Alison Brent
About Alison:
Alison has been the Program Manager at Community Futures Central Okanagan since 2015, where she is responsible for the Self Employment Program—an initiative that helps aspiring entrepreneurs develop and launch their business ideas. Alison has a bachelor’s degree in sociology and over 13 years of administrative and marketing experience in Kelowna’s real estate industry.
Alison turned to the CED program and enrolled with the goal of gaining a better understanding of the immediate challenges her community and local economy face, and how best to address these challenges. After completing the program, Alison now incorporates social initiatives to business start-ups and entrepreneurship in her community. By identifying common community goals and working together, she works hard to improve the local economy and ensure that opportunities are accessible for everyone.
Project:
For her final project, Alison created the Building Resiliency through Tech Transformation program. The non-profit coaching and training program works to ensure that businesses have the resources necessary to be technologically resilient in the face of unforeseen events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The programs will be added to a suite of existing programs currently offered at Community Futures Central Okanagan. The program teaches the skills necessary to utilize digital tools for business operation and because it is delivered by local entrepreneurs, the initiative ensures that it will remain place-based and community-controlled. Participants will have their businesses assessed and together they will identify the gaps within their business that could be filled by using digital tools.