ANNUAL REPORT 2015/16ledlab.ca/.../2016/09/LEDlab_201516AnnualReport.pdf · In 2015, LEDlab built trusted relationships, integrated our partners’ feedback into program design, and

ANNUALREPORT 2015/16

ABOUT LEDLABThe Downtown Eastside Local Economic Development Lab (LEDlab) is a time-bound, place-based, and action-focused initiative. Modeled on social change labs worldwide, LEDlab concentrates on understanding the specific conditions required for inclusive economic development in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) and building ground-up solutions that include and engage actors in the system. LEDlab brings together diverse perspectives and professional capacities, is experimental by nature, and affects systemic change.

LEDlab incubates community-based social enterprises that put money in the pockets of DTES residents, while enhancing the capacity of local individuals, organizations and networks, and disrupting traditional patterns of power and resource use in the community.

LEDlab, initiated and closely supported by Ecotrust Canada

and RADIUS SFU, demonstrates the benefits of cross-sectoral partnerships in addressing complex and multifaceted social and economic challenges.

Ecotrust Canada is an enterprising nonprofit charity that has practiced place-based community development for more than 20 years. Their primary goal is to develop new economic models that benefit people in the places they call home.

RADIUS SFU, part of the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, is a leader among North American universities in social venture and entrepreneurial talent incubation.

LEDlab’s tools, methods, and processes are reflective of our parent organizations and blend social innovation lab practice, community development and lean approaches to business model development.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSLEDlab’s work takes place on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish First Nations.

We gratefully acknowledge our funders and supporters. Investing in lab processes and the work that emerges at multiples scales requires a shared vision and patience. The Koerner Family Foundation, Vancouver Foundation, City of Vancouver, Simon Fraser University, and Mitacs Accelerate Canada have been instrumental in building this unique platform for social innovation and social entrepreneurship. SFU Community Engagement Initiative Fund, Innoweave, Eastside Community Fund, and BC Canada Jobs Grant

have also generously provided funding to support community engagement, professional development, prototyping, and developmental evaluation, which we humbly acknowledge as integral to our work.

Finally, we acknowledge the leadership from Ecotrust Canada, RADIUS SFU, and Simon Fraser University, which brought this vision to life. Years of partnership development went into creating this collaborative endeavour. A special thanks is owed to the stewards of this vision, including but not limited to Brenda Kuecks, Jacqueline Koerner, Colin Stansfield, Shawn Smith, Dr. Blaize Reich, and Dr. Sarah Lubik.

THE LEDLAB STORYVancouver’s Downtown Eastside faces numerous complex challenges, including the urgent concerns of gentrification, displacement of low income residents, economic exclusion, and rising inequality. The City of Vancouver’s DTES Local Area Plan estimates that only 13% of residents are formally employed in the local economy. More than 60% of residents depend on Income Assistance, and given that Income Assistance rates have not risen in more than 8 years, many individuals turn to informal and unregulated labour and volunteer stipends to make ends meet.

A number of high potential, low-barrier livelihood initiatives have emerged to address this challenge; from a mature network of social enterprises to the vibrant informal binning and market economies, DTES residents and community organizations have created a strong foundation for a diverse and inclusive low-income economy. Yet despite having one of the highest concentrations of service delivery organizations in North America, tangible and enduring solutions have been elusive.

The LEDlab helps existing organizations and stakeholders to innovate within constraints by providing human capacity to advance new ideas; a safe space for design and experimentation; and a supported process to develop, test, and evaluate social

innovation projects. We invest in local leadership capacity and use a cohort model to enable cross-pollination of ideas, build trust, and lay the foundation for future collaborations. Each annual cohort is themed around community partners’ emerging work and opportunities for breakthroughs in policy innovation.

Following extensive research and consultation in the DTES community, we have spent

the last year prototyping our approach and refining how we work. Details of our first-year projects are found over the next several pages. These initiatives are aligned with City of Vancouver policy and support implementation of the targets and strategies outlined in Vancouver’s DTES Local Area Plan and Healthy City Strategy. Thus our theory of change supports grassroots innovations that align with top-down strategy.

RESOURCING + BANDWIDTHMost funding is tied to project-based service agreements, so already under-resourced organizations can only develop innovative ideas ‘off the sides of their desks’.

PROCESS SUPPORTProfessional development opportunities are few and far between. While many leaders have deep knowledge of their work and opportunities, they have little access to the tools, methods, and approaches to help develop, test, and launch new ideas.

SILOSRelationships between organizations are strained by current government funding models, and collaboration is just another thing to do on an already full plate. Thinking at a systems scale is restricted by both a lack of resources and competition.

Our embedded work in the DTES has revealed three key barriers to capitalizing on the innovative potential of this community.

2015 2016

DEC.JAN. APR. MAY AUG. SEP. JAN.

COMMUNITY CONSULTATIONS

REFINING PROGRAM MODEL

OBSERVATION & EXPLORATION

LEDlab Manager conducted interviews with 24 local leaders

Built a case and model for engagement

Conducted baseline assesment of the "Employment Continuum"

Developed Social Innovation curriculum

Formed community partnerships

Hired four graduate students from different disciplines to incubate community-driven social enterprises

Students embedded themselves in community, were asked to hold a "beginner’s mindset" and learn about their environment

Delivered venture incubation programming to students and community

Tested initial prototypes

Closed one project [Connected Kitchens] due to lack of traction

AUG.APR. MAY

IMPLEMENTATION DOCUMENTATION &DISSEMINATION

Refined social enterprise models

Launched Knack, Binners’ Hook and Pick-up Service

Documented outcomes

Conducted research on BC’s income assistance system in partnership with Potluck Cafe

Reported back to partners and stakeholders

In 2015, LEDlab built trusted relationships, integrated our partners’ feedback into program design, and began prototyping new solutions with a core group of community organizations.

In the first part of 2016, we refined social enterprise models and documented key insights and opportunities from our embedded work in community for dissemination and future solution-building.

Our 2016-2017 incubation program begins again in September.

PROGRAM ARC

This timeline is patterned on the Double Diamond design process, which illustrates the ebb and flow of activity as a program grows and evolves through the stages of Discovery, Definition, Development, and Delivery.

LEGENDNon-profit

Public

Academic

Private

Knack

Binners’ Project

CCK

DTES Market

On the ground, we connect exceptional graduate students with local organizations to accelerate community-designed and driven social enterprise. We then work with the students, our community partners, and subject experts in a ‘social innovation lab’ format to develop shared skills and knowledge, collaborate, and change the economic system in support of this community over time.

At the systems level, the LEDlab Manager’s work includes network development, systems mapping, aligning people, resources, and ideas around key opportunities in the ecosystem, and directly engaging policymakers and other stakeholders in solutions-based advocacy.

Over our inaugural year of work, LEDlab has identified its four key competencies:

RESOURCINGProviding paid graduate student Project Coordinators to under-resourced organizations for eight months.

CAPACITY BUILDINGApplying lean approaches to enterprise development.

NETWORK DEVELOPMENTConnecting people and resources and building supportive infrastructure for collective action.

SYSTEMS MAPPINGHelping the system to see itself through maps, infographics and story.

In 2015-2016, LEDlab provided:

129 relationships developed or strengthened through LEDlab between community partners, academic institutions, and public and private sector stakeholders

5 free workshops totalling 264 person-hours of professional development to enhance social innovation capacity of DTES non-profits, impacting 88 participants

8 Master’s students from 7 disciplines completed internships of 4-8 months in length

84 new leads for social enterprise business development

63 hours of facilitation and strategic planning support for Urban Core, the only network of inner city service agencies focused on income generation for DTES residents

241 hours of free meeting and workshop space for DTES organizations

$120,000 spent in the DTES on:

research

policy analysis

business modelling

business development

financial analysis

marketing and communications

board development

DTES resident training and capacity development

operations management and document control

partnership development

evaluation and reporting

ACTIVITIES LEDlab works very intentionally at multiple scales.

Binners take part in informal recycling by removing items of value from the waste stream to support their livelihoods. They are industrious individuals with diverse ages, education levels, physical abilities, and previous work experience. Yet all are entrenched in poverty and impacted by housing insecurity and political invisibility.

The Binners’ Project aims to gain recognition for binners’ civic contributions, reduce the stigma they face as one of the city’s most marginalized populations, and use their skills to improve their economic opportunities.

THE BINNERS’ PROJECT

In 2015-2016, the Binners’ Project piloted three new initiatives:

BINNER EVENTSBinners are contracted to provide services at community events, such as monitoring bins, educating the public about proper recycling, sorting recyclables, and picking up refundables from the venue.

PICK-UP SERVICE In this free initiative, binners remove refundable containers from businesses’ recycling or waste streams. Since the program’s start, the service has helped to break down barriers between binners and the formal economy sector.

BINNERS’ HOOKDeveloped by binners in collaboration with Basic Design, these hooks are sold through the program for $10. These pest deterrent hooks provide a space for community members to safely leave their recyclables for binners to pick up.

LEDLAB’S ROLELEDlab helped validate, prioritize and bring the Binners’ Project pilot projects to fruition. Our work strengthened the Binners’ Events program and helped launch the Binners’ Hook and Pick-up Service.

Enrolled 15 pickup sites

Secured 17 events earning $100 per day for each binner volunteering

Produced marketing materials, training programs and manuals, and financial modelling

Aided Binners’ Hook prototype, which can be purchased online

Priyanka Roy Chakrabarti, a Master’s in Planningstudent from UBC, developed a business plan for the Binners Events program, designed fliers and outreach materials for pick-up services and events, secured an important relationship with Encorp for recycling boxes, created and led training workshops with binners on business development and customer service, and produced photography and a promotional video for the Binners’ Hook.

"The project required a lot of strategy and long-term relationship-building. The best thing about my time with the Binners’ Project was working with the binners; I gained a greater sense of empathy after working with them one-on-one."

- Anna GodefroyDirector, The Binners’ Project

- Priyanka Roy Chakrabarti

Binners help eliminate waste in urban environments, but they are among the most marginalized people in our society.

The Binners’ Project promotes interaction between binners and other Vancouverites, challenging our understanding of work and livelihoods and building empathy amidst our diversity.

The Binners’ Project is a unique and informal income-generating initiative founded and run by local binners.

binnersproject.orgbinnersproject@Binners_Project

It was really good having access to the resources and connections made available through the student and through the LEDlab. Having a student placed full-time for eight months meant that the relationships could develop – we felt like we had more of a staff member than a student that we needed to provide a lot of direction to.

Supported by Potluck Café Society, Knack facilitates impact hiring for individuals facing barriers to employment. Knack provides core skill training workshops for people on income assistance and a digital badging system for participants to market those skills. Core skills are then matched with task work at local businesses interested in social impact hiring.

Through the workshops, individuals gain access to a supportive group of peers, an inclusive environment in which to learn new skills, and the opportunity to enhance their roles in other volunteer or paid-employment positions.

KNACK

LEDLAB’S ROLELEDlab rapidly accelerated the development of Knack, a ‘task bank’ of income-generating opportunities supported by a competency-based digital badging program.

Program has grown to a community of over 50 Knack Earners

150 Digital Badges awarded

Relationships developed with 15 employers

LEDlab Graduate student hired as Chief Operating Officer to grow and scale this innovative social enterprise

Anna Migicovsky, a Master of Business Administrationgraduate from SFU, clarified Knack’s value proposition, created marketing materials, and oversaw website development in order to launch the brand. She has been busily engaging employers to find placements for Knack Earners.

"My understanding of social issues and impact has grown immensely. I have a deeper understanding of how social enterprise looks on the ground, and how challenging that can be. This is a priceless opportunity that you must be courageous to take."

I was delightfully surprised by how successfully the partnership worked. It was great to see something move from the side of the desk to centre of the desk and progress at a rate it otherwise wouldn’t have. The LEDlab is well-intentioned and well-implemented. Having the Lab act as a container in which the student can learn from leaders in the sector about social innovation frameworks, discourses, and concepts is not something I would have necessarily had the time to do, so it was great knowing LEDlab had that covered and we could focus on driving the idea forward.

- Colin StansfieldExecutive Director, The Potluck Café Society

- Anna Migicovsky

Knack facilitates the connection of employers to qualified individuals using an online platform.

knackworks.ca@Knackworks_

The City of Vancouver’s DTES Local Area Plan sets a target to create 2,500 new local jobs by 2024. However, the DTES is home to several thousand low-income residents who face barriers to conventional employment, are living on Income Assistance, and for whom the demands of a traditionally-defined forty-hour work week are neither reasonable nor practical.

Knack breaks away from the traditional résumé-based approach to job hunting,

reframing the conversation to focus on connecting tasks with skills and meeting the needs of local residents on their terms. Knack is also building strategic partnerships between local trainers, support organizations, and businesses. It serves as a springboard to transition participants from volunteering and informal work into formal, low-barrier employment.

Arising from the "protest and occupy" movement, the DTES Street Market provides a safe and legal vending space for individuals in the survival economy. Working with the support of the City of Vancouver, Central City Foundation, the Vancouver Police Department, and the Portland Hotel Society, the DTES Street Market Society provides over 800 vendors with income generating opportunities seven days per week across three sites in the DTES.

THE DTES STREET MARKET

LEDLAB’S ROLELEDlab supported the DTES Street Market’s expansion to seven days per week, increasing the number of paid volunteer positions in the organization while helping refine their business and operations model.

Expansion of market operations from 1 to 7 days per week

Increased the number of paid positions by 500%

Creation of new operational documents

Analysis of the market’s income-generating operations

Product launch of merchandise featuring designs by DTES artists

Increase in profit for commissary sales at the market

Daniel Mundeva put his skills to the test during leadershipchanges within the DTES Market Society while pursuing an MA in International Studies with a specialization in governance and conflict at SFU. Daniel was instrumental in maintaining and improving the daily operations of the Market, producing organizational policies, and supporting the development of a partnership between the DTES Street Market Society, the City of Vancouver, and the Portland Hotel Society.

"Working in the DTES is a great honour. However, it is not ‘a walk in the park.’ Capacity challenges, welfare challenges, and the reality of marginalization will test your capacity to problem-solve and to work with people from different walks of life. I found listening, being kind and being fair and respectful to everyone to be crucial to building the trust needed to work with people well."

- Daniel Mundeva

Throughout a turbulent period in early 2016, the markets continued to run without fail. This demonstrated the incredible resilience within the organization and the community as a whole.

The City of Vancouver and low-income community have been very vocal about the essential role of street vending in allowing some citizens to earn a livelihood or supplement their income assistance. The DTES Street Market Society employs community members to rent tents and tables on market days and sell snack items at a coffee kiosk. The Street Market also provides low cost and used goods to many more members of the community. As such, it is imperative to expand and validate market-selling and make it easier for local artists and other entrepreneurs to showcase and sell their work.

The Society is integral to building a safe, coordinated, and approachable space for vendors to sell legitimate goods. Collaboration with groups like law enforcement and local area business associations help provide a well-managed space that fosters the breakdown of social stigmas, allowing for a diversity of community that is the foundation for street markets worldwide.

CARNEGIE CONNECTED KITCHENS

LEDLAB’S ROLEUnlike the other three projects, Connected Kitchens was framed as an inquiry-based project. In December, after careful discussion, the Carnegie team and LEDlab decided not to continue with Connected Kitchens.

Our hope was to draw upon the skills of residents living in SRO hotels to create a healthy, just, and sustainable local food system. We still believe there is huge potential for self-employment or social enterprise opportunities through food processing or preparation in community kitchens. We hope to someday

find a community champion with additional resources to dedicate to this project.

Closing the Connected Kitchens project was one of the most challenging things we did all year, but it paid off in the end. The experience allowed both partners to grow and focus our efforts on what was working well. In the case of LEDlab, it deepened our relationships with the other three projects. Though it was difficult at the time, we are proud that making a conscious decision to let go is a part of our story.

Carnegie Community Centre – often referred to as the living room of the Downtown Eastside – provides social, educational,cultural, and recreational activities on-site, at nearby Oppenheimer Park, and through an outreach team. Carnegie’s Community Kitchens Project works with the staff of several Single Residency Occupation (SRO)

hotels to program classes that would get residents cooking and eating together, sharing healthy meals, and building community to fight social isolation.

Through six years of on-the-ground experience, the Carnegie team identified a trend in user groups: there seem to always be a few champions of each

community kitchen who are dedicated to learning and teaching new skills. Framed as an inquiry-based project, we sought to explore untapped potential for food start-ups in the DTES by piloting a cooking collective designed by and for residents of SRO hotels.

LEDlab and Carnegie found there was a lack of traction and community buy-in. This led to a careful reexamination of our commitments as well as an opportunity to identify when a good idea needs a more solid foundation for success. Achieving sustainability and self-sufficiency in an 8-month internship was an overly ambitious goal for this early-stage project. Moving forward, both LEDlab and Carnegie are more aware of what foundational steps are needed before a program can drive a student’s work.

Through this work opportunity I learned a lot about the experience of those entrenched in poverty in Canada. I learnt that anyone is capable of executing an idea as long as there is a well-thought out plan and love infused into the programming.

- Priyanka Roy ChakrabartiLEDlab Project Coordinator, Binners’ Project

LEDlab has been an incredible resource as the City has engaged with Vancouver’s DTES communities to develop a community economic development strategy.

- Wes ReganSocial Planner, Community Economic DevelopmentCity of Vancouver

Working with Priyanka was unbelievable. She was the one who pushed me and helped me land a pick up at the yacht club - that alone doubled my income. I miss her a lot.

- Michael LelandBinner, Binners’ Project

Read more at:http://ledlab.ca/carnegie

Our strategic thinking about inclusive economic development has taken shape around scaling opportunities for social hiring.

Much of LEDlab’s work has been and continues to be framed by our baseline assessment research on the Income Generation Continuum, which was conducted in partnership with Urban Core. Read more at http://ledlab.ca/research

KEY LEARNINGS

VOLUNTEERING plays animportant role in the community. Both paid (stipend) and unpaid volunteer opportunities are part of the income generating continuum, but there are not always clear pathways to transition into the formal labour force or enough opportunities for low-barrier income generation.

INCOME ASSISTANCE POLICIESimpact both individuals who desire to gradually increase their labour force engagement and social enterprises that want to employ individuals living on income assistance. Basic assistance rates are too low for the cost of living.

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS are not meeting theneeds of many DTES residents. They fall short for those looking for part-time, informal work, or gradual re-entry to the labour force.

In short, there are breakdowns at multiple points of the continuum.

By addressing both the complexity of these issues and a perspective of the whole continuum, LEDlab hopes to contribute to a place-based and collaborative model of inclusive employment in Vancouver’s DTES that will dramatically increase impact hiring.

FOUNDATIONSHousing and healthcare are important for labour force engagement; service providers play important roles in the continuum.

CAPACITY BUILDINGSupports like childcare may provide access to - and certainly remove barriers to - labour force engagement.

INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT & SELF-EMPLOYMENTMany DTES residents participate in informal income generating opportunities. The informal economy plays an important role in the local DTES economy.

SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENTVancouver has a strong history of social enterprise. These organizations employ individuals with barriers to stability.

FORMAL EMPLOYMENT & SELF-EMPLOYMENT

Traditional businesses thrive in the DTES, but residents rarely have opportunities

to benefit.

basic necessities - healthcare - safe space

life skills - training - unpaid volunteering - childcare

street vending - binning - paid volunteering

social enterprise - peer work

part or full-time employment

Our work has identified several areas in which breakdowns in government and other support services pose challenges, impeding DTES residents’ mobility along the continuum.

The Income Generation Continuum illustrates the many formal and informal income generating opportunities that exist in the DTES:

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Our work over the past year confirms that there are opportunities to substantially increase income-generating opportunities for DTES residents, especially those living on Income Assistance. Through these opportunities we can unlock and increase the income-earning potential of the diverse and industrious DTES population.

Proven strategies for success, as demonstrated by our community partners:

POLICY ENGAGEMENTWe directly engage policymakers around opportunities that can better meet the needs of the DTES’s unique low income population. Alongside Potluck Café we have mapped the income assistance system for individuals who are working while living on income assistance, and are now connecting social enterprise employers with government representatives to better understand and remove barriers to social hiring.

SUPPORTING SELF-EMPLOYMENTThe DTES is already a passionate, hardworking, and innovative community. We need to explore social enterprise models and catalyze investment around the entrepreneurial potential of local residents. Building on the economic activity that already exists, like vending, selling bikes, and binning - how might we enable and legitimize entrepreneurship?

PROCUREMENTWith billions of dollars slated for development in and around the DTES in the next 5-10 years, there is an opportunity to redirect investment towards existing viable social enterprises such as EMBERS, CleanStart, and Tradeworks. These successful businesses have enormous growth potential and strong relationships within the local community. Let’s support and grow what already exists and works well.

NEXT STEPS

LEDlab hopes to partner with local organizations to incubate these promising ideas. We are committed to illuminating opportunity in the surrounding policy and administrative environments, as well as documenting and sharing our findings with other areas facing similar challenges.

These four strategies are already being tested on a small scale and showing exciting results. If we lean into and create the infrastructure for these ideas to flourish, the enormous capacity of the DTES community will astound us.

REFRAMING AROUND TASK WORKIndividuals living on income assistance can and want to work, but can only do so for 4-8 hours per week to remain eligible for support. The problem is that there aren’t enough jobs that meet their needs. There is an opportunity to reframe the unit of work away from the 40 hour week and toward small tasks in order to scale impact hiring.

Photos: Priyanka Roy Chakrabarti and Robin Weidner

Report design: Andrea Robertson

KIRI BIRDProgram Manager2015 Research Assistant, LEDlab

BRENDA KUECKSPast President, Ecotrust Canada

JEAN POGGEPresident, Ecotrust Canada

SHAWN SMITHDirector, RADIUS SFU

DR. SARAH LUBIKSenior Research Advisor, SFU

STEVE WILLIAMSDevelopmental Evaluator

DARCY RIDDELLSocial Innovation Advisor

LEDLAB LEADERSHIP TEAM

MAGGIE KNIGHTCommunications Coordinator, RADIUS SFU

ANNA MIGICOVSKYProject Coordinator, Knack / Potluck Café Society

DANIEL MUNDEVAProject Coordinator, DTES Street Market

PRIYANKA ROY CHAKRABARTIProject Coordinator, Binners’ Project

ANDREAS PILARINOSResearch Assistant,Urban Core / LEDlab

KIM MACKENZIEResearch Assistant,Potluck Café / LEDlab

SARAH MOREHEARTResearch & Communications Coordinator, LEDlab

CHRIS PUZIOProject Coordinator, Carnegie Connected Kitchens

GRADUATE STUDENT INTERNS

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The Local Economic Development Lab is a unique partnership between Ecotrust Canada and RADIUS SFU.