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Message from Zita Cobb
After 20 years of building an engine of economic development on Fogo Island, Shorefast has embarked on an ambitious mission to broaden the reach of our community economies work; to bring knowledge, tools, and networks to more people in more places. We’re converting our practice into knowledge that can be harnessed and deployed by other economic actors: enterprising communities, businesses, and governments.
The Shorefast Network for Place-Based Economies will build, learn, and share economic development practices that activate the assets of local places, enabling prosperous economies that serve people, nature, and culture.
Strong communities are natural ecosystems of innovation. By strengthening the capacities of communities to identify, harness, and amplify their specific assets, we can help enable economic agency and prosperity for places big and small.
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What is Holistic Economic Development?
Driven by data and leading with an entrepreneurial, integrated, cross-sectoral approach, holistic development leverages global pools of financial capital to create and sustain community-based economic momentum.
Collaborative
Integrates efforts across business, government, and community sectors in pursuit of resilience.
Place-specific
Roots development in local strengths by putting place at the centre of development approaches to harness, amplify, and activate local assets.
Future-Minded
Seeks innovative outcomes that are sustainable, scalable, adaptive, and equitable.
What Will the Shorefast Network Include?
Digital platforms that facilitate practitioner networking, share curriculum, and host a library of resources.
Community economies business hub on Fogo Island that acts as a centre for Shorefast’s ongoing work and supports local entrepreneurs.
Tools to support local economies and community finance models.
Opportunities for practitioners to connect and convene (both physically and virtually), residences, research, and consulting services.
“That which is possible in practice is possible in theory”
-Elinor Ostrom, Nobel Prize winner, Economic Sciences
How to Strengthen Community Economies
The Shorefast Network is the next generation of the Community Economies Pilot, a pan-Canadian project where Shorefast engaged seventeen organizations across five enterprising partner communities spanning community development, philanthropic, financial, and public sectors. The pilot was designed to answer the question, “How do we strengthen community economies?”
The pilot identified four levers for change: attract and retain financial capital, access and leverage data, strengthen and support local capacity, and create architectures for collaboration.
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The Shorefast Network programming, events, and toolsets are designed around these four levers to amplify and activate economies in service of place.
The Network Connects and Serves
Communities
Entrepreneurs
Economic Development Professionals
Policy Makers
Academics
Non-Profits
Businesses
Thought Leaders
Projects & Toolsets
Current projects and toolsets delivered through The Shorefast Network:
Stay informed on upcoming projects, toolsets, and ways to be involved!
Network Reports & Resources
The Shorefast Network is collaborating with organizations and educational institutions to develop resources and curriculum on place-based economic development.
While we work on building a dedicated platform, we invite you to review our latest reports, research collaborations, and features:
Foundational Thinkers
Our approach to place-based economic development takes influence from multiple perspectives. Here are some of the thinkers whose work we have benefitted from.
The Shorefast Network Team + Fellows
Founder and CEO
Zita Cobb
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Growing up on Fogo Island, Zita developed a deep belief in the inherent value of place and profound respect for the human ways of knowing that emerge from respectful relationships with nature, culture, and community. She held senior financial roles in the high-tech industry, notably with JDS Fitel, subsequently JDS Uniphase, where she contributed to building the company into one of the most successful high-tech innovators in history. Zita returned home to Fogo Island in the early 2000’s and, along with her brothers Anthony and Alan, founded Shorefast. In 2016, Zita was awarded the Order of Canada. She volunteers her time and energies to the active direction and management of Shorefast and our projects on Fogo Island.
Executive Vice President
Susan Cull
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Susan is Executive Vice President of Shorefast, a community economic development organization based on Fogo Island, NL. Susan has over 15 years experience working in community development, having previously worked with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador on social and economic community data development projects, and after a move back home to Fogo Island, as the Chief Administrative Officer with the municipality before joining Shorefast in 2017. At Shorefast, Susan’s role encompasses many facets of the organization so no two days are alike, which is just fine with her – her favourite part of community economic development is ‘everything’: the innovation and collaboration it takes to get projects off the ground makes for exciting, challenging, and deeply meaningful work.
Senior Fellow
Mary Rowe
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Mary W. Rowe is President and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI). For over 30 years, Mary has acted as an impassioned civic leader and a leading urban advocate championing place-based approaches to building livable and resilient cities.
Living in Canada and the United States, Mary has supported policy transformation efforts and has led local, national and international urban initiatives such as the self-organizing initiatives that emerged in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, the initial development of Imagining the Civic Commons in key cities across North America, and the engagement components of HUD-supported Rebuild by Design that informed the creation the 100 Resilient Cities program of the Rockefeller Foundation. She is also Senior Fellow with Shorefast and is a contributor to national and international city-building programs such as UN Habitat, Ottawa City Building Summit, Livable Cities Forum, Mansueto Institute Summit, the Art of City Building, and the inaugural meeting of the G7 Urban Development Ministers in Potsdam, Germany. Under Mary’s leadership, CUI has expanded its work to include an international network from government, industry, community and city-building professions to advance research and collaborate on solutions to some of our greatest urban challenges.
Executive Vice President
Diane Hodgins
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Diane Hodgins is Executive Vice President of Shorefast where she focuses on economic development practices that catalyze the assets of local places. She serves as a “numeric linguist”: a translator for the complex and often ambiguous language of business and finance, building tools like Economic NutritionCM which answers the all-important question: “Where does the money go?” Using a whole-thinking approach that puts people and place at the centre of decisions, she and her team create systems that invest in nature and culture creating social and economic value in tandem.
Financial Innovation Lead
Gwen Patrick
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Gwen Patrick is the Financial Innovation Lead of the Shorefast Network. In her role, Gwen leads the execution of Network programming and toolset development in the areas of finance and accounting. Her childhood on Salt Spring Island invoked a passion for maintaining the uniqueness of a place while adapting to the global economic landscape. Gwen founded the Foundation of Youth, a youth advisory committee of the Salt Spring Island Foundation. Her work in the philanthropic sector identified a need for accessible financial literacy, prompting her to obtain a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University. While at Queen’s, Gwen was awarded the Kehoe Fellowship and completed the Kehoe Internship with Shorefast on Fogo Island. After her internship, Gwen obtained her CPA designation and worked as a financial statement auditor at Deloitte before returning to Shorefast.