Zita Cobb, CM, is a Canadian businesswoman and social entrepreneur.[1][2] In 2006, she established Shorefast, a Canadian social enterprise, with her brothers Anthony and Alan Cobb on Fogo Island, Newfoundland.[2][3][4]

Early life and education

Cobb is an eighth-generation Fogo Islander.[5] Cobb has six brothers,[6] and her father was an inshore fisherman. She grew up in a household with no electricity or running water.[6] She battled and survived tuberculosis at the age of six, which she credits for the confidence that she carried with her later into her career.[7] Cobb studied business and graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa.[8][6]

Career

Cobb started working with various oil companies in Alberta, and traveling in Canada and Africa.[6] She worked at Ottawa-based JDS Fitel for ten years and became the CFO.[6] The company merged with the U.S. company Uniphase in 1999 to become JDS Uniphase.[9][6] In 2001, she exercised stock options worth US$69 million, and left the company to sail around the world for 4 years.[6]

Fogo Island Inn

In 2006, Cobb and her brother Andy founded Shorefast, a Canadian social enterprise, in response to the economic and cultural difficulties her Newfoundland outport home had experienced over the past decades.[10][6] She contributed $10 million of her own money to the organization.[6] The Canadian government contributed $5 million, and the provincial government contributed another $5 million.[6] Shorefast built the Fogo Island Inn, which opened in 2013 and continues to be operated by Shorefast Social Enterprises Inc.[11][12] 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.[13] The inn aims to build another leg on the existing economies of the island and to provide employment.[14]

Honours and awards

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."[15]

She has been recognized with honorary doctorate degrees from Carleton University,[16] Memorial University of Newfoundland,[17] McGill University[18] and University of Ottawa.[19]

Cobb was inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame in May 2018.[20]

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.[21] More than 5,000 people attended the discussion, which covered topics of community, climate change and democracy.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Paterson, Lisa (25 October 2015). "Fogo Island economic success 'absolutely transferable,' Zita Cobb says". CBC News. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Zita Cobb's 'social entrepreneurship' recognized with honorary degree". CBC News. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Shorefast Foundation". Shorefast Foundation. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Mohamed, Farah (3 September 2012). "Millionaire returns home to Fogo Island to help". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Biography - Zita Cobb". The Canadian Club of Montreal. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 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.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ "Zita Cobb Delivers Lessons from Fogo Island - Carleton Stories". Carleton Stories. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  9. ↑ "2015 Festival of Architecture > Speakers". www.raic.org. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  10. ↑ Lewis, Jim (16 March 2012). "The Possibility of an Island in Canada | New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  11. ↑ "Zita Cobb Delivers Lessons from Fogo Island - Carleton Stories". Carleton Stories. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  12. ↑ "Social Enterprise: Fogo Island Inn". Shorefast. Shorefast.org. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  13. ↑ "Social Enterprise: Fogo Island Inn". Fogo Island Inn, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Zita Cobb's 'social entrepreneurship' recognized with honorary degree | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  15. ↑ Globe and Mail Staff (June 30, 2016). "Canada's Honour Roll". Globe and Mail.
  16. ↑ "Carleton Presents Honorary Degrees to Zita Cobb and Annette Verschuren at 2013 Fall Convocation". Carleton University. November 3, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Zita Cobb's 'social entrepreneurship' recognized with honorary degree". CBC. May 28, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Honorary degree recipients announced". McGill Reporter. April 19, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  19. ↑ "Meet uOttawa's Fall 2019 Honorary Doctorates". uOttawa Gazette. November 7, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  20. ↑ "JANL Business Hall of Fame |". janlbusinesshalloffame.org. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  21. 1 2 "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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