Thrive Whakapuāwai Expo 22

When: 17th - 30th June 2022

Theme: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IN REGIONAL ECONOMIES

Where: Online - delivered by podcasts and live Q&A zoom sessions

Website: thriveexpo2022.rsvpify.com

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYOKwr57h8JdmoKmLdhjF0g

(See the website for speaker profiles)

After a hiatus of four years, resulting from the global pandemic, Thrive Whanganui is back with their expo that celebrates the social enterprise sector in New Zealand. This year, to mitigate ongoing Covid 19 restrictions and responsibilities, Thrive Whanganui has moved their expo online. Digital by design the expo has been thoughtfully curated to bring participants an insightful array of podcasts and short Q&A sessions via Zoom. “At Thrive Whanganui we felt it was more important than ever to continue conversations about the role of social enterprise in Aotearoa’s economic growth and resilience.” says Elise Goodge, event producer and Acting Programme Director for Thrive. “However, after two years of connecting via screens we were conscious that people have screen fatigue so we came up with our own format.” she continues. When participants register for the Thrive Expo they will receive exclusive access to a series of curated podcasts with some of Aotearoa’s leading social entrepreneurs and change makers. The podcast series will be followed by a week of Zoom Q&A sessions with the guest speakers so participants can delve deeper into their podcast content.

The Covid-19 global pandemic has created an inconsistent mix of economic growth and decline dependent on industry and demand. Regional economies, which traditionally have trended more toward sectoral clustering, are at a greater risk of negative impacts and decline in the face of this global crisis. The resilience of diverse economies, and the urgent need for many of New Zealand's regional economies to look toward diversification, is the primary inspiration for the Thrive Expo 2022 kaupapa, exploring the role of social enterprise in regional economies.

Guest speakers at the expo include Glen Herud of Happy Cow Milk fame, a company focused on creating a model for a kinder, fairer and greener dairy industry. Katie Brown of Brown & Co, an internationally renowned glass artist using her art to make positive impacts in her community. Thrive have also secured Manu Caddie and Panapa Ehau from Rua Bioscience, a Maori-born biotech businesses Rua Bioscience is the only medicinal cannabis manufacturer in New Zealand with an explicit social mission to benefit its founding community in Te Tairāwhiti. Social impact and technology entrepreneur Kay Maree-Dunn will speak to the role of indigenous social entrepreneurs. Clementine Baker, from the Ākina Foundation, and Krystyna Frampton from 100% Sweet will discuss how we measure the impacts social enterprises are having in our communities. These inspirational speakers along with others have been busy recording podcasts in their respective regions to populate the expo with stimulating content and hopefully prompt further conversations throughout the Q&A sessions.

The Thrive Expo 22 begins on Friday 17 June. Participants can register today via the Thrive Expo 22 website, https://thriveexpo2022.rsvpify.com/. The price is just $45 and includes exclusive access to curated podcasts and the programme of zoom Q&A sessions.

The Thrive Expo 22 is proudly sponsored by Whanganui & Partners, Flaxroots and the Ākina Foundation.

Thrive expo 22 whakatauki

Ngā manga iti, ngā manga nui e honohono kau ana, ka tupu hei Awa Tupua. Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au. The small and large streams flow into one another and form one River. I am the river and the river is me.

About Thrive:

Thrive Whanganui provides kaupapa-driven enterprise capability building services to help great ideas take-off, grow and scale. The team offers wrap around services to help those who want to achieve good in the world make a real difference through business.

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