When the University of Calgary launched its Eyes High campaign, the institution set a bold target: to transform itself into a top five research university while strengthening its role as a community builder. Under the leadership of then-president Dr. Elizabeth Cannon, Eyes High became more than a slogan —it became a unifying strategy that mobilized faculty, students, donors, and community partners around a shared vision.
Last month, Bespoke Social Profit Solutions launched its Social Profit Project Speaker Series, with its inaugural event Eyes High: Setting Sights Higher & Scaling Your Strategy to unpack the lessons behind this landmark campaign and explore how organizations of all sizes can adopt similar approaches.
Setting the Stage: Power of P4 Partnerships
The event began with a call to reimagine collaboration. Jolene Livingston, Founder and Chief Vision Officer of Bespoke Social Profit Solutions and CEO of Partners for Affordable Housing, challenged the audience to step into a mindset of abundunce and embrace bold partnerships.
At the heart of her remarks was the idea of P4 partnerships—bringing the public, private, philanthropic, and social profit sectors together to share risk, spark innovation, and scale solutions. “No one sector can solve these challenges alone,” Livingston reminded attendees. “But together, we can create systems of change.”
She also reflected on her own leadership journey, noting her transition after three decades at Bespoke to focus on Partners for Affordable Housing, while passing the presidency of Bespoke to Jeni Piepgrass. This spirit of transition, trust, and renewal mirrored the very essence of the Speaker Series: planting seeds today that can grow into movements tomorrow.
Vision Put Into Action
The centerpiece of the event was a keynote from Dr. Elizabeth Cannon, who shared the inside story of leading the Eyes High strategy.
In her keynote, Cannon reflected on what made Eyes High so effective. It wasn’t simply the articulation of a lofty vision, but the deliberate way the process brought people along. The university didn’t just tell stakeholders where it was going — it partnered with them and then communicated the impact of their shared vision, over and over again.
“You can’t underestimate the power of clarity and accountability,” Cannon shared. “When people understand where you are going and how you will measure progress, they feel part of something bigger.”
Clarity, in the case of Eyes High, meant everyone — from students to faculty to alumni — could repeat the vision in their own words. Accountability meant public scorecards, annual reporting, and visible milestones. This was not a strategy written once and tucked away; it was a strategy that lived in the day-to-day conversations of the university community.
Cannon was candid about the discipline required: “Vision without execution is hallucination.” She reminded the audience that the real test of strategy lies not in its launch, but in whether leaders are prepared to revisit it, report on it, and hold themselves accountable year after year.
That discipline created momentum. Each year, progress was celebrated, challenges were acknowledged, and trust deepened. As Cannon described, momentum is what carried the campaign beyond goals many thought impossible — culminating in the university raising an extraordinary $1.3 billion.
The achievement was historic, but the deeper lesson lay in the process: strategy as a living, breathing contract between leadership and community.
Panel Perspectives: Scaling Strategy Across Sectors
The conversation then widened into a panel moderated by Livingston, featuring Cannon alongside Dr. Jim Dewald, Professor of Strategy and Global Management at the Haskayne School of Business, and Michael Tims, Vice Chairman of Matco Investments.
Dewald spoke to the importance of empowerment in building durable strategies. “One of the most important things Elizabeth did was empower independent committees,” he noted. “Faculty and staff had ownership of the process, and that’s what turned skeptics into champions.”
Tims offered the donor’s perspective, reflecting on the emotional momentum that bold vision can generate. “When people saw the university set a bold vision for itself, they wanted to be part of it. There was a sense of optimism and momentum that carried through the campaign,” he said. “Donors don’t just invest in projects; they invest in belief. Eyes High gave us something larger than ourselves to believe in.”
Together, the panelists reinforced that the lessons of Eyes High are scalable. While the University of Calgary raised over a billion dollars, the principles that made it possible — clarity, engagement, empowerment, and accountability — can be applied by organizations of every size. As Dewald summarized: “Strategy is not about writing a glossy plan—it’s about creating a process that people trust.”
What Social Profit Leaders Can Take Away
For social profit organizations, the relevance is unmistakable. In times of uncertainty and resource constraints, clarity and accountability aren’t luxuries — they are essential tools for mobilizing belief. Boldness builds momentum; engagement builds ownership; accountability builds trust.
The event underscored that strategy is not reserved for universities or billion-dollar campaigns. It is the discipline of aligning people to a shared vision and making that vision visible and actionable.
Looking ahead
As the evening closed, Livingston left the audience with a reminder that captured the heart of the conversation: “If they help you write it, they will help you underwrite it.”
It was a fitting conclusion to a day focused on strategy as co-creation. When people feel they have shaped the vision, they don’t just support it — they invest in it. That investment, as Eyes High showed, can transform not only balance sheets but entire communities.
With the Social Profit Project Speaker Series now underway, Bespoke Social Profit Solutions will continue to convene diverse voices, spotlight bold strategies, and champion the partnerships that can scale social change.
Turning Vision into Action: Scaling Your Strategy with Bespoke
The Eyes High journey mirrors what every social profit organization faces: limited resources, competing demands, and the need to move beyond the status quo and achieve ambitious goals. Yet the principles are universal — clarity, accountability, and collaboration create the conditions for growth.
At Bespoke Social Profit Solutions, the use of the CADDPER™ model translates these principles into practice. It’s the foundation of how we approach every engagement — a structured, repeatable process that helps organizations move from vision to measurable impact.
Through the CADDPER™ framework, we can trace how the University of Calgary communicated a vision, assessed opportunity, defined priorities, decided on a path, planned strategically, executed with discipline, and continually revisited its approach to sustain success.
To adapt CADDPER™ in your own work:
Communicate — Share your vision early, often, and everywhere.
Assess — Listen beyond your walls to uncover hidden insight.
Define — Anchor ambition in clarity and community relevance.
Decide — Build shared ownership through inclusive leadership.
Plan — Align systems, budgets, and accountability.
Execute — Stay disciplined and transparent.
Revisit — Keep your strategy alive through reflection and renewal.
We’ve learned from the best — and now we’re helping others do the same.
→ Missed the session? Watch Dr. Cannon’s keynote here.
→ If you’re ready to see how your organization can think bigger, act bolder, and scale with intention, reach out to our team — we’ll show you how CADDPER™ can turn your vision into action.
