Canadian Company Doing Good & Making a Profit

In today's Financial Post, Tony Wanless highlights Serebra Learning Corp.  Serebra provides web-based learning opportunities to companies primarly in North America.  Since launching they have diversified their activities and are now supporting communities in the Developing World.  

It seems this trend for providing online learning platforms in the developing world is a growing market.  Elluminate, another Canadian business, is doing something similar for other markets in the Developing World. 

The difference between these two:

Serebra's program is an integrated business division called easyLearning. The approach that Serebra has taken with this division is to provide a training ground for individuals who can then take those skills and be the outsourced labour for specific tasks.  This "job placement" program is called Serebra Connect.  Serebra's Global Skills Development program is part of the company's overall Corporate Social Responsibility plan. Serebra is looking at the full circle from learning to implementation to re-investment - this is the community economic development model.  From Serebra's website about the easyLearning:

easyLearning is a skills development program that lets people in developing nations gain valuable skills and qualifications to help them compete in today's global, knowledge-based economy. Recognized by the United Nations, the program uses proprietary e-learning technology to break down geographic, economic and social barriers that prevent many people from accessing high-quality training. easyLearning courses are accessible to everyone, everywhere through the Web.

Elluminate has created a branded program: Fire & Ice that is housed under its community relations/marketing division.  The following is from their website explaining the program:

They say the world is getting smaller, but for some the new divide is digital... Fire and Ice delivers live, distance training to teachers, students, and health care professionals in the developing world. In addition, we connect schools worldwide to collaborate on socially relevant topics and to develop deep and sustainable relationships. Teachers and students in the most remote parts of Africa, Asia, and South America are now able to collaborate in real time with the rest of the world to share experiences and ideas... Life is live. We think education should be too.

With these new business models becoming the norm, we are changing the way that people look at community building and charity.