Innovation

Shared Value Solutions is a environmental consulting firm that aims to assist Indigenous communities around Canada with their strategic business operations. They assist with major projects such as highway expansions, hydroelectric facilities, mining, transmission lines, oil and gas pipelines, and nuclear power through regulatory advice and negotiation. They provide assistance to companies whose main purpose and ideologies reflect their own sustainability and responsibility towards the environment, all while understanding the importance of creating shared value through their business operations with the community. The value proposition of Shared Value Solutions is significant, as it states: “Sharing our skills and building capacity is a goal we have for every project. We’re okay with working ourselves out of a job if it means your community is reaching its full potential.”

Realizing the potential for positive change and impact on the environment through the engagement and involvement of indigenous communities, Scott Mackay, the CEO and CFO, established Shared Value Solutions along with four others. Together, they created this human environmental consulting firm as they saw a need to serve Indigenous communities and private sector clients with their projects. Scott has had an extensive career that has seen a diverse commitment to various jobs that include working for federal and provincial government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and a few others that all relate to environmental and professional planning. Most recently, he works in the Department of Geography at the University of Guelph teaching Environmental Impact Assessment, which allows him to educate like minded students. Additionally, with his four managing partners Nicole Fraser MacDonald, Don Richardson, Laura Taylor, and Jeremy Shute, they aim to encourage recent graduate students to join their team to help make a difference within the environmental community. This commitment will provide students with the opportunity to “continuously build their capacity to be able to lead their communities and take part in nation-building in the future” (SharedValueSolutions, 2018); a significant aspect to their growing innovation.

The sole reason behind Shared Value Solutions existence is commitment to a commonality between every individual in regards to reaching their full potential, sustaining their rights, and sharing prosperity. In acknowledgment to the basis that everything starts and finishes with land and water, the workforce at Shared Value Solutions strives to collaborate with visionary leaders and communities in order to fulfill those commitments. A representative from the business stated, “We here at Shared Value Solutions have a sustainable and ethical purchasing policy that instructs us to purchase food and office supplies within a 100km radius of our business. We also like to go one step further and make sure that the businesses we are purchasing from also have a sustainability policy in place as well.” This policy reflects the firm's mission to remain sustainable and act responsibly towards their common goal of attaining a collective consensus between communities and their responsibilities.

Inspiration

Shared Value solutions was founded in 2012 by Nicole, Scott, Don, Laura, and Jeremy, who are all currently the managing partners of the firm. It began when these individuals came together with a common goal of addressing the need for a platform where individuals from minority communities around Canada are given the opportunity to reach their full abilities and create change. With the concept of fostering a community focused on collaboration, friendship, and respect, the idea of removing roadblocks to prosperity and helping individuals to attain their full potential quickly became a priority. With this proposition in mind, the members of Shared Value Solutions decided to move forward with their initiative and focus on creating opportunities for members of Indigenous communities through their internship program while offering their support to industries in their local community.

Overall impact

The Innovation of Shared Value Solutions has had an immense impact on the different communities that reach out to them. They have an 8-month program that allows for youth from any indigenous community around Canada to attain an internship in Guelph. They work with Shared Value Solutions “for 5 months of their internship and build skills, network with clients and do field work” (SharedValueSolutions, 2018). After they have spent their 5 months working with the team over at Shared Value Solutions, they take what they have learned from their own experiences and work in their host communities. Shared Value Solutions tries to create more diversity and equality in the field of environmental sustainability. The environmental field is dominated by non-minorities and with this program they hope to allow for minorities to advocate for themselves and to have the extensive knowledge to do so. Allanah, the intern program manager, had stated that “85% of their work is done with minorities and it does not make sense to do work with them without employing them ourselves.” This program is implemented in hopes that they will be able to receive a job that will help them understand how to help their own community.

Through the innovation work that Shared Value Solutions achieves they are contributing towards being a remarkable environmental sustainable company. Through the 8-month internship program that they run, they are teaching people and communities how to carry out their lives in the most sustainable way possible. They go into communities and implement “in-depth community research to gather and report baseline information of the community’s environmental position” (SharedValueSolutions, 2018). They also use Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and data they have collected to help understand the situation better. Therefore, with the help of the community, they then can identify what was most important to the people and what they wanted to be done. For example, in Aroland First Nation (Eagle’s Nest) throughout their research and the help of one of the interns they had found a way to have “underground tailings storage and recycling 100% of its process plant water” (SharedValueSolutions, 2018). This is considered a big step as they are one of the first of its kind. They also do work in areas where species endangerment is a large issue. With situations such as this, they train members of the community along with the intern and have them help resolve this issue themselves. In order to work towards solving the problem they must monitor and protect the areas affected and identify any threats towards the area (SharedValueSolutions, 2018).

It is clear Shared Value Solutions has had a large underlying impact on environmental sustainability in communities all throughout Canada. Not only is there evidence of an environmental impact, but an economic impact as well. Shared Value Solutions has successfully created multiple employment opportunities in minority communities, as well for students, encouraging the younger generation to make a change. Shared Value Solutions has been working towards bringing communities and organizations together to work with each other and solve pending issues.

Business benefit

Shared Value Solutions has created excellent value economically with their business. They have been acknowledged worldwide for the inspiring and noble work that they have completed. The organization has accumulated a number of prestigious awards such as: 2017 award for Best for World Changemaker - top 10% Globally of Certified B Corporations on the B Impact Assessment, a rigorous and comprehensive assessment of a company’s impact on its workers, community, and the environment 2016 Green Business Award – Downtown Guelph Business Association. With such impressive accomplishments there are hopes that other businesses take note of the environmental sustainability that Share Value Solutions has obtained. As a result, Shared Value Solutions will continue to grow and become more successful, which will lead to greater outcomes for the company from here on out.

Social and environmental benefit

Shared Value Solutions innovations provides a great benefit for the environment and society. This benefit mainly takes places in the form of their Indigenous Internship program and their 100km ethical purchasing range. The Internship program that has been implemented creates more diversity within the environmental sustainability/management field. Having this diversity present is very beneficial as having the traditional knowledge of the Indigenous peoples allows for a better understanding of their treaties and land rights, which allows the Indigenous people who are truly affected by these outcomes to have the opportunity to speak for themselves. From the environmental aspect the 100km purchasing range guarantees that purchased products are supporting local business and are traveling the least amount of distance possible. This reduces the overall carbon footprint the business makes allowing for a cleaner system.

Interview

Allanah Perissinotto, Office & Intern-program Manager