connect to their friends, so Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook). Such is true for Dove, who, back in 2004 were suffering from low sales in an abysmally crowded and over-saturated market. So Dove’s parent company, Unilever, created The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.

Let Them Eat Soup: How Soup Sisters is Bringing Shared Value to the Nonprofit Sector

Shared Value is usually viewed as a strategy for the business sector, but what if a nonprofit was able to apply the same principles and practices in order to deepen their value and impact?  Sharon Hapton, a local Calgarian and the founder and CEO of Soup Sisters, unwittingly did just that.While her kids were growing up, Sharon Hapton used to deliver soup to her friends as a gesture of care and empathy.

Reflections on the SFU Community Economic Development Program

I recently completed the professional certificate program in Community Economic Development (CED) through Simon Fraser University. I initially applied for this program because I wanted to gain a deeper perspective to bring to my work here at JS Daw & Associates. I wanted to see how actions taken at the grassroots level might align with the CSR and community initiatives of our clients. Over the past five months, I have learned a lot and had a really awesome experience.

Alberta’s New Social Innovation Endowment

As obvious as it sounds, the world’s most wicked problems, such as poverty, inequality, discrimination, and disease, all require solutions— and fast. But who should be responsible for solving these overwhelmingly massive issues? And more importantly, who has the ingenuity to do so? Introduced earlier this year, the government of Alberta’s new Social Innovation Endowment gives its citizens the chance to become the social innovators that the world so desperately needs.

JS Daw Presents Shared Value Session at Next-Gen Forum

Creating shared value is not a theory. It is a proven model that is being applied by leading organizations around the world, and providing them with opportunities to create new business value by addressing social and environmental issues. Organizations are embracing this idea and creating specific staff positions dedicated to catalyzing social innovation inside and outside the company. This new role for business is not just ‘giving back’ to the community; it is setting social goals and working to achieve these goals.

JS Daw & Associates has Launched a New Website!

In the three years since the incorporation of JS Daw & Associates, Jocelyne and the team have worked hard to deepen the work of the company in order to deliver greater value and impact for our clients. We felt it was important for our website to reflect the growing nature of our work, our service offerings and our team.We’re proud to invite you to explore our new website! We think you’ll be excited about the simplicity of the new story we tell about how we help organizations transform their community strategies.

Onward with More Love and Less Water: How Calgary Formed a Collective Action Movement in a Time of Crisis

Before the unprecedented flooding that occurred in Southern Alberta over the past week, Calgary already had a remarkable energy and a love of community. With the highest volunteer rate in Canada, the largest commitment to corporate community investment, and a high percentage of philanthropic giving, altruism is part of this city’s DNA. What’s more, Calgary’s Mayor Naheed Nenshi is a community champion and an inspiration to Calgarians.