About Us
Shorefast is a Canadian registered charity established in 2004 by Zita Cobb and two of her siblings, Alan and Anthony Cobb, from Fogo Island, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada.
Since the beginning, the charity’s goal has been to build economic and cultural resilience on Fogo Island, a 400 year-old outport fishing community critically impacted by the decline of the cod fishery and the related moratorium established in 1992.
Today, Shorefast’s activities include a holistic set of initiatives and businesses based on Fogo Island that hold relevance to community economic development. Its practices are aimed at unleashing the power of place and building new models of place-based economic development.
With an enduring commitment to Fogo Island, Shorefast is now expanding its work by collaborating with other communities, big and small, to share insights and practices that demonstrate that local communities can thrive in a global economy.
We start with place.
We lead with questions.
We embrace the tangle of holism.
We practice a posture of hospitality.
We see art as essential.
We bring an entrepreneurial mindset.
Our Model
Shorefast’s innovative model for community economic development has been featured in case studies and academic publications by Harvard Business School, Michigan State University, Memorial University and more.
Our Team
Meet the individuals that make up the team at Shorefast and its related community business entities.
As a girl, she was afraid the island would sink. A childish worry, a fairytale dread. But she’d seen how the ocean sometimes slipped its leash. Storm surges lifted fishing rooms off their foundations and set them adrift in the harbour. She couldn’t help thinking the sea might some day rise high enough to swallow Joe Batt’s Arm. That the island might take on water like a punky ship and go under.
— Newfoundland author Michael Crummey from the script of Far Away From Far Away
Fogo Island
Set on the eastern edge of the north Atlantic Ocean, Fogo Island is the largest of Newfoundland’s offshore islands. Home to a distinct history and culture, an ever-evolving economy, and a thriving local arts community, the island is an increasingly desirable destination for visitors and new residents.