Rupert Downing

Biography

Rupert Downing has been involved in non profit and social enterprise development and management for the last 30 years in rural, urban and Indigenous settings across Canada and in other places around the world. He is a member of the Government of Canada’s Social Innovation Advisory Council and a specialist in social enterprise financing.

Rupert Downing has been involved in managing sustainable development policies and programs for the last 40 years in rural, urban and Indigenous communities across Canada and in other places around the world. He has led the development of social, environmental and economic policy in local, regional, and national government settings and managed national and international civil society networks.  He helped to establish and directed Canada’s Social Economy Research Partnership and led the Canadian Community Economic Development Network. With the Government of British Columbia he helped to establish and led the Ministry of Community Development. He runs an international consulting firm that specializes in sustainable community development, research and public policy development.  He is Co-Chair of the BC Coalition for Community Impact Investing and runs a Learning Network of Indigenous and multicultural Social Enterprises in BC with the BC Centre for Employment Excellence.  He owns and manages a Fair Trade Social Enterprise that operates on Vancouver Island, “Lalocal”.