Zita Cobb

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Zita Cobb, CM , is a Canadian businesswoman and social entrepreneur [1] [2] who grew up on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, a small outport fishing community off the North Atlantic Ocean. [3]

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Zita is the co-founder and CEO of the registered Canadian charity, Shorefast, which she launched with her brothers Anthony and Alan Cobb, on Fogo Island in 2004. [2] [4] [5] She is also the Innkeeper of world-renowned Fogo Island Inn. [6]

Zita has been recognized for her significant contributions to the Canadian economy and business world garnering awards such as the Order of Canada (2016) [7] [8] and induction into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame (2021) with special distinction as the first social entrepreneur to be included within its ranks. [9] [10] [11]

Since its inception, Shorefast has been on a mission to help build a resilient community economy on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, and adapt those learnings to foster economically empowered communities across Canada. [3] [12]

Building from Pilot learnings and active practice on Fogo Island, Shorefast established The Shorefast Network for Place-Based Economies, housing resources and opportunities for businesses, government bodies, and community members to learn, share, and connect on how to operate with a place-centric focus in economic development. [13]

Zita Cobb volunteers her full time to Shorefast. [3]

Early life and education

Cobb is an eighth-generation Fogo Islander. [14] Cobb has six brothers, [15] and her father was a 7th generation inshore fisherman. She grew up in a household with no electricity or running water. [15] She battled and survived tuberculosis at the age of six during a year spent at a sanatorium, which she credits for the confidence that she carried with her later into her career [16] . [17] Cobb studied business and graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa. [18] [15]

Career

Cobb started working with various oil companies in Alberta, and traveling in Canada and Africa. [15] She worked at Ottawa-based JDS Fitel for ten years and became the CFO. [15] The company merged with the U.S. company Uniphase in 1999 to become JDS Uniphase. [19] [15] In 2001, she exercised stock options worth US$69 million, and left the company to sail around the world for 4 years. [15]

Fogo Island Inn

In 2006, Cobb and her brother Anthony founded Shorefast, a Canadian social enterprise, in response to the economic and cultural difficulties her Newfoundland outport home had experienced over the past decades. [6] [15] She contributed $10 million of her own money to the organization. [15] The Canadian government contributed $5 million, and the provincial government contributed another $5 million. [15] Shorefast built the Fogo Island Inn, which opened in 2013 and continues to be operated by Shorefast Social Enterprises Inc. [20] [21] The inn is a 100% social business, and all operating surpluses are reinvested in the community of Fogo Island through the projects and programs of Shorefast. [22] The inn aims to build another leg on the existing economies of the island and to provide employment. [7]

Honours and awards

On June 30, 2016, Cobb was made a Member of the Order of Canada by Governor General David Johnston for "her contributions as a social entrepreneur who has helped revive the unique rural communities of Fogo Island and Change Islands through innovative social engagement and geotourism." [8]

She has been recognized with honorary doctorate degrees from Carleton University, [23] Memorial University of Newfoundland, [24] McGill University [11] and University of Ottawa. [10]

Cobb was inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame in May 2018. [9]

On November 12, 2019, Cobb interviewed 44th President of the United States Barack Obama for a public event at the Mile One Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, which was hosted by the St. John's Board of Trade. [25] More than 5,000 people attended the discussion, which covered topics of community, climate change and democracy. [25]

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References

  1. ↑ Paterson, Lisa (25 October 2015). "Fogo Island economic success 'absolutely transferable,' Zita Cobb says". CBC News. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Zita Cobb's 'social entrepreneurship' recognized with honorary degree". CBC News. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Thomas d'Aquino Lecture on Leadership". Ivey Business School. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  4. ↑ "Shorefast Foundation". Shorefast Foundation. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Mohamed, Farah (3 September 2012). "Millionaire returns home to Fogo Island to help". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  6. 1 2 Lewis, Jim (16 March 2012). "The Possibility of an Island in Canada | New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  7. 1 2 "Zita Cobb's 'social entrepreneurship' recognized with honorary degree | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  8. 1 2 Globe and Mail Staff (June 30, 2016). "Canada's Honour Roll". Globe and Mail.
  9. 1 2 "JANL Business Hall of Fame |". janlbusinesshalloffame.org. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  10. 1 2 "Meet uOttawa's Fall 2019 Honorary Doctorates". uOttawa Gazette. November 7, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  11. 1 2 "Honorary degree recipients announced". McGill Reporter. April 19, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  12. ↑ Pagliacolo, Elizabeth (2023-03-02). "On the 10th Anniversary of the Fogo Island Inn, Zita Cobb Is Still Building Community". Azure Magazine. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  13. ↑ "Fogo Island Inn founder Zita Cobb is coming to save your town too".
  14. ↑ "Biography - Zita Cobb". The Canadian Club of Montreal. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 McKeough, Tim (2010-12-15). "How Multimillionaire Zita Cobb Plans to Turn a Tiny Canadian Island Into an Arts Mecca". Fast Company. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
  16. ↑ Kinsman, Juliet (2024-03-14). "Is this the world's most iconic sustainable luxury hotel? I Did it My Way: Zita Cobb". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  17. ↑ Bartlett, Steve (2008). The Grit and the Courage: Stories of Success in an Unforgiving Land. St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: Creative Publishers. pp. 99–118. ISBN   978-1-897174-29-6.
  18. ↑ "Zita Cobb Delivers Lessons from Fogo Island - Carleton Stories". Carleton Stories. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  19. ↑ "2015 Festival of Architecture > Speakers". www.raic.org. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  20. ↑ "Zita Cobb Delivers Lessons from Fogo Island - Carleton Stories". Carleton Stories. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  21. ↑ "Social Enterprise: Fogo Island Inn". Shorefast. Shorefast.org. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  22. ↑ "Social Enterprise: Fogo Island Inn". Fogo Island Inn, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Carleton Presents Honorary Degrees to Zita Cobb and Annette Verschuren at 2013 Fall Convocation". Carleton University. November 3, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Zita Cobb's 'social entrepreneurship' recognized with honorary degree". CBC. May 28, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  25. 1 2 "Welcome to the Rock, Barack: Thousands fill Mile One for evening with Obama". CBC. November 13, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
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