Green Means Go: How Foresight Accelerates Cleantech

Leena Manro (: 00:00

Welcome to Up to So Good, the podcast that unlocks the secrets of creating a purpose-driven business so we can all make this world a better place. Come join the conversation.

(: 00:13

Hello and welcome to Up to So Good, the podcast that explores the purpose of business. Imagine you have this incredible idea in the clean tech space, but wait, what even is clean tech? Clean tech is the technology that our planet so desperately needs right now. Think solar panels or electric vehicles. Now, if you do have that next big revolutionary idea, then the question becomes where do we even start? How do you find funders? How do you find mentors and partners in this space? Enter Foresight, lead by Jeanette Jackson, our next guest who is a clean tech maven. Foresight is the country's leading incubator of clean tech. It's the kind of place that helps clean tech entrepreneurs, visionaries, turn their dreams and their ideas into reality. We hope you enjoy this episode.

(: 01:03

Hello and welcome to Up to So Good, the podcast that explores the purpose of business. And I'm really excited about our guest today. She's the CEO of Foresight. Her name is Jeanette Jackson. Thank you so much for joining us. Let's talk about what is Foresight.

Jeanette Jackson (: 01:18

Sure. Well, first of all, thank you for having me. Always delighted to share the story of what an incredible team is doing at Foresight. Our purpose is really to help the planet do more with less, so less energy, less inputs, less consumption, less resources. So if you think about decarbonizing large industry and the innovations that are required to do that, that's our role. Our role is to scale those companies and make sure that the buyers and the capital are at the table to procure those solutions.

Leena Manro (: 01:48

Great. And you are the CEO and you've been there for how long?

Jeanette Jackson (: 01:53

Yeah. So I just passed the six-year mark. I joined actually as a mentor and advisor to BC based clean tech companies. And when my predecessor decided to move on, I raised my hand and said, "Let me at it." And at the time, we were two people with five EIRs or mentors supporting about 20 companies. Fast-forward, we're really now much more of a national platform, so we support over-

Leena Manro (: 02:17

Much more.

Jeanette Jackson (: 02:17

Yeah, it's huge now.

Leena Manro (: 02:18

Okay. Okay. So let's start from, you were two people supporting 20 companies and now you are...

Jeanette Jackson (: 02:26

So we're 55 people, plus 200 EIRs supporting about 300 Canadian companies, but in a global marketplace. So now we're connected to global customers and capital.

Leena Manro (: 02:39

That is amazing. And Jeanette Jackson, a lot of this is, well, this is because of your stewardship, your leadership to scale that quickly in just a few years.

Jeanette Jackson (: 02:51

Yeah, it's been a big push with energy and focus and passion. So I think those are the things that have really driven the organization to the next level. And then from there, it's the right team, an incredible team, smart hires who have joined without any barriers and put all their energy and passion into the same purpose.

Leena Manro (: 03:12

Well, I want to ask you the way that you were able to sort of grow Foresight from the two people to, I think you said 20 managing 200 companies and then 200-

Jeanette Jackson (: 03:12

55 people.

Leena Manro (: 03:12

55. Okay.

Jeanette Jackson (: 03:26

250 EIRs and mentors. Two or three [inaudible 00:03:29]

Leena Manro (: 03:29

Executives and residents.

Jeanette Jackson (: 03:30

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 03:30

Which are the mentors, right?

Jeanette Jackson (: 03:31

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 03:32

Okay. And sorry, 200 companies, right?

Jeanette Jackson (: 03:35

300 Canadian companies.

Leena Manro (: 03:36

300 Canadian. This is mind-blowing to me. These numbers, I mean, I think it was in a previous interview when we had been chatting, this is what we uncovered, and I just... I lost my mind. I was like, "Who is this woman? How did you do this? How did you do that?" It's only in a few short years. What's the secret sauce there?

Jeanette Jackson (: 03:55

Yeah, that's another good question. So I think the first couple of years, the two things that really created the platform for success were, I mean, I don't really take no as an answer. So when I was asking for support to try new programs and initiatives, the support game, and probably because I was a real pain in the butt, the second thing was just thinking outside of the box. So I wasn't interested in doing anything that someone was already doing. I wanted to really make sure that any new program or initiative that we ran provided value for the ventures and the customers and the capital partners. Now, the last two years has been a bit of a pivot because the platforms there, basically, we don't do anything that isn't solving a problem. And so we have no interest in just doing things for the sake of doing them.

(: 04:53

And what that means is it's a little bit of an uphill battle because there's not a funding bucket or a partner that wants to solve that problem. But I think it's really provided clarity in everything that we do. If we were doing work that wasn't solving a problem, then we stopped doing it, which gave the team more capacity and breathing room to think, okay, what are the top few problems we want to be solving every year, every quarter? And we only run programs and initiatives that do that, and that's just created a lot more clarity for everyone we work with.

Leena Manro (: 05:27

Oh, yeah. Wow.

Jeanette Jackson (: 05:27

And that's it.

Leena Manro (: 05:28

That's fantastic.

Jeanette Jackson (: 05:29

It's kind of oversimplified, but it works, right?

Leena Manro (: 05:31

Well, that's the KISS model. Keep it simple. Keep it simple.

Jeanette Jackson (: 05:35

I like keep it simple, smart.

Leena Manro (: 05:37

Oh, I like that better too.

Jeanette Jackson (: 05:38

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 05:39

Oh, that's much better.

Jeanette Jackson (: 05:40

It is. I don't know why we would change that.

Leena Manro (: 05:40

Keep it simple. Keep it simple, smarty.

Jeanette Jackson (: 05:44

I can make T-shirts with that.

Leena Manro (: 05:45

Keep it simple, smart. I like it. That's so much better.

Jeanette Jackson (: 05:48

It is.

Leena Manro (: 05:48

I can't stand when people say, "Let's kill two birds with one stone." I'm like, "No, no, let's give-

Jeanette Jackson (: 05:54

Keep the birds alive.

Leena Manro (: 05:55

... some love, two birds with one stone.

Jeanette Jackson (: 05:57

With one heart.

Leena Manro (: 05:58

Oh, let's feed two birds with one berry. How about that?

Jeanette Jackson (: 06:03

Doing more with less sustainably.

Leena Manro (: 06:04

Do more with less. Okay. So let's talk about purpose again, because this whole podcast is really exploring business as being a vehicle for purpose and in particular, social impact purpose and/or environmental impact in deeply positive ways. So what do you see as the real, the core purpose of Foresight as a company where it is now and where it's headed in the future?

Jeanette Jackson (: 06:34

Sure. I mean, we do leverage traditional purpose statements. So it really is to help the world do more with less sustainably. I think consumerism has expectations and the concept of just going off of oil or not buying the products and the fast fashion that people expect is a lot to ask. Communities and customers aren't there yet. And so our role is really being that catalyst between the innovation and the technologies that can decarbonize all the supply of those goods and services and making sure that industry and public sector procurement has the right information, knowledge, tools, and insights to make those purchase decisions. Unfortunately, there's a perception that doing good costs more money. And when you really start to lay out and map out the barriers, it becomes clear what are real barriers, which are much fewer than anticipated and what are perceived. And so we are really breaking down, identifying what the real barriers are, and then working with both the supply and the demand side of solutions to hopefully get some scaled transactions happening.

Leena Manro (: 07:48

So basically in a nutshell, Foresight helps companies ultimately scale, is that everything?

Jeanette Jackson (: 07:56

Yeah. Help clean tech companies scale.

Leena Manro (: 07:56

Clean tech company.

Jeanette Jackson (: 07:57

And they help buyers buy.

Leena Manro (: 07:59

They help clean tech companies scale and buyers buy.

Jeanette Jackson (: 08:02

So like a marketplace essentially for decarbonizing all of our industry.

Leena Manro (: 08:07

And just some examples, how do you help? Say, I want to start a clean tech company tomorrow, what would I do?

Jeanette Jackson (: 08:12

Sure. So you'd come to us and you'd connect with an incredible concierge who would interview and just see what stage you're at. Some companies might have an idea, others might have a bit of capital and a team already, and then you would embark on our programming. So we have online learning management tools as well as executives and residents who mentor the companies through their journey of making sure they have the right product market fit. They do their customer discovery. They get the capital they need to scale and do pilot projects. And then eventually they get to a point where a customer says, "I'm ready to place a purchase order and use your stuff."

Leena Manro (: 08:48

It's pretty amazing. I mean, how does that feel to be-

Jeanette Jackson (: 08:51

It's cool. I-

Leena Manro (: 08:52

... watching these companies grow from just maybe an idea to all of a sudden that first customer makes a purchase and places an order. How does that feel?

Jeanette Jackson (: 09:00

Yeah, no, I mean, it's amazing and we see a lot of successes and we also encourage fast failure. You also don't want to see a team lose all of their home, equity and everything, investing in something that doesn't have a customer at the end. So it's a lot of successes and then there's also a lot of learnings along the way. One of the things I miss is I used to know every company intimately. I could probably pitch them to an investor for them. And now just at the scale, I have a team that's really committed to doing that great work to support the companies, and I get to go and look at what's next for us as an organization.

Leena Manro (: 09:43

What is clean tech?

Jeanette Jackson (: 09:46

Yeah. So for Foresight, our definition of clean tech is any technology, product or service that helps reduce the carbon footprint or the water consumption of industry.

Leena Manro (: 10:00

Okay. Can you give me some examples?

Jeanette Jackson (: 10:01

Sure, so-

Leena Manro (: 10:03

Commonly known ones and also ones that maybe people don't realize.

Jeanette Jackson (: 10:06

For sure. I mean, even starting with the electric car that is defined as clean tech and now to make sure it's clean, we want to make sure that all of the materials that go into the batteries are as sustainable as possible. From a building perspective, to heat and cool a building, the transition to heat pumps would be considered a built environment clean tech solution. And then further on the built environment, you can start to look at things like advanced materials, so alternatives to wood and cement or even insulation that are made out of renewables like wood chips and other things like that. So there's lots of opportunity there.

Leena Manro (: 10:51

How about earth homes? I've heard of this.

Jeanette Jackson (: 10:52

Yeah. Like what is this?

Leena Manro (: 10:53

There we go. I mean, we don't have a framework here to get these things quickly approved, unfortunately, but that is an actual thing. They have clay.

Jeanette Jackson (: 11:02

Yes. Yeah. And hemp. And yeah.

Leena Manro (: 11:03

And sand water and straw, things like that. Always wanted an earth home. When I started researching it, I'm like, "I want to live in an earth home." People have been making them in India for years. That's normal tech.

Jeanette Jackson (: 11:15

Yeah, I think they're right. Just think of the footprint there and then some other things. You start to get even agriculture. So when you're using fossil fuels for fertilizers. Now we want to start to look at more nature-based solutions that don't affect the quality of the soil because we are losing the nutrients.

Leena Manro (: 11:37

I did not realize that fossil fuels are used for fertilizer. What? That is like, oh my goodness. Did you guys know that? That's super extreme dirty tech. I got to say, that's really shocking to me. I don't think a lot of people know that fertilizers actually embody sometimes fossil fuels.

Jeanette Jackson (: 11:53

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 11:53

That is shocking.

Jeanette Jackson (: 11:54

Yeah, I mean it's still at scale mostly what's used. Yes.

Leena Manro (: 11:57

That's so dirty and gross. I just started gardening, and so I love it.

Jeanette Jackson (: 12:04

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 12:04

I have a little balcony garden.

Jeanette Jackson (: 12:04

I have a garden too. And at Foresight we have a little chat where we're... It's like, how does your garden grow?

Leena Manro (: 12:08

Oh my goodness.

Jeanette Jackson (: 12:09

And then we share stories. Everyone else is way more advanced in it.

Leena Manro (: 12:12

I love it. Let's talk about the business case for doing good business, clean tech and good tech type of business. Let's talk about that.

Jeanette Jackson (: 12:20

Yeah, for sure.

Leena Manro (: 12:21

What is the business case?

Jeanette Jackson (: 12:23

So for us, everything is sort of framed as a value proposition and the value proposition for most of the companies we support, it starts with sustainability, but it ends with productivity and profitability. And again, it's helping the world do more with less sustainably. So let's take for example, a water reclamation technology company that's supporting the mining sector. That's just one piece of the puzzle. But the reality is the mining sector, in addition to the impact on the raw land, use a lot of fresh water for the processing of all these materials. And there's wastewater as a result.

(: 13:03

And so the question is, what is the cost of replacing that wastewater with fresh water through all your production cycles? How much energy is that in transportation, in processing? And if you do it more efficiently, how much can you save in overall fresh water use as well as energy, transportation and costs because of the cost to buy?

Leena Manro (: 13:26

Amazing.

Jeanette Jackson (: 13:27

And so it's just figuring out each company is solving different problems. We do have companies that are attempting to solve similar problems with a different angle, and that's healthy too. You want that competitive nature to see what technology is ultimately going to win. But the business case for adopting at scale, clean tech is there. And another example I'll give is around green cement. And this one really frustrates me because you have a large company like Lafarge who's procured all of these technologies across their supply chain to produce a product that's the same price, same performance, 30% reduced GHG emissions. Yet at scale in Canada, municipalities are still nervous about the product. And it's like, does it really have to be mandated?

Leena Manro (: 14:13

It's so frustrating.

Jeanette Jackson (: 14:15

And then what does that signal? Well, it signals we're not ready yet, and we don't want those signals. So having created a space with the team now doing incredible things and acceleration and helping adopters buy, for me as CEO, I have the liberty now to think, okay, what else can impact people's buying decisions at scale so that we can really get momentum? And what is the risk of not having all these technology companies that we've supported get adopted through our existing supply chain? And so it's a fun, big challenge, fun challenge, but definitely love what we do and I love what I do. Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 15:00

Oh, gosh. Well, I think you're so right about that. I love that you are your company, and I would assume the companies you're working with are looking at that as they're presenting the business case. The idea of what is the risk of not going down this path, and how much money are people losing by using inefficient and wasteful, bad for the environment type of technologies? I mean, I think it's on one part a little bit sad to me that that's where we have to go is show people, but they're there. The savings are there to the bottom line. Ultimately, it's all about the bottom line for some-

Jeanette Jackson (: 15:38

Most decisions get made-

Leena Manro (: 15:39

... which is pretty sad.

Jeanette Jackson (: 15:40

... as a business decision not to do good.

Leena Manro (: 15:43

But you can do both.

Jeanette Jackson (: 15:45

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 15:45

You can do both. You can have a business that's Up to So Good. What is it? It's Up to So Good.

Jeanette Jackson (: 15:46

Up to So Good.

Leena Manro (: 15:53

And it can be profitable and it can save money and it can save the environment. I mean, it would be amazing, amazing if we could get to a place, and I believe we will, where the majority of businesses have a purpose, a real purpose, and that purpose goes beyond just making money. They still make money, but they're doing good.

Jeanette Jackson (: 16:12

Yeah, there's clear pathways. It's just sometimes it's easier to just keep doing what you're doing. And I think that's actually one of the biggest things that plague the Canadian population at large. We've been so slow to adopt technology in our healthcare systems. Renewing a passport, still a problem.

Leena Manro (: 16:34

Right. Yes.

Jeanette Jackson (: 16:36

How can it be so hard to get a new passport?

Leena Manro (: 16:36

My God, yeah.

Jeanette Jackson (: 16:39

And just think if you're the person who's working and it's like still paper processing and manual, and they still have to talk to people, which people don't like to talk to people anymore. Yet digital is cloud-based, secure infrastructure where people can renew their passport from home in 15 minutes.

Leena Manro (: 16:57

Isn't it nuts?

Jeanette Jackson (: 16:57

And we have an innovation adoption problem.

Leena Manro (: 17:02

We're probably not the only ones. I mean, it seems to me... It feels like... I mean, governments in general seem to have a bit of an innovation adoption problem. No? Or do you feel like Canada's-

Jeanette Jackson (: 17:03

Actually...

Leena Manro (: 17:03

No? No?

Jeanette Jackson (: 17:13

I would venture to say Canada's... The indicators are telling us that we're starting to lag.

Leena Manro (: 17:18

Okay.

Jeanette Jackson (: 17:18

The productivity numbers are lagging.

Leena Manro (: 17:20

Okay.

Jeanette Jackson (: 17:21

Our ranking on innovation across the G20 is lagging. Our export-import ratio is lagging. Unfortunately, there are clear macroeconomic indicators that say that we're not doing as good as we could be. And I think people are just afraid to make decisions and do something wrong in this country a little bit.

Leena Manro (: 17:44

Is it because we're very risk avoidant, more risk avoidant here?

Jeanette Jackson (: 17:47

Yes, with zero risk tolerance. But yet again, it's real versus perceived risk. And it's unfortunate because there are other countries doing great things. I mean, in Finland they have one number and that's your bank number. It's all streamlined. So we could do that here too.

Leena Manro (: 18:06

Wow.

Jeanette Jackson (: 18:07

And then we see it with the companies because the companies are selling. The clean tech companies, 90% export.

Leena Manro (: 18:14

I see.

Jeanette Jackson (: 18:14

And then we have a risk of losing them to those markets if we don't kind of get the infrastructure here to keep them. And it's not because of capital. And our talent pool, it is quite deep. It's because they want to see customers here at home.

Leena Manro (: 18:29

And they don't.

Jeanette Jackson (: 18:30

So good problem to solve.

Leena Manro (: 18:32

Right.

Jeanette Jackson (: 18:32

How do we solve that problem? By collaborating, working together, and getting thought leaders to come together and not rely on policy always to be the trigger for industry to move.

Leena Manro (: 18:45

We do lean on policy a lot here in Canada, and then I don't know if that adds maybe to the red tape and bureaucracy at some point. And policies do also get outdated, and it's just...

Jeanette Jackson (: 18:55

And then what type of policy? There's even a framework on how to write good policy. Is it the what or the how? And I think in Canada, we get too much into the how. And we don't just say, "Look, in 30 years or 10 years or five years, this is the goal. This is the outcome. We expect you to report to us that you've met that outcome and then let the market figure it out a little bit." Instead, even with the zero emission vehicle sort of mandates that took place over the last 10 to 15 years, they were hyperfocused on electric. Well, there's hydrogen. There's ammonia. There's-

Leena Manro (: 19:30

Yes, this is true.

Jeanette Jackson (: 19:31

Who knows? You can run a car. Wasn't it that actress that ran her car on a waste of french fry oil?

Leena Manro (: 19:37

I don't know about this. I'll look into it, but my goodness.

Jeanette Jackson (: 19:39

This was some... Yes, she's... I don't know. It starts with a D. Anyways, it's awesome. She played the mermaid in that...

Leena Manro (: 19:39

Daryl Hannah.

Jeanette Jackson (: 19:46

Daryl Hannah.

Leena Manro (: 19:47

Was it Daryl Hannah?

Jeanette Jackson (: 19:48

Daryl Hannah.

Leena Manro (: 19:49

Okay.

Jeanette Jackson (: 19:49

Yeah. In LA like 25 years ago. Fact check this for me.

Leena Manro (: 19:55

Fact check.

Jeanette Jackson (: 19:56

But no, it's just like... So she just-

Leena Manro (: 19:59

Sorry, she ran her car with what?

Jeanette Jackson (: 20:00

Like waste, like oil from fast food stations.

Leena Manro (: 20:04

Wow, okay.

Jeanette Jackson (: 20:05

And then there's also, Who Killed the Electric Car? Right? Have you've ever seen that movie?

Leena Manro (: 20:08

No.

Jeanette Jackson (: 20:09

Oh, that's like from the 80s. They had electric cars.

Leena Manro (: 20:13

[inaudible 00:20:13].

Jeanette Jackson (: 20:13

And we couldn't get it mandated. But back to the sort of policy piece, again, it's not the how. It's the what, where are we going and are there short-term incentives? And then again, let the market take over.

Leena Manro (: 20:27

It blows my mind that a place like this exists because there are so many people who do have ideas and more, but they'll stop themselves. They'll say, "No, I can't do that. It's such a huge mountain to climb." And Foresight is a place where, as you were saying, you're helping buyers buy. It's a marketplace, you're connecting people. But in the time you've spent there and the companies you've helped scale and grow, what have you found have been the common challenges that these entrepreneurs face?

Jeanette Jackson (: 21:04

Yeah, I think, well, the challenges are I think both internal and external. So internally, often trying to take on more than they can chew right out of the gate. So when you're providing a solution, do you try to tackle the whole supply chain or do you figure out what you're really good at and where you can have the most impact and execute there? So execution of a very specific product or technology roadmap with the right team is very important. I think a lot of companies would say that capital is the biggest problem, but we do see in our data that if you find that customer fit, that customers will get you the capital they need. Now, they might not give you the capital upfront, but they'll give confidence to investors to lean in. So people, focus and capital are probably the three main issues.

Leena Manro (: 22:02

The people, focus and capital. People meaning internally?

Jeanette Jackson (: 22:06

Yes. Yes.

Leena Manro (: 22:06

Okay. Can you elaborate more on that? What have you seen has been-

Jeanette Jackson (: 22:09

Just the right team. When you're a scrappy entrepreneur, you're basically seeing, I only have so much money. I'm going to take whoever I can get to fill a role.

Leena Manro (: 22:18

Right.

Jeanette Jackson (: 22:19

As opposed to having the liberty like a large corporate to say, "Okay, this is the role. This is the caliber of the person that I need." You can have higher expectations when you're compensating. A lot of people that join a startup at those stages are doing it because they're passionate about the problem, but maybe they're not the best for that role.

Leena Manro (: 22:39

Right.

Jeanette Jackson (: 22:39

And so there's an evolution over time that happens.

Leena Manro (: 22:41

That's really tricky though because I mean, if you have a few people that come together initially and they start up, they have an idea, they are, say the founders. I mean, have you been there and seen as this idea moves forward one or two have to go?

Jeanette Jackson (: 22:55

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 22:57

I've seen that.

Jeanette Jackson (: 22:57

Yeah, absolutely. It's tough conversations to have upfront, but it's good to have some sort of map of people understanding who's really... You can't have five CEOs, so if you're having multiple partners come in-

Leena Manro (: 23:10

Correct. I agree with that.

Jeanette Jackson (: 23:11

I do see a few where there's a co-CEO, it's like, okay, and it hasn't worked. But if people want to make a go at it and just know at the end of the day one person has to lead. Yeah, we have a weekly issues to discuss with the whole executive team. So an hour is spent, everyone can put their issues and we decide what we're going to talk about that moment. And there can be a debate, and I lose for sure some of them, but at the end of the day-

Leena Manro (: 23:38

But ultimately you make the decision.

Jeanette Jackson (: 23:38

Not make the decisions. Ultimately, it's my responsibility to make sure there's enough money in the bank and that the vision's on track and that the right executive leadership's in place.

Leena Manro (: 23:48

Right. Yes.

Jeanette Jackson (: 23:48

The rest is really empowerment to the team and allowing them to bring their best to the table.

Leena Manro (: 23:54

I did not know until I was kind of pushed into this a little bit accidentally. I didn't realize how important the right executive leadership is. Can you talk more about that? Where have you seen where it's worked well and what goes into that and where it just hasn't?

Jeanette Jackson (: 24:10

Sure. Well, I think again, as an organization evolves, the needs evolve with it. So when you're a younger startup type company, you generally need an executive leadership team who are people that can wear multiple hats.

Leena Manro (: 24:24

Yes. Absolutely.

Jeanette Jackson (: 24:25

Right? As opposed to once you mature, you might want to bring in more senior folks in marketing and communications or product development because they're going to be able to really focus on that specific operational vertical within the business. And even as a not-for-profit, we still function like a for-profit in terms of pretty clear monthly and quarterly goals and rocks and outcomes and expectations. But then of course, the do good and being Up to So Good aspect is still front and center. And then we're also able to access different resources in terms of our business model. And at the end of the day, as a nonprofit, we're also able to curate all of our learnings into a shared resource for the ecosystem. So hopefully that can start to move things, accelerate the pathway to net-zero.

Leena Manro (: 25:19

Yes. I love accelerate. The word accelerate has been used a lot. The accelerator's here, accelerator's... But that is what it is. It's truly accelerating everything, the learning and the growth and just... Your company is one of the most... In some ways, most, just my opinion, profitable nonprofits and almost like corporate nonprofits that I've seen. And I say that as a huge compliment because the mindset I think of a nonprofit is, gosh, I don't want to say not exactly like a charity, but just sort of like they're not interested in making profit, but they're providing a service and they're giving, whereas with you all, you're expanding and you're growing. You're putting any profit that you make into back into the company. Can you talk about that? Because I wonder if that's a big secret to deeply successful nonprofits.

Jeanette Jackson (: 26:11

I would think so. And there's a bit of irony because I would say I'm, of across the whole team, probably the most casual.

Leena Manro (: 26:17

Okay.

Jeanette Jackson (: 26:18

But maybe firm on expectations. I don't know. I think you'll resonate, I think, with this a lot. At the end of the day, it comes down to presentation and how you carry yourself and present yourself. And that's what marketing communications is.

Leena Manro (: 26:18

Yes.

Jeanette Jackson (: 26:33

You have a message and you want to present it in the right way. So I'm really big on making sure that when any stakeholder engages with us that we are, we're professional, it' easy to understand what we do and why we do it, and it's clear on how you engage with us so that we can provide value or help support some of your needs. Now, the corporate side, I think because we do have government funding, I always want to make sure that government funders know that we're doing our best to have the part of our operations that they're supporting, align with how they operate. And it's very different. A large government engine is very bureaucratic and structured, and so we do need to be able to respond equally in terms of professionalism and quality.

Leena Manro (: 27:23

In your reporting.

Jeanette Jackson (: 27:24

Absolutely.

Leena Manro (: 27:25

Yeah, absolutely.

Jeanette Jackson (: 27:26

Yeah, absolutely. But then on the other side, we can have, with the entrepreneurs, lots of fun because we're meeting them where they're at. And so we have youth entrepreneurs. We have 50-year-olds, men and women who have decided to leave their corporate office and journey on the path to sustainability. And we want to meet people where they're at and with the experience they have, and hopefully get them caught up so that they can be running their own business and scaling without our support.

Leena Manro (: 27:55

What would you like the public to know about clean tech?

Jeanette Jackson (: 27:57

Oh, great question. Two things. One, there are a lot of technologies available for your home, for transportation, for all the things that you use every day that are the same cost to your incumbent solutions. So when you're replacing something or you're looking for something, do a little research and buy green. And then the second thing, and I don't think the general public will love it, but next time you're taking a trip to the store, maybe walk. Next time you're thinking of buying something on Amazon, maybe don't. But the human consumption generally of food, water, energy, and waste is scaling really high. And the only people who can change our habits is ourselves at this point. So just do one thing differently and hopefully you'll be Up to So Good.

Leena Manro (: 28:53

Up to So Good. It's like a reflex now. You said it. So I have a theory. The theory is that if you're involved in a purpose-driven entity, a company, a corporation, nonprofit, cooperative, the people who are going to be most passionate about it are also whether they realize it or not, but they're living purposeful lives, right? So I want to ask you about your... Are you living your purpose? What is your purpose? And are you living it?

Jeanette Jackson (: 29:27

Yeah, that's a great question. I would say Foresight as an organization has given me great purpose and that I have loved to bring a whole bunch of ideas on how I thought we could do things differently as an accelerator to life. So it's had no barriers. And then in terms of my purpose, I think there's three. It's definitely climate, definitely my daughter. And the last part is I look at this organization as an opportunity to empower others to bring their best and bring their own ideas.

(: 30:08

So for example, a lot of the team members that have come on, were doing something little or bespoke in this space, but didn't really have a home. Or maybe they were trying to run a little consulting company off the side, but they really wanted just to do the work. And we've created a platform for them. And so that's really how the organization has grown. And then I'm just out selling their ideas for them and the team's out selling them. So I think I'm living my purpose. I think I have some other things that are on my mind when the time's right to take my purpose to the next level. But you do realize as you get older, time runs quickly. And so to live your purpose, should you wait for something to happen, or do you live it now?

Leena Manro (: 30:53

No. Got to live it now. Okay. Wow. Great answer. And so for those who are not necessarily feeling like they're living their purpose, what do you say to them?

Jeanette Jackson (: 31:00

Oh, I would make a change now. Yeah. I do not encourage anyone to stay in any situation that isn't fulfilling them, both emotionally and financially. And it's not all about money, but you need to survive, and especially in Vancouver. Holy smokes. But you can do good work and live a great life. And I think it's interesting that that pathway isn't shared more with kids all the way, starting out of middle school and high school. A lot of them are confused about where to go.

Leena Manro (: 31:40

Absolutely.

Jeanette Jackson (: 31:41

Because right now a lot of folks look at purpose as being an influencer and having a lot of [inaudible 00:31:46].

Leena Manro (: 31:45

Views. Right.

Jeanette Jackson (: 31:47

And that is... I mean, I guess if you're influencing good things, maybe.

Leena Manro (: 31:50

If you're influencing, yeah.So let's talk about, are you able to tell us about some things that we need to watch out for, keep watching out for in terms of the good tech space?

Jeanette Jackson (: 31:58

Yeah, sure. There's some really cool stuff happening. One company that we're working with is turning fog into drinkable water in environments where there's no freshwater supply.

Leena Manro (: 32:11

What? That's amazing.

Jeanette Jackson (: 32:11

That's pretty cool. I think the opportunity to turn waste product from the forestry sector into high value products, packaging.

Leena Manro (: 32:23

Beautiful.

Jeanette Jackson (: 32:25

And I'd be remiss not to highlight one of the companies I'm the chair of, which is ChopValue. So they turn chopsticks into high value products, including tables for McDonald's and all of the different large chains.

Leena Manro (: 32:42

Oh, wow.

Jeanette Jackson (: 32:42

So I think you're seeing technologies that are microscale, like turning a chopstick and other waste materials into high value products. And then you've got water. And then really big is where are we going with fusion as a technology?

Leena Manro (: 32:58

Absolutely.

Jeanette Jackson (: 32:59

Can we use that to leapfrog the energy gap that we are going to face in the next 10 to 20 years as we transition to electric? Right? Because it's on the hydro. So large scale, non-hydrogen technologies. Hydrogen is important as well, but I think there's an opportunity there and we need to just lean in.

Leena Manro (: 33:19

Really, that's a problem to solve. I mean, I don't have a science background, but just learning about the molecule being so small [inaudible 00:33:26]

Jeanette Jackson (: 33:25

Energy density.

Leena Manro (: 33:27

Incredible. Incredible work. Wow. Well, I just want to sing again just one more time.

Jeanette Jackson (: 33:31

Okay.

Leena Manro (: 33:31

I'm just so glad to have you on our show because Foresight and you are Up to So Good.

Jeanette Jackson (: 33:36

Up to So Good.

Leena Manro (: 33:39

Well, thank you so much for being on our show. That's Up to So Good. I'm your host, Leena Manro, and this show is produced by All Purpose as well as with help from J Pod Creations. Thanks a lot.

Jeanette Jackson (: 33:51

Thank you. Bye.

Leena Manro (: 33:53

Well, that's all the time we have for today's show. Thank you so much for joining us. And if you've enjoyed the show, please subscribe, hit the like button or share an episode. And if you have any feedback, questions or comments or show ideas, you can email us directly at hello@allpurpose.io. Thank you once again for joining us. We'll see you next time.