bcbusiness.cA 42 BCBusiness April 2014
communities. By his own account, his
donations to the Food Bank are well
into six fi gures and he is a diamond
sponsor at Covenant House. He points
to his own experience as a child in
explaining his commitment to these
charities: coming to Vancouver from
Bosnia when he was nine, his fam-
ily had to rely on the Food Bank and
a handful of similar programs. "If
someone is hungry, if they can't get
a proper meal, it doesn't really mat-
ter if you have a shelter," he explains.
"It's a diff erent kind of suff ering. It's a
basic need."
It was Tesovic's former business
partner, Alan Juristovski, who passed
away last year, who introduced him
to Covenant House, which offers
guidance and services to homeless
teens. "He made me realize how
unfortunate some of these kids are,
the backgrounds that they come from
and the poor circumstances that led
them to be where they are today,"
Tesovic explains. "Young women
especially, at an age where if they're
really strapped for money and they're
down on their luck, a lot of poor deci-
sions can be made."
He suggests that giving back to the
community adds an essential dimen-
sion to entrepreneurship, beyond sim-
ply hoping they develop the next killer
app. "As you learn more about chari-
ties, you get a feeling for which ones
connect with you, and you're going to
go out of your way to help them. You're
doing the right thing, and it's going to
ground you." —D.J.
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