Evergreen: An Interview with Geoff Cape - Recipient of the Schwab Foundation award for Canadian Social Entrepreneur

Interview by Catarina Abreu

On Monday afternoon, I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Geoff Cape who is the executive director of Evergreen. As a recent recipient of the Schwab Foundation award for Canadian social entrepreneur of the year, he has been inspiring social and environmental change through the green design of Canadian urban landscape.

Evergreen originally began as a tree planting company that evolved into a multi-million dollar charity through which various projects are executed. They involve integrating ecology into urban neighborhoods as well food growing programs aimed at enhancing children’s educational experience. Entrepreneurship is no simple feat, and the enthusiastic feedback provided by Mr. Cape proved to be both informative and motivating:


CSEF: How do you define the role of social entrepreneurship, and how do you see yourself fitting into it?

Geoff Cape: I regularly look at the voluntary sector as [helping] societies that are in need by trying to change certain aspects of it on a day to day basis. [As a social entrepreneur] I try to work on problem solving and moving society into a new place. I enjoy starting my own thing and under a format I can help shape. This entrepreneurial approach to problem solving in society is creating a dialogue with community. It’s critical to have this type of process, you can’t just dump solutions onto society, it doesn’t work that way. It requires constant problem solving that requires creativity. It is an artistic experience, and I really enjoy that creative process. It is always the same sort of mind that is required. When you are doing something new and different, it needs that sort of mind set.

CSEF: What led you to your interest in social entrepreneurship and the creation Evergreen?

Geoff Cape: I started Evergreen fresh out of university in 1999. I wasn’t burdened by the thought of building a career and didn’t feel too stressed by that. I have a great appetite for risk, and that might have something to do with growing up with great parents who always encouraged me to take risks. Starting Evergreen, I wouldn’t have guessed it would have become what it did. The world is constantly changing. Being entrepreneurial is about responding to that and constantly evolving your strategies to adapt. It is more of a stylistic thing. This is why I go back to the concept of artistry. It requires a certain type of nimbleness. Usually it plays out during the process.

A social entrepreneur is someone prepared to take a risk and prepared to take steps. Social entrepreneurship is about taking a step in one direction, with a partial vision and a little bit of clarity, taking the first step and then looking around and taking the next step and the next step. I think entrepreneurship works that way. There are few instances where [entrepreneurs] can see the full picture in their head and spend the next twenty years working on that.


CSEF: What are the challenges facing current social entrepreneurs?

Geoff Cape: The biggest one is access to capital to make ideas happen. They tend to be massively under financed. If you look at the private sector, such as a company [that wants to] revamp the way public transportation works, or networking solutions for mobiles phones…they don’t rely on a ten thousand dollar grant from a small foundation to get that going. It takes millions of dollars.

Number two barrier would be assembling the right group of people to help execute an idea. It becomes a challenge in putting together the right team internally and externally. It depends on the social networking abilities of the individual. Also, high quality people working for free are hard to assemble.

I think there is a third one which is maintaining enough fluidity and flexibility in your finances and team to be able to make the constant changes required to keep you heading in the right strategic direction. It is almost about constant reorganization and organization as you refine your idea. Every company does it. No idea is ever linear. You always have to have enough flexibility in your finances and ideas.

CSEF: What advice can you give to current social entrepreneurs in Canada?

Geoff Cape: The idea of patience. It is an important ingredient. Another one is to get really comfortable with talking about your idea, gaining advisors and coaches, and growing your social network. It is inevitably your biggest asset. It will enable flexibility, and they will also be there for you if that network is strong and well managed. Communications [and] selling your idea is [also important]. Not necessarily having a good logo with the right colors but having a way to convey the idea in a creative way, plugging it into the social momentum and not trying to fight it but work with it. Another bit of advice would be to engage your obvious enemy, and what I mean by that is, if you are trying to change something, then working with someone or something you are trying to change is the quickest way.


CSEF: How would you describe the current support systems for social entrepreneurs in Canada, and how do you think they can continue to grow?

Geoff Cape: [It’s] getting better. It’s a concept now that people recognize. There is lots of room to develop it further.

CSEF: I noticed in your 2006 annual report that there is interest from the private sector in your organization. Do you see growth in their partnerships with social entrepreneurs?

Geoff Cape: I think so. Part of it comes from the fact that people on the other side of the fence are simply people with the same challenges we all have. We are working with Toyota, and the folks in Toyota are just as interested in change as we are. They are committed into making this the broader issue, and becoming active in making change. Many corporations are looking to get involved. Continuing the old way is an unrealistic possibility.

CSEF: What are your current projects?

Geoff Cape: Our core program right now is Brickworks, it is heading into construction this summer and fall. We are beginning the fifty five million dollar project to revitalize old industrial buildings and transform them into a natural center for green cities. We are also finishing the fundraising for that project, [to]close the gap financially for it, and getting the construction process going. It feels like we have some momentum, and we feel good about that. We are continuing to advance our projects and opening offices in Calgary and Vancouver.

CSEF: I noticed that your first international project was in Cuba. Do you see potential growth for future international projects?

Geoff Cape: That project has been growing for ten years or 9 years now. It was a big project…with 12 acres [in a municipal part of Havana]. It was a very successful project to bring urban agriculture and ecology into cities such as that, and the community was very easy to work with. If every project would unfold like that, we would be very happy to keep on going with this.

In the 2006 annual report, there was a large emphasis on the Brickworks project, as well as the green design of school grounds. Can you describe these projects in detail, as well as their impact on their respective communities?

The school program is about working with communities across Canada to turn their outdoor landscapes into natural learning environments. It is about us bringing a variety of resources to the community and working with them to make this change. We want to listen to their thoughts and ideas so that they can take ownership and make them. In some respects it has been our flagship program, and one that seems to epitomize the organization. It is about kids, and they will be eventually working in the economy. This can have some big impact.

CSEF: I was intrigued by the quote given about food on your School Food Garden’s pamphlet. The quote is “Learning to make the right choices about food is the single most important key to environmental awareness-for ourselves and our children.” Can you explain what this means, and how it fits into your goals as a social entrepreneur?

Geoff Cape: Food is the sort of thing that brings people together. The idea of breaking bread with people is a larger metaphor of them coming together and discussing ways to solve problems. Food itself is a solution. Addressing the food issue is [more than] an environmental and social issue. It is massively complex medium that involves many issues and we are developing programs that help address this-[for example] nutrition programs and gardening programs. It is a metaphor in its own right and is a gateway to other issues. Working with food is a very rewarding tool to helping social problems. Part of being an entrepreneur is about recognizing the complexity of [food as] an idea and maximizing the artistic and creative outlets it involves.

CSEF: Congratulations on receiving your award from the Schwab foundation. How has it been for you since receiving it? How has the experience been for you?

Geoff Cape: It’s been great, and incredibly exciting. I had the experience of participating in a world economic forum. Ideas moved globally, and seeing how that elite class of decision makers which included financial, political and social entrepreneurs-who were involved in a substantial way-weren’t consumed about making money and wanted [to create] change. The award has a powerful way in advancing the winner by creating networks and opportunities for interactions and partnerships that weren’t there before.

CSEF: As a final part of this interview, I would like to ask you for solutions to posed problems.

Problem 1: How to increase green architectural design in Canada, and poorer countries that are experiencing urban growth.

Solution: I guess the simple bit would be to operate within their culture in a more meaningful way, and not look for solutions elsewhere. Look within communities for solutions, and how they want to grow as a community because it needs to come from within.

Problem 2: How to increase support and domestic growth and distribution of organic foods.

Solution: I think the best way is to try to advance urban agriculture as an idea, and learn about food in a very hands on way. Inevitable, there will come a greater appreciation for it and the idea of what organics and local food is all about.

Problem 3: How to increase support from the for-profit sector for Canadian social entrepreneurs.

Solution: Share in the risk. One point is to recognize that great strides in the private sector were made by taking risks, and they create advances only when they take risks and are supported in the risk taking. This approach needs to be translated to the social entrepreneurial sector by taking risks and leaping into the unproven. The aspect of risk is going to be part of a fundamental change for which we all are looking for.


CSEF: Thank you for your time. It was pleasure speaking with you!

For more information on Evergreen, visit www.evergreen.ca .