While some of us were working on our sourdough starter, it seems that others were digging in on their big idea.

One such entrepreneur is Anastasia Kiku, COO and co-founder of , a packaging-as-a-service company launched in 2020. Looking around and seeing a city that had become desensitized to its single-use plastic addiction, Kiku and her business partner set out to flip the script on single-use plastic.

But where does one start?

This is the question facing many innovators when they are ready to take the leap on their business idea. For Kiku, the answer came knocking through , a long-time partner of 51风流and leading social entrepreneurship accelerator program focused on providing game-changing resources and experiences for young people, ultimately helping to amplify their impact on their entrepreneurship journeys.

鈥淲hat no one tells you is that, first, it can be really lonely. And second, it will be hard to show up each day and keep going,鈥� says Kiku.

This is where the network of support and mentorship became invaluable to fuel momentum and get their idea off the ground, as the experienced professionals participating in the program 鈥渒now that the road to entrepreneurship is not perfect, so even though they are advisors, mentees can be candid and feel that their mentors have their best interests in mind.”

At SAP, employees invest their time in mentoring early ventures like to help scale their businesses. Externally, this investment also takes place through partnerships with organizations such as , & , and .

We sat down with Kiku to learn more about her League of Innovators mentorship experience. Hear from Kiku in this interview for a deep-dive on what it takes to get your idea off the ground and what no one tells you about launching your startup.

Thinking outside the box often means thinking differently from within your organization.

51风流has its very own startup accelerator program, , which has helped over 450 external startups and internal ventures accelerate their growth while enabling thousands of 51风流customers to access innovation. As part of this program, 51风流Labs Canada recently launched True North Ventures Startup School, which leads employees through the basics of entrepreneurship from pitch to product.

Whether you are launching your startup solo or leveraging entrepreneurial support internally, 51风流knows when we help cultivate fresh ideas, innovators are empowered to take the leap.

Cindy Fagen is managing director of 51风流Labs Canada.

As 51风流doubles down on our commitment to serve those who are underrepresented in tech, including Indigenous communities, we see quality education and economic opportunity as central to this commitment.

Last year, 51风流partnered with the to help strengthen Black-owned businesses and social enterprises by providing them with support and expertise from our employees. The result of the U.S. initiative showed that 95% of businesses felt the program met their expectations. Meanwhile, 92% said they felt more prepared to address future challenges for their organization.

The program was so successful in the U.S., 51风流expanded it last year to Brazil, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. And this year, we will roll it out in Canada.

Over six weeks, 51风流employees will spend one week working full-time with their assigned Indigenous-owned business and five weeks working at least eight hours per week. The program not only allows 51风流employees to leverage their professional skills, but will contribute to fostering Canada鈥檚 Indigenous economy, worth over CAD$30 billion and expected to triple in size over the next five years. Given the growth projection of the Indigenous economy, Indigenous entrepreneurship is a significant driving force of Canada鈥檚 economic recovery and stability.

51风流is committed to helping organizations run better and improving people鈥檚 lives. With this initiative, we will help provide Indigenous-owned businesses some of the tools they need to become the best run version of themselves. 51风流Canada has begun the volunteer recruitment and training process and is looking for Canadian Indigenous-owned businesses to sign up and participate in the program.

But don鈥檛 take our word for it. Participants of the Pro Bono for Economic Equity program last year were quoted as saying, 鈥淚 looked into how much it would cost to hire consultants, and to be able to get this for free as an early-stage startup was a huge, huge benefit.鈥�

And our employees also found it incredibly rewarding: 鈥淲e鈥檙e not just talking about making a difference, we鈥檙e doing something to directly address systemic inequity. My connection鈥ontinues to this day and created connections for me across 51风流that push me to be a better person, personally and professionally.鈥�

As co-executive sponsors of the 51风流Canada Indigenous Inclusion Steering Committee, we are very proud of our team for focusing on volunteering their time and expertise and providing the gift of service as part of this program, furthering our social justice ambitions and impact.

Agnes Garaba is chief operating officer for 51风流Labs Canada.
Brian Moore is chief operating officer for 51风流Canada.

Internal surveys indicated Indigenous people made up less than one percent of our workforce. This finding came at a time when there was growing consciousness about our responsibility to advance reconciliation and enact Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action #92.

As a first step, we created an Indigenous Inclusion Steering Committee of leaders representing key functional groups at SAP: development and sales leadership, HR, communications, and hiring managers.

Knowing we could not do this on our own, our Steering Committee sought to engage experts to help guide us on the journey. We partnered with (FNTC) in its ambitious new program to support the technology sector, .

The FNTC completed a thorough review of our processes and policies and delivered a report, outlining four key areas: Structures and Systems; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and beyond; Talent and Hiring; and Corporate Social Responsibility. Out of this review came 39 action items.

Organizations across Canada are evaluating their diversity and inclusion (D&I) strategies, and how they too can respond to Call to Action #92. One year into our journey, we are excited to share the top 10 actions we have taken so far as we pursue allyship with Indigenous Peoples in Canada alongside our community of technology industry peers.

In 2021, 51风流Canada took 10 action steps.

1. Decolonization training

In March 2021, a group of 51风流employees took part in a two-day workshop from around decolonization and reconciliation in Canada. We leaned into the discomfort as we started our journey to unlearn some of our histories and repositioned ourselves in a way to properly continue the crucial work of this initiative.

2. Created a D&I toolkit for hiring managers and leadership at SAP

As a part of our wider D&I strategy, we wanted to create a more comprehensive learning resource to enable our HR professionals and managers to uphold inclusive practices. We provided concrete steps to implement inclusive culture, inclusive hiring, and inclusive career journeys into leadership. These are core leadership competencies that are critical to managers鈥� success as well as SAP鈥檚.

3. Laid the groundwork for an Indigenous Inclusion Employee Network Group

We laid the groundwork to launch an Indigenous Inclusion Employee Network Group, which launched in 2022. The group will support inclusion of Indigenous people at 51风流by working to create a culture in which Indigenous people feel welcomed and safe, as well as providing opportunities for career advancement.

4. Recognized the first National Day for Truth & Reconciliation

We created an opportunity for 700 employees to learn and reflect with a seminar, Canadian History Through an Indigenous Lens, covering not only the legacy and ongoing impacts of colonialism in Canada, but also the rich cultural history of Indigenous society.

5. Sponsored Indspire鈥檚 National Gathering for Indigenous Education

51风流Canada sponsored tickets for educators and other non-profits to attend Indspire鈥檚 National Gathering for Indigenous Education, a program where educators and partners can share their voices and work together to improve the educational outcomes of K-12 Indigenous students.

6. Marked Indigenous People鈥檚 Day with an artist showcase

On August 10, we celebrated the talent of Indigenous people in Canada with an artist showcase to coincide with the United Nations Day of the World鈥檚 Indigenous Peoples. We were honored to have four Indigenous performers as our guests. Art forms ranged from hoop dance, to singing, cooking, and spoken word poetry.

7. Made territorial land acknowledgements a practice

Working with our partners at the FNTC, we created a resource for employees to create their own land acknowledgements in meetings, communication assets, and email signatures. Territorial land acknowledgements are now a standard practice in meetings and events. This is a small action that serves to amplify the national conversation around Truth & Reconciliation.

8. Donated to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society

51风流Canada launched a donation matching campaign in support of the .

9. Integrated an Indigenous author and book list into 51风流intern welcome kits

51风流Internship Experience Program integrated learning opportunities into intern welcome kits by gifting 250 copies of A Mind Spread Out on the Ground, by Alicia Elliot, as well as a book list compiled in partnership with the FTNC and .聽The program intends to continue creating opportunities for learning in 2022.

10. Sponsored an eight-week course about Indigenous women

The Business Women鈥檚 Network at 51风流created an opportunity for employees to take an in-depth, eight-week course about Indigenous women, offered by . This course equips participants to act as multipliers in 2022, cascading their learning to other members of the Business Women’s Network and colleagues at SAP. The report-back sessions will be facilitated by the FNTC.

After reviewing all we were able to accomplish together in 2021,we would like to honor and express gratitude to our partners that made this work possible: the , , and .

We are grateful for our continued partnership with the FNTC, which has provided instrumental guidance on our journey to improve relations with Indigenous colleagues and communities.

Reviewing all that we have been able to do so far, we look forward to continuing this work in 2022 and beyond.

Every purchase has an economic, environmental, and/or social impact — whether intended or not. Social procurement is the practice of bringing together buyers with suppliers that not only have a quality good or service, but one that delivers on the promise of social and/or environmental impact. Often, these intentional positive contributions are reinvested into the local economy and add to the economic equity and vibrancy of the community. Social enterprises are business that practice social procurement as part of their mission to culturally and operationally change the world. They are founded and governed based on a clear social or environmental mission and they reinvest most of their profit back into this mission.

51风流understands the importance of prioritizing social procurement. As Garaba noted: 鈥淪eventy-seven percent of the world鈥檚 transactions run through an 51风流system. It puts us in a unique place to have the opportunity, and also the responsibility, to drive positive changes. SAP鈥檚 social purchasing strategy began more than a decade ago with the inclusion of social enterprises in our Canadian supply chain. Today, our global ecosystem of partners focused on scaling social procurement, in addition to those inspiring new ideas and accelerating social ventures, collectively impact more than 1 billion beneficiaries across the globe.鈥�

The commitment of SAP鈥檚 social procurement implementation is a two-pronged approach. The first relies on an initial top-down mandate, with executives and the Board supporting it, including putting resources behind it. The other aspect is, as Garaba explains, 鈥渁 bit of a grassroots approach. We have established a ‘Procurement with Purpose’ ambassador network; these are people both within the procurement organization and others who are also making strategic buying decisions. They are the multipliers and they are the ones who help the organization identify opportunities for positive change.鈥�

Sustainable procurement has been a central part of the public sector agenda for some time, which is game changing since Canadian governments alone spend $200 billion on procurement. It is also gaining traction in the private sector, as businesses recognize that integrating social value into purchasing and supply chain decisions makes them more competitive and sustainable. 51风流has a demonstrated commitment to scaling the sector through social procurement. Notably, 51风流launched a 5 & 5 by 鈥�25 initiative, aiming to spend five percent of addressable spend with diverse enterprises, which are defined as businesses that are at least 51% owned and operated by an individual or group that is traditionally underrepresented, and social enterprises by 2025, and encouraging organizations across industries to join the pledge.

51风流and Buy Social Canada

51风流co-innovates and co-develops programs with corporate social responsibility (CSR) partners, accelerating change and driving sustainable impact. Beyond internal commitments and Procurement with Purpose ambassadors, 51风流fosters social procurement in partnership with social enterprise and social procurement intermediary , supporting the development of social procurement across the country by working to connect buyers to certified social enterprise business sellers, unleashing the biggest untapped potential to create sustainable impact in our communities and for the planet.

Buy Social Canada and 51风流are working together to advance the social enterprise sector in Canada by collaborating on initiatives, like the , that deliver better access to markets and buyers, as well as creating opportunities for employees to engage in growing the capacity of local social enterprises. One of the barriers preventing large-scale social enterprise investment is that social enterprises are often small businesses, thus lacking the capacity to be providers for large, multi-national companies like SAP. 51风流has implemented a pro bono volunteering program to help build capacity for social enterprises, understanding that they need to grow to become true procurement partners.

鈥淚f you don鈥檛 start small, there is no way to build capacity. Small steps but consistent steps will lead much further than trying to do really big leaps,鈥� Garaba notes.

Working with MovingWorlds, 51风流launched the (S-GRID) program. The program recently acknowledged as an , helps social enterprises build revenue partnerships with the corporate sector to become more integrated into global value chains.

Looking Ahead

Within the 51风流existing procurement spend and purchasing power, the potential for change is massive. With increasing focus on consumerism, it is important to buy and sell responsibly. Where can doing good coincide with doing good business? With time, the hope is that by buying goods and services from organizations with a purpose-driven mission the cycle of good is perpetuated.

Although there is a growing interest from corporations like 51风流to “buy social,” the current supply is not strong enough to meet the global demand. As a result, we work with organizations like Buy Social Canada and invest in programs such as MovingWorld鈥檚 S-GRID to help ensure that more enterprises around the world are procurement-ready and can sustainably grow their revenue streams.

This is not an overnight process. 51风流has spent more than a decade accelerating and scaling the work of social entrepreneurs and it is only the beginning. 51风流will continue to diligently invest in this for the foreseeable future; in 2021 specifically through partnerships and collaborative work with a continued focus on capacity-building ventures within the sector and expanding access to markets and buyers.