Our Charter 

Vision 

Make sustainability easy, time effective and inexpensive for Ottawa Small Businesses. 

Mission 

To have 50% of Ottawa area small businesses as members on a sustainable journey by 2030, by using our easy self assessment, interactive workshops, co-creative community engagements and online tools, that aims to balance People, Planet and Profit.

Values 

Foster a local living economy.

Turn talk into actionable steps.

Systems thinking with reciprocity in mind.

A sense of accountability and transparency.

Support and give back to our local community.

Connected with our small business community.

Foster a sense of belonging among SEa members.

Shared and interactive learning with tangible outcomes.  

Create relationships within local sustainable supply chains.

What is good for business should also be good for the environment.

 Framework  (Tim  community framework )

SEa operates a facilitator between business and partners and  by using our easy self assessment, interactive workshops, co creative community engagements and online tools, that aims to balance People, Planet and Profit.

The  interactive co creative workshops and knowledge-sharing forums are the basis of our “Local Living Economy Framework.” The framework is an approach to economic development that focuses on local business-to-business and stresses the necessity of coherent processes specific for Ottawa small businesses. 

SEa supports small businesses under 50 employees that are independent, primarily locally-owned, with relatively small purchasing power that are interested in growing the balance of sustainable profitability while valuing the unique needs and interests of our local community and stakeholders. 

Local businesses have a deep impact and consideration of their community and work with the natural environment and its “Local Living Economy”  and their community partners to yield a living wage.

A “Local Living Economy” is grounded in collaboration, production and exchange of goods and services between small businesses that enable a purchasing power that is maintained at the local level as much as possible. 

Local living economies are also rooted in smaller, more accountable local businesses instead of transnational conglomerates and superstores. Locally owned, independent businesses enable communities to prosper through higher economic multipliers, greater self-reliance, and stronger labor, ecological, and social standards” (oxfordreference.com)

SEa operates using the mindset of  coordinated marketing campaigns of the triple-bottom line, with our Self audit,  Interactive Facilitation processes and Sector based “Greening”  to help develop an action plan to  move forward knowledge and space sharing and best practices within our Local Living Economy.

The SEa framework, which is an easy and doable approach to economic development that focuses on  local B2B businesses. SEa stresses the necessity of a coherent working framework for Ottawa small businesses, while challenging the traditional top-down nature of large corporations . 

 A Local Living Economy is grounded in collaboration and the production and exchange of goods and services between its close and local businesses thus enabling economic power to be maintained at the local level and if not possible to support fair trade.

SEa supports businesses that are independent, primarily locally-owned, with purchasing power and are interested in the balance of sustainable profitability while valuing the unique needs and interests of the local community and stakeholders. Small  businesses have a deep impact and consideration of their community. They are the change-makers in natural environmental programs and initiatives, while also being activists with community partners to yield a living wage. 

Measures of Success  

Sustainable Enterprise Alliance (SEa) measures success by the following criteria:

• Membership enrollments

• Members sharing their success and testimonials using Sustainable Business Practices. 

• Members participating in meet ups and workshops . 

• Growth of knowledge-based resources. (available on SEa web site)

• Positive media exposure and increased community awareness.

Membership Criteria 

The following are the criteria and responsibilities of membership with SEa :

• Locally owned and/or small businesses , 1-50 employees. 

• 51% ownership of a business located within Ottawa.

• Makes independent purchasing decisions of  products and services. 

• Promotion of social, environmental, and economic sustainability and/or corporate social responsibility in its goods, services and/or operations and an actionable pledge toward sustainability.

• Agree and abide by SEa's vision and mission and is willing to collaborate with other SEa members to reach goals and objectives. 

Membership Fee/ Subscription

A monthly or annual membership or subscription fee may be used as dictated by the Board. Some member rates may include discounts or services for members or partners.

To be considered a member in good standing, the member will have no outstanding accounts for membership fees or event tickets.

All Members will be identified on the website. 

A list of benefits from the membership will be listed on the website.

Note: All first-year active members in good standing (i.e. fees paid prior to May 31, 2011) are considered Founding Members and will be identified as such.

The annual fee may be waived in lieu of volunteering as a lead on one or more working groups or in kind exchange.  Determined by Board vote.

The list of members' costs and benefits that may change from time to time and be determined by the board quorum vote. 

SEa Organizational Structure  

The organizational structure consists of four (4) types of groups:

1. Board of Directors

2. General Manager or Executive Director  (employees)

3. Volunteer Working Groups

4. Partners or Sponsors 

Board of Directors 

The Board consists of the following positions

Chairperson 

Vice chairperson 

Treasurer

Secretary

Board member  (Mix of Business owners, Non business owners, Consultants ect...)

Volunteers Working Groups: 

Volunteers

SEa recognizes the valuable contributions of volunteers to any organizations. An Individual who wishes to support and further the interests of SEA and who is not affiliated with a member business; Examples: students, family members, community leaders, media personalities. All volunteers will be listed on our webpage by year of their engagement.

To make the task easier the volunteers will be connected to a Working group and they are responsible for delivering to the membership of SEa a program or working examples consistent with SEA’s Sustainable Business practices and objectives. They can also help maintain ongoing interaction with SEA members to identify the causes, ideas and policies that members wish to actively support; identify the most effective avenues to promote SEA’s identified causes, ideas and policies and ensure feedback from the membership on various SEa activities.

The volunteer working groups and each having a director are as follows:

1. Membership (linked to business sectors) 

2. Marketing

3. Fundraising 

4. Social media 

5. Webmaster 

6. Events 

7. Education

8. Business development 

9. Outreach 

*Working groups may be added or removed as needed.  

Each working group will be asked to: 

Assign a leader per working group who will coordinate the work of the group and ensure communication with the Sustainability Coordinator as a conduit for information from the Board to the working group and vice versa.

Coordinate and hold meetings to support their objectives and meet their deliverables

Electronically submit an activity report, using a standardized forms on a monthly or quarterly Working Group Report, to the Secretary and Executive Director  a minimum of one week in advance of the monthly or quarterly board meeting. 

*Minutes of all Board meetings will be made available upon request.  

Decision Making and Voting Process 

Each individual working group is empowered to make decisions on behalf of SEa but each decision must be approved by the Board at 51%. 

Decisions with respect to the administrative aspects of the organization including delegating responsibilities, requesting financial transactions should be passed by a majority of the board members.  Decisions on changes to the direction of SEa, new initiatives or aspects that need support from the members will need to be presented at the Annual General Meeting. Quorum during an annual meeting will be 50% of the voting members.  Documentation of all motions must be present in electronic or paper minutes.  

Code of Conduct & Ethics 

As members of the greater Ottawa community, SEa staff and members, Board members, interns and volunteers are expected to conduct themselves in a responsible and professional manner. A high moral sense should guide behaviors. As business people, it is expected that operations be conducted with honesty and transparently. The following describe our ethical codes that are a guide for any activity conducted by the aforementioned individuals:

1. We are Inclusive.

We welcome and support people of all backgrounds and identities. This includes, but is not limited to, members of any sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, social and economic class, education level, color, immigration, status, sex, age, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and physical ability.

2. We are Professional.

All individuals (as mentioned above) are required to show integrity and professionalism in the workplace. SEa is committed to promoting safe spaces so that employees, contributors and members are free to express themselves and have lines of open communication. SEA is committed to fostering a well-organized, respectful and collaborative environment. Everyone at SEa must avoid offending, participating in serious disputes and disrupting professionality.

3. We are Respectful.

SEa will not allow any kind of discrimination behavior, harassment or victimization. This includes, but is not limited to: threats of violence, discriminatory jokes and language, sharing sexually explicit or violent material via SEa website or workplace environment, personal insults, especially those using racist, sexist or homophobic terms, unwelcome sexual attention, advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.

4. We Comply with the Law.

SEa is committed to promoting compliance with environmental safety, as well as ethical and responsible dealing with finances, products/services, partnerships and public image. SEa expects lawful dealing with finances, products/services, partnerships and public image. SEa expects all individuals (as mentioned above) to act legally, ethically and responsible when dealing with company information.

Conflict Resolution 

In the event of questionable conduct being raised regarding a member of SEa, a written letter should be sent to SEa to the attention of the Secretary or to one of the other Executive members with a complete and clear description of the concern. A private process will be conducted swiftly to ensure fairness and protection to all parties.

Privacy Policy 

To be defined XXXX

It is not expected to publish SEA members’ lists to outside interests without the written approval of the individual member or one of the Executive committee.

Finances 

Banking 

The Sustainable Enterprise Alliance will maintain a current account at Alterna Bank located at Bells Corners, 90K Robertson Road, Nepean ON K2H 5Z1.

All funds received by SEa will be deposited in the bank account and all disbursement of funds will be by cheque or E-transfer.

Two signatures, those of the Secretary/Coordinator and Treasurer, is required on all cheques or E-transfers.

PayPal Account 

SEA will maintain a PayPal account in order to facilitate the online payment of member fees, event tickets, etc.

The Treasurer will monitor the balance in the PayPal account and will electronically transfer funds to the Alterna Bank current account, as necessary.

Accounting 

The Treasurer will produce monthly financial statements for presentation at the Board meeting

The Treasurer, in consultation with the Board and working groups will prepare an annual operating budget for the fiscal year June 1st through May 31st, each year.  The budget will be presented for final approval of the Board at the annual general meeting. 

Dissolution 

In the event of the dissolution of the Sustainable Enterprise Alliance, all funds on hand will be disbursed in equal measure to all members in good standing within 60 days of the date of dissolution.

The Board must vote unanimously to dissolve the SEA for the association to cease operations.

Communications 

SEa will use the Google Suites as its main communication platform and other social media.  All relevant information will be available on the organizations website, including events, meetings and resources.

An annual general meeting (AGM) will take place on a yearly basis.  Members will be notified of the AGM at least 4 weeks in advance.  In addition to the AGM, the Executive Board will meet on a monthly basis.  SEa will also encourage regular meet-ups or working group gatherings as needed.

All official meeting notes (AGM and Executive Board Meetings) including a summary of discussion and decisions will be available to all members.