On February 28, 2020, Centennial’s Centre of Entrepreneurship (CoE) and the Accelerator for Centennial Community Entrepreneurs and Leaders (ACCEL) welcomed more than 100 students, staff and faculty members, along with community partners and leaders, to participate in the first of five Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Innovation Lab events.
The day’s activities were led by the Foundation for Environmental Stewardship (FES) and two keynote speakers: Steve Lee, a 26-year-old climate change activist, policy advocate to the United Nations, and Executive Director of FES; and Julie Marshall, Canadian Spokesperson for United Nations World Food Programme.
Participants enjoyed talks, videos and interactive activities that provided the knowledge, skills and motivation needed to take action in support of the 17 sustainable development goals.
Innovation and entrepreneurship activities are possible for everyone at the College. “Today’s activity is the start of a process,” said Jonathan Hack, Executive Director for Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Services during introductory remarks. “You can choose to be involved in as many of these activities as possible. The skills used in innovation and entrepreneurship are beneficial for everyone to learn and use on a regular basis … and the SDGs are the best canvas that we could possibly focus on to exercise these skills”
Social impact entrepreneurship involves empowering individuals to empower communities in return. In the afternoon portion of Friday’s Forum, participants used key skills — like critical thinking, collaboration and problem solving — to construct an activity centered on making a difference.
Interested in attending the next event, or getting involved with social impact entrepreneurship at the College? Email