Connecting Capital, Community and Impact

On September 17, Connect Money Impact Vancouver brought together social entrepreneurs, impact investors, financial intermediaries, community organizations and ecosystem builders at 312 Main for a day of learning, exchange and connection.

Presented by Community Impact Real Estate Society (CIRES) in collaboration with the Scale Institute, the gathering created space for people working across the social impact ecosystem to share experiences, explore practical approaches and build connections across sectors.

Bringing different perspectives into the same room

Some of the most valuable conversations happen when people working on different parts of the same challenges have an opportunity to learn from one another.

Throughout the day, participants explored social franchising, impact investment, community capital, social procurement, community bonds and what it takes to move social enterprise ideas and research into action.

Keynote speaker Lystra Germaine Sam also invited participants to think differently about financial flourishing, expanding the conversation around wealth, value, scarcity, collective success and community wellbeing.

Together, the sessions offered different entry points into a broader question: how can capital, business and community work together to create stronger, more inclusive local economies?

The value of being in the room

The formal program was only one part of the day.

Between sessions, over coffee and around tables, people continued the conversations — asking questions, exchanging experiences, making introductions and finding connections between their work.

For CIRES, creating opportunities for those different perspectives to come together is an important part of strengthening the ecosystem around community economic development. No single organization, sector or approach can address complex community challenges in isolation.

Events like Connect Money Impact give us an opportunity to learn from one another, challenge assumptions and explore what might be possible when different forms of knowledge, experience and capital meet.

What comes next

The conversations at CMI Vancouver were grounded in real work already happening across communities, but they also raised questions about where we go from here.

What new partnerships might emerge? Which ideas will continue to develop? And how can the relationships built in the room help move promising approaches into practice?

We don't know all of those answers yet, and that's part of the value of bringing people together.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, shared their work, asked thoughtful questions and contributed their perspectives throughout the day. We're also grateful to our speakers, panelists, partners and collaborators who helped make Connect Money Impact Vancouver possible.

The event may be over, but we hope the conversations and connections made in the room continue well beyond it.