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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]

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

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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

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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

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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

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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]

References

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  1. ^ Paterson, Lisa (25 October 2015). "Fogo Island economic success 'absolutely transferable,' Zita Cobb says". CBC News. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Zita Cobb's 'social entrepreneurship' recognized with honorary degree". CBC News. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b Lewis, Jim (16 March 2012). "The Possibility of an Island in Canada | New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  7. ^ a b "Zita Cobb's 'social entrepreneurship' recognized with honorary degree | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  8. ^ a b Globe and Mail Staff (June 30, 2016). "Canada's Honour Roll". Globe and Mail.
  9. ^ a b "JANL Business Hall of Fame |". janlbusinesshalloffame.org. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  10. ^ a b "Meet uOttawa's Fall 2019 Honorary Doctorates". uOttawa Gazette. November 7, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  11. ^ a b "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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. ^ a b "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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