Before the Comm 101 class on non-profit organizations and social enterprise we were suppose to come to class with one social entrepreneur and one social enterprise. Naturally my first thought was the non for profit organization that I had a long history with, the Red Cross. Since I was a child I had grown up learning to swim under the Red Cross swim program. Later in life I began taking courses from Red Cross in swimming instructing and first aid and eventually began teaching the Red Cross methods as a swimming instructor.
The Red Cross is one of the most recognized and respected non-profit organizations in the world. The organization is based on a simple mission “to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity around the world”. The Red Cross accomplishes this in a variety of ways including, disaster management, refugee services, restoring family links, first aid and CPR training, water safety training, violence and abuse prevention and many more. Any money the organization makes is further invested towards helping people in need making it a valuable social enterprise both in Canada and across the globe.