Zebras Unite: Kelowna Chapter

We believe everyone has an equal right to imagine and create the future.

This future requires new alternatives to old narratives which assert start-ups, investors, and change-makers must behave in certain ways to succeed.

Zebras Unite catalyzes resources within our respective communities, convenes inclusive capital funding, and supports a diverse culture for the people building businesses that are better for the world.

Our chapter is radically inclusive, welcoming international, intersectional, and interdependent humans of the social venture ecosystem. We invite investors, community thought leaders, and change-makers of all different stripes to connect with others throughout the Okanagan Valley and beyond.

We’ve seen Zebras and their allies co-create new business narratives that involve statistically less risk and much higher returns on investment. Some businesses have already begun to exit to the community.

Zebras of different stripes may continue for years with multi-generational enterprises. Others may inspire new innovations accessible to all with equitable and just wealth-building opportunities shared with #radicalgenerosity with and for everyone involved.

Here are the ways that Zebras show up in the world; perhaps you might see yourself described here.

• Zebras are co-creating a grassroots movement made up of founders, funders, and friends. We align together around shared goals. All of us co-create a new future to redefine community wealth, where prosperity is shared equitably, and sustainable businesses support sustainable lives that heal the planet and its inhabitants.

• Zebras are part of the global movement to co-develop a new set of business metrics - where health and the wellbeing of our communities, our people, and our shared planet get measured first.

• Zebras believe business can be a phenomenal force for good yet still provide ample resources to ensure our youth and our elders thrive in neighborhoods where all genders and abilities flourish equally.

• We stand out but do not stand alone. We work together. We stand amidst each other in vast multitudes of other zebras gathered in herds known as a “dazzle”. We are communal creatures of a different stripe and we are proud to draw attention to good ideas that come packaged as market innovations.

• We are dedicated to helping each other succeed and contribute to building a start-up ecosphere full of purpose, kindness, and cooperation. We live in networks of support and collaboration.

• As Zebra investors we are looking to transition the often impatient, capital-driven startup culture towards a sustainable, patient culture of long-term healthy regenerative systems - balanced with planting, tending, cross-pollination, growth, and cycles of rest.

• We focus together on supporting the international co-op movement(s) with a more resilient mentality, fostering the mindset to bring us all forward into designing future-proof businesses.

• We recognize that all Indigenous Peoples have long-established histories of trade and have sustainably managed productive economies long before white settlers arrived. Here in the Okanagan Valley we respectfully acknowledge there is much to learn from the syilx and Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc.

• We are committed to listening deeply and learning continuously about Indigenous ways of knowing and measuring both success and community impact. As caretakers of this Valley, these Nations continue to model that wealth is best measured by the abundance that is shared rather than what is hoarded. So, we gather together as a community to learn from each other, exchange knowledge, and generously support each other as we recover from COVID 19 and from the environmental devastation past choices have brought.

• As part of the global Zebra movement, we draw inspiration from the many immigrants who continually bring innovative ideas and diverse perspectives with them into the Okanagan Valley.

• At Zebras Unite, we strive to emphasize the necessity of mutual aid and the introduction of wide-spread cultures of care into our business environment. Are you looking for like-minded people, founders, wanna-be founders, and others who would just like to see a change? We are here to help you achieve this goal; because, it is our goal too.

From Kelowna to the World …

• Join our online communities to connect with others

  • Follow our Linkedin page.

  • Join us for a Crowdcast event.

  • Join us on Twitter.

    
    
    

Do you feel drawn to learn more? We regularly convene Zebras of all stripes to enrich the entrepreneurial environment here in the Okanagan Valley and beyond. Join us for a virtual coffee to meet one of our Founding Members or meet n greet our Managing Director, Mara Zepeda, every other week.

For partnerships and co-creative opportunities:

email: [email protected]

Recent Zebra Dazzles:

• By the Fireside with Author & Futurist, April Rinne. 

April Rinne is a “change navigator,” speaker, investor, and adventurer whose work and travels in more than 100 countries have given her a front-row seat to a world in flux. She is ranked one of the 50 leading female futurists in the world by Forbes and is a Harvard Law School graduate, a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum, a Fulbright Scholar, and the author of Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change. April is a trusted advisor to well-known startups, companies, financial institutions, nonprofits, think tanks, and governments worldwide, ranging from Singapore to South Africa, Canada to Colombia, and Italy to India. Earlier in life she was a global development executive, an international microfinance lawyer, and a hiking guide.

• The 7th Multi-Stakeholder UN Forum on Science Technology and Innovation Summit Side Panel Hosting:

  The role women-led global co-op networks perform in addressing gender equality amid COVID-19 and beyond

• Local Zebra Spotted Out in the Wild:

Zebras Unite Co-op Member, Entrepreneur, & Author

Madeleine Shaw, The Greater Good

The Greater Good is an inspiring, practical, and deeply personal look at a growing movement of non-traditional entrepreneurs whose ventures are focused on creating social and environmental change.

Interesting Resources for local Zebras

• Learn about Indigenomics from the Indigenomics Institute

• Working in Green Spaces? Communication resources found at Future Ground Network

• Partner with Us or with Other Zebras!

• Connect with other zebras in the wild in our community Zebras Mighty Network space.

• Investing in Zebras

• Exit to Community, explained. Consider your options!

Founding Member & Chapter Co-Lead

Chapter Co-Lead

Co-op Curious? Want to join our movement? Email: [email protected] and you’ll be automatically invited to an Information Session during our next

Membership Enrollment opens in September 2022.