News

Social innovation lab and incubator RADIUS launched at Beedie School

Mar 25, 2013

The Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University has established RADIUS, a new interdisciplinary social innovation lab and venture incubator that aims to change business education and launch high-impact solutions to social challenges. RADIUS (RADical Ideas, Useful to Society) will bring together students from all faculties across SFU to develop and nurture practical solutions to pressing social problems and provide opportunities for deeper learning. The initiative will employ an interdisciplinary approach to develop solutions more »

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How MBAs can help snowmobilers avoid avalanches

Mar 25, 2013

By David Dunne, Adjunct Senior Fellow at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business. On the afternoon of March 6, 2012, five men drove their snowmobiles to Grizzly Lake, in the Powder Mountain area south of Whistler, B.C. The weather was clear, fresh and calm, and the snow-covered mountains spread invitingly before them. Though there had been some avalanches in the area recently, the conditions looked ideal. In a practice known as high-marking, two of more »

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Social innovation lab and incubator RADIUS launched at Beedie

Mar 25, 2013

The Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University has established RADIUS, a new interdisciplinary social innovation lab and venture incubator that aims to change business education and launch high impact solutions to social challenges. RADIUS (RADical Ideas, Useful to Society) will bring together students from all faculties across SFU to develop and nurture practical solutions to pressing social problems and provide opportunities for deeper learning. The initiative will employ an interdisciplinary approach to develop more »

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Fusion Kitchen wins BC social innovation competition

Nov 28, 2012

A Beedie School of Business student social enterprise start-up has been selected as one of three university project winners in new province-wide community engagement competition, BC Ideas. The start-up, Fusion Kitchen, was chosen in the BC Ideas University Solutions Investment category, for putting forth an idea which creates positive social impact in BC communities. Fusion Kitchen employs immigrant women to lead cooking classes, in the process sharing their food and cultures, while learning transferable skills more »

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Report on Business: Global responsibility and sustainability at Beedie

Nov 7, 2012

The November issue of Report on Business Magazine, published by the Globe and Mail, features a 2-page feature on the thriving environment for global responsibility and sustainability that exists at SFU’s Beedie School of Business. The feature includes an interview with school Dean Daniel Shapiro, Glenn Sigurdson, Director of the Responsible Minerals Sector Initiative, as well as Mark Selman, Director of the EMBA in Aboriginal Business and Leadership. “Our aim is to be the connection more »

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First Nations trip a transformational experience for SFU MBAs

Aug 9, 2012

This past April, five of them, along with SFU MBA alumnus Lerato Chondoma and MBA Academic Director Dave Hannah, explored and engaged Vancouver Island Indigenous communities in the context of not only business development, but also their traditions, beliefs and customs. The group set off on April 23 to visit Nuu-chah-nulth communities on Vancouver Island – including Tseshaht, Ucluelet and Ahousaht – over the course of six days. The latter First Nation is the largest Nuu-chah-nulth Nation and home to Shawn Atleo, recently re-elected as national leader of Canada’s Assembly of First Nations. During the excursion, the students visited a myriad of leading Indigenous entrepreneurs, small- and medium-sized businesses and government agencies. These included Nuu chah nulth Economic Development Corp., First Nations Wildcrafters, Ucluth Development Corp., Iisaak Forest Resources, Tseshaht Market, White Raven Consulting and Les Sam Construction. They also met First Nations leaders, including Michelle Corfield, an Executive in Residence at the Beedie School of Business and Chair of the Legislature at Ucluelet First Nation and Trevor Jones, CEO of Ucluelet Economic Development.

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Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator brings student concepts to reality

Aug 3, 2012

Over the last semester, students at the Beedie School of Business have been bringing to life projects to address tomorrow’s social, environmental and economic challenges with help from the new Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator (SEA) program. The brainchild of Beedie lecturer Shawn Smith, the program ran for six weeks at the SFU Surrey campus, with $10,000 in support from Vancity, and allowed students to enter as teams or individuals in order to generate a feasible business more »

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Beedie looks back at extraordinary year in Surrey

Dec 19, 2011

It has been an extraordinary year for the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University – and the accomplishments of the school at SFU Surrey have helped to drive that success. As 2011 draws to a close, Beedie is celebrating such student accomplishments as SFU Student of the Year, the Surrey Green City Award, and selection to one of Canada's most prestigious leadership programs for entrepreneurs.

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Social ventures from Beedie win kudos, investment from top entrepreneurs

Nov 24, 2011

5 projects by SFU students—all social ventures aimed at creating positive change—were chosen from 10 finalists to win Ashoka Canada’s Be a Changemaker Challenge Nov. 23. In October, SFU, UBC and Ashoka also ran a boot camp to train students how to build and fund sustainable ventures. The contestants were eligible for up to $1,000 each in seed funding to launch their social ventures, in addition to incubation support through Ashoka Canada and Ashoka's Youth Venture. Most of the entrants were from SFU Beedie School of Business lecturer Shawn Smith’s BUS 492 class in social entrepreneurship and innovation, which teaches the fundamentals of creating socially impactful ventures while coaching students through the process. “More than just community engagement I think it is entirely critical to instill a sense of responsibility, and possibility, in our emerging leaders,” says Smith.

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