BCBusiness

February 2019 – Is B.C. Losing Its Edge?

With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.

Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1071224

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 41 of 71

42 BCBUSINESS FEBRUARY 2019 FROM TOP: PAUL JOSEPH; PAUL DUCHART; COURTESY OF EMBERS Through his eponymous foundation, Linden has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for every- thing from BC Children's Hospital to, more recently, at-risk youth. "The last several years we've been working with kids that need direction and mentorship, and who have maybe aged out of the foster care program," he explains. From bedside visits to terminally ill kids during his playing days to his ongoing work with the annual Trevor Linden Community Spirit Scholarship awards, Linden has always leveraged his public profile for social good. He's just one of scores of British Columbians who give generously of their time or money, or both. Some, like Army & Navy Stores heiress and CEO Jacqui Cohen, are high-profile; although her annual charity gala is perhaps best known for attracting vis- iting air-kissers like Tom Jones, over the course of its 29-year existence, Cohen's Face the World Foundation has tapped her society connections to the tune of $18 million. Similarly, real estate developer Joseph Segal and his wife, Rosalie, are well known for their generosity: like Cohen, the Segals have also reached out to celebrities, enlisting musicians such as David Foster and cellist Yo-Yo Ma to help raise charity dollars. A $12-million donation by the Segals, which aided in fund- ing the Joseph & Rosalie Segal & Family Health Centre at Vancouver General Hos- pital, is one of their more notable, and lasting, gifts. However, some of our most generous citizens fly under the radar. Since being forced to leave Idi Amin's Uganda in the 1970s and landing in West Vancouver, the Lalji family have given millions of their $3-billion fortune back to the com- munity. One of their recent contributions: a $7-million gift to Lions Gate Hospital. From Vancouver devel- oper Ryan Beedie, who celebrated his 50th birth- day last November by earmarking $50 million for individual education grants, to Port Alberni– born Eric Peterson, founder of the Tula Foundation (an organization focusing on preserving the coastal environment, among other causes), whose mission in life is "to die penniless," an extraordinary number of British Columbians are using their money to promote social good. It's a time- honoured effort whose spirit in North Amer- ica has its roots in the first families of the Industrial Revolution: storied names that, in some cases, have outlived the fortunes once attached to them. But the philanthropic landscape is shifting. Using models that have long been associated with private business, today's do-gooders are reimagining the way giving is, well, given. Driven by a desire to effect change—but also to do more than sim- ply throw money at social problems—the new philanthropists are in the business of doing good works. Call it impact investing, or maybe philanthrocapitalism. Either way, it's changing how charity is deliv- ered in B.C. I M P A C T P L AY E R S In his eighth-floor office overlooking a busy downtown stretch of Granville Street, Manny Padda leans back in his chair. He's dressed a notch or two below business casual, in jeans and a funky shirt. A few minutes earlier, Padda administered an impromptu tour of his space, a warren of offices that, like him, is a long way from ostentatious: drained of inflated self- importance, this is a place to get work done. Born in Duncan in 1983, Padda is a rapid-fire talker who is acknowledged as one of Canada's most successful angel investors. He started his first multimillion-dollar company, PM Search Partners, a boutique personnel agency specializing in placing high-level executives and board members, almost a decade ago, at age 26. Today, under the banner of New Avenue Capital, he helms a three-pronged venture: in addition to C-suite recruitment, he provides funding and debt investment to promising new ventures, while also seeking compa- nies that might benefit from impact investing—mainly startups that marry business ideas with a social payout. Padda's portfolio contains a smorgasbord of causes: from ChopValue Manufacturing, a Vancouver- headquartered company that recycles chopsticks into furniture and interior finishings, to Ensibuuko, a Uganda-based outfit that "provides cloud-based micro- finance software for community-level financial enti- ties in Africa," according to its website. With his social impact investments, the upshot is significant: Padda plows 25 percent of his profits back into other projects that are intended to create positive change. "I'm long on people," he says. He's not doing it alone. Padda has worked with every- one from the B.C. Social Venture Partners Foundation, DOUBLE DUTY Marcia Nozick pursues social and economic goals with EMBERS CAUSE CÉLÈBRE Jacqui Cohen (top) and Joseph and Rosalie Segal are among the province's highest-profile philanthropists

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of BCBusiness - February 2019 – Is B.C. Losing Its Edge?