Aspire

ALICE CHEN IS WORKING ON A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

We used a business model canvas to see how our idea would create, deliver, and capture value. It helped us break the idea down into manageable parts that allowed us to see how things fit together as well as identify any weaknesses.

The colorized 'r' in the logo was inspired by the autism ribbon. Though these ribbons traditionally consist of a jigsaw puzzle pattern, our research showed that some people on the spectrum did not feel the implied "mysteriousness" was a positive representation of them - thus I opted for strong, overlapping shapes that would still symbolize the complexity and diversity of the situation without other associations.

Our proposed 2 year timeline. See full version below.

A social venture aimed to provide people with autism spectrum disorder employment
that leverages their autistic characteristics as a competitive advantage on the job.

SUMMARY
This project was hatched as a result of a social entrepreneurship class under the guidance of Global Agents for Change's co-founder and president, Shawn Smith. After four months of developing our social impact model, business model, and other components, we presented our social venture, Aspire, to two panels of judges. Aspire won 1st place at SFU's Opp Fest on April. 8th, 2011, and is currently being carried forward by myself and another member of the original group.

Our project is largely based on Specialisterne and Aspiritech, two companies that have successfully proven this business model and both of which were generous enough to speak to us about ours.

CONCEPT
Our social enterprise aims to provide people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) an employment opportunity that utilizes their autistic characteristics as a competitive advantage on the job. While those with ASD are traditionally viewed as invaluable to the work force due to their difficulties with communication and social engagement, it has also been recognized that people with ASD tend to possess excellent long-term memory, immense attention to detail, and a desire to perform repetitive tasks – all traits highly demanded for in the IT industry.

OUTCOME
First place winner in SFU's 2011 Opportunity Fest. In two presentations, both panels of judges agreed our project was the most innovative and had the most potential. We have been approached by several interested parties inquiring our future plans for this project.

LINKS
NEWS STORY ON ASPIRE
MEDIA RELEASE ON ASPIRE/OPPORTUNITY FEST
OPPORTUNITY FEST 2011 SITE