Samuel L. Duboc Awarded the 2014 'Ted Anderson Community Leadership Award'

OTTAWA, May 22, 2014 /CNW/ - The CVCA - Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, is pleased to announce that Samuel L. Duboc is the recipient of CVCA's 2014 Community Leadership Award, recently renamed the 'Ted Anderson Community Leadership Award'.

The CVCA Community Leadership Award has been renamed the 'Ted Anderson Community Leadership Award' in honour of Ted Anderson, a CVCA past President and a pillar in the venture capital community.  Ted Anderson passed away on Thursday May 8, 2014 after a valiant battle with cancer.  He was a Partner with Ventures West for over 16 years. Ted was President of the CVCA from 1996-1998 and was the 2012 winner of the CVCA Community Leadership Award for his venture investing work with SME's in Africa.  Ted was continuing his passion for social investing and was most recently the Director for the MaRS Center for Impact Investing.

The purpose of this prestigious award is to honour individual CVCA Members who have "given back to Community". This Award serves to highlight that, in addition to supporting Canada's economic productivity, our members also foster strong corporate social responsibility as a foundation to building solid, vibrant communities.

"The selection process focuses on honouring individuals who have provided significant value to a not-for-profit organization or cause," said Sandra Bosela, Chair of CVCA's Awards Committee and Managing Director, OPTrust Private Markets Group. "The Committee looks at an individual's commitment of time and effort over a number of years to help build and grow an organization or cause, in addition to the raising and personal commitment of money," added Ms. Bosela.

Samuel L. Duboc is a long time member of the CVCA and is known to the members as the Founder, President and Managing Partner of EdgeStone Capital Partners.  He previously served as Managing Director at CIBC Capital Partners and co-founded and developed Loyalty Management Group Canada Inc., owner and operator of the AIR MILES Rewards Program.  More recently, Mr. Duboc served as the Clifford Clark Visiting Economist and Special Advisor on Venture Capital for the Department of Finance Canada, leading a team in designing and implementing the Government of Canada's Venture Capital Action Plan.  In January 2014, Mr. Duboc was appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), where he continues to help support and develop Canadian entrepreneurs.

Mr. Duboc has contributed outstanding leadership and support to a variety of non-profit and community organizations for over 20 years.

Mr. Duboc also plays an instrumental role in the continued success of Pathways to Education Canada. He became involved in Pathways to Education in 2003, when it was a small single community program in Regent Park, Canada's oldest public housing project and one of the most economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Canada. In 2005, he co-founded and became Chair of Pathways to Education Canada, a national organization established to dramatically scale the successful Pathways program across Canada.  Under Mr. Duboc's leadership, Pathways has grown from a single community program in Regent Park operating with a budget of approximately $2 million, serving some 600 students, to serving over 8,000 students and alumni in 16 communities across Canada from Winnipeg to Halifax and approximately $27 million in revenues a year today. Throughout his time with Pathways, Mr. Duboc has led a number of successful fundraising campaigns, raising in excess of $150 million, including significant fundraising support from the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario. Analysis done by a variety of organizations on Pathways including the Boston Consulting Group, confirm the Social Return on Investment of Pathways to be in excess of $24 for every $1 invested.

"Over the past 9 years, Mr. Duboc has provided transformational leadership to Pathways," said Ms. Bosela. "His time, expertise, financial commitment, and his unwavering dedication has attracted and inspired volunteers, staff, donors and students."

In 2012, Mr. Duboc co-founded the Pecaut Centre for Social Impact, with the goal of identifying promising local charitable and social service organizations and scaling them to create massive impact. "A key innovation is the partnership model of the Centre where Mr. Duboc has brought together corporate partners whose combined capabilities provide promising charities a powerful and well-connected support system capable of dramatically scaling their operations", explained Ms. Bosela. Partners include the Boston Consulting Group, E&Y, Cossette, McCarthy Tetrault and The Offord Group.

A tireless community supporter, Mr. Duboc is also a member of WPO/YPO and CEO, Crescent School Board of Governors and Chair of the Finance Committee, Bishop Strachan School Foundation & Board of Trustees and a former member of the board of directors of CAMH Foundation, MaRS Social Finance Task Force, Business Advisory Panel on Income Security Reform, Toronto City Summit Alliance Steering Committee and Luminato Foundation Board.

"I have spent my entire career looking for great investment opportunities and I can say without a doubt the most personally rewarding ventures have been those aiming to build a better and more caring society," says Samuel L. Duboc. "Business leaders cannot hope to be truly successful until they tap into their underlying passion for making the world a better place for our children."

Mr. Duboc was honoured at the Gala Evening at CVCA's 2014 Annual Conference in Ottawa, Ontario on Wednesday May 21, 2014.

"I'd like to congratulate Sam Duboc as the winner of the 2014 Ted Anderson Community Leadership Award, who demonstrates overwhelmingly all the qualities we were seeking in a recipient of this highly regarded award." said Mike Woollatt, Chief Executive Officer of the CVCA. "Mr. Duboc has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to community leadership, contributing greatly to the sustainability and growth of a variety of non-profit organizations."

CVCA

The CVCA is the voice of Canada's venture capital and private equity industry.  The CVCA's members manage the vast majority of private capital that is designated to grow Canadian businesses. The CVCA fosters professional development, networking, communication, research and education, and represents the venture capital and private equity industry in public policy matters. The CVCA was founded in 1974. For more information, please visit www.cvca.ca.

SOURCE: CVCA - Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association

Lauren Linton, Director of Marketing, CVCA, 416 487-0519 [email protected]
Sandra Bosela, Chair of CVCA's Awards Committee, 416 681-3019 [email protected]