By the numbers
Scaling our Social Impact & Organizational Capacity
ecosystem Metrics
VFC links members of an ecosystem who believe entrepreneurship can affect systemic change. Fostering diverse partnerships and representation is essential for sustainable systems-change work. The relationships we've built with institutions and employers catalyze impact by connecting our participants to opportunities.
↑↓ All percent changes in this report reference 2019 dataEcosystem takeaways
Demand for our programs is up. And increased representation from post-secondary institutions means we’re reaching a more comprehensive network of participants with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences.
Venture for Canada actively nurtures relationships and shares knowledge among ecosystem members. Our team members were hosts, interviewees, panellists, speakers, judges and mentors at partner organizations’ events.
To scale our impact in 2020, we focused on knowledge mobilization. Partnerships with RBC, LightHouse Labs, SheEO, Riipen, Startup Zone in PEI, Rainforest in Alberta, and many others increased our capacity to share our learnings.
Training Metrics
Fostering the entrepreneurial skills and mindsets of changemakers is at the core of VFC's programs.
Social distancing measures went into effect across Canada in March. Already comfortable with distributed work practices, we quickly shifted to training via Zoom and replaced our flagship Fellowship training camp with a live-virtual training camp.
Early adoption also exposed us to early "zoom fatigue."
VFC's training team responded by innovating a balance between live sessions and screen-time, curating a program-wide asynchronous "choose-your-own-adventure" training curriculum.
training takeaways
The numbers illustrate the dedication of VFC learners and the quality of the training content.
Our community shifted to 100% virtual in 2020 resulting in a decrease of in-person events. But skyrocketing engagement with online learning significantly surpassed previous in-person hours.
Fellows and Interns embraced their new digital realities, dedicating free time to personal and professional development for a cumulative 299 full-days-worth of learning online.
The numbers suggest participants’ willingness to take initiative, motivation, perseverance, and that they valued ideas — entrepreneurial skills more critical than ever in 2021.
“The most valuable mindset shift I developed through VFC has been the ability to adapt to my environment and laugh when things don’t go as expected.”
