Episode Overview
Mary Doyle is the co-founder and program developer for Rural on Purpose, a social enterprise committed to strengthening rural communities worldwide through entrepreneurship. With over 28 years of experience working in all three sectors (private, nonprofit and government) Mary works to improve economic opportunities for people living in rural areas by piloting high impact programs that prepare them for the future of work. Her most recent project is a rural coworking pilot that builds a freelance-friendly ecosystem in a community in just 10 weeks. As a community builder and volunteer, Mary spends much of her spare time fostering strong entrepreneurial ecosystems. Mary is the founder of Startup Bay of Quinte and is focused on developing a National Youth Entrepreneurship strategy in partnership with Loyalist College. She has been a speaker and panelist at numerous events ranging from the Canadian Accelerator Summit to the United Way to Women in Business conferences – including the 30th Annual Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation Conference and Startup Day on the Hill.”We have 19 percent of all freelancers already living in rural communities, they are already here, we just don’t have a way to talk to them and connect to them, they are in our blind spot”. In today’s podcast, we will talk to Mary about what entrepreneurship means to her, the value of running pilot programs and community building.
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