OCAD Craft Phases 2 & 3

OCAD Craft Phases 2 & 3

Craft, a new initiative by OCAD University, is an online marketplace where artists and designers can sell their work while developing skills to thrive in a just economy. As a platform cooperative, Craft is modelled as an equitable and democratic business collective that empowers, instead of exploits, creatives. In Phase 2, OCAD engaged 15 students in a 5-module co-design session seeking to determine how a platform like CRAFT might meet early-career artists’ needs. In Phase 3, through April 2023, OCAD is seeking to determine whether and how it will incubate Craft over the course of the next years (incorporation / launch phase) and the timeline to autonomy of the entity.

Platform business model & governance coaching

Platform business model & governance coaching

Launching fall 2022, The Accessibility Exchange SO is a support services organisation that provides robust, personalised assistance to help all TAE platform customers to match, contract and consult seamlessly, modelling the barrier-free Canada we are helping bring into being. Drawing from the co-design process lead by IDRC, I developed the business model plan, fundraising plan and roadmap through year 2. I further coached the founding team on how to approach the ownership and governance of the SO and platform to strike a balance between community control and growth / investment opportunities.

Equity crowdfunding for Co-operatives in Quebec

Equity crowdfunding for Co-operatives in Quebec

Equity crowdfunding is gaining traction amongst cooperative projects that promote social innovation. Have the financial tools of cooperatives evolved sufficiently to meet the needs and aspirations of the community? This analysis synthesizes information on current equity crowdfunding opportunities and barriers in a way that guides managers, directors and the government to make enlightened governance or policy decisions.

Montreal : an Ecosystem for Platform Coops

Montreal : an Ecosystem for Platform Coops

Might Montreal become a prime ecosystem for the development of platform coops? Capitalizing on Montreal’s thriving cooperative and start-up ecosystems, this project aims to bring two sectors operating in parallel to work together to benefit the development of platforms that are truly collaborative and constitute opportunities for the city’s economic activity.

Co-designing a Platform Coop for Arts Data

Co-designing a Platform Coop for Arts Data

In a data driven funding environment, creators must be able to measure their social & cultural impact... alongside their ticket sales. How might a platform equip them to meet these requirements more easily? Which business type best suits creators' current needs, complements the equipment currently at their disposal, and provide the adaptability to ensure it's future proof? The result of this phase : user research and strategic planning that is responsive to the reactions of our various member segments.

INVEST Mongolia - Marketing Co-operative Governance & Start-Up

INVEST Mongolia - Marketing Co-operative Governance & Start-Up

Following a 2-year research and consultation process, MCTIC-affiliated co-operatives constituted a 2nd tier marketing cooperative aiming to prepare and market meat & animal by-products. In support to the eight founding cooperatives and the project team, I am reviewing and providing guidance on the business plan, organizational bylaws and governance structure to facilitate a successful launch and smooth, purpose-driven management of the cooperative.

SMart au Québec

SMart au Québec

Might Quebec’s labor & cooperative ecosystem welcome a co-operative model such as SMart’s to answer self-employed worker’s social benefit and social protection needs? Over 2 months, I lead a high-powered series of consultations, a public awareness campaign, and completed a feasibility study that gauged ecosystem readiness, stakeholder interest and culminated in a day-long co-design session with our most important partners : self-employed people themselves.

Equipping Creators to Measure Their Impact

Equipping Creators to Measure Their Impact

In a data driven funding environment, creators must be able to measure their social & cultural impact... alongside their ticket sales. How might a platform equip them to meet these requirements more easily? Which business type best suits creators' current needs, complements the equipment currently at their disposal, and provide the adaptability to ensure it's future proof? The result : containers that could hold their needs, as a foundation for the next stages of stakeholder mobilisation, design, and development. 

email | BONJOURHI@sgui.co