Book a Speaker: Stuart Hickox, Founder & President of One Change

Stuart Hickox is an award-winning social entrepreneur and accomplished writer whose work has been published in 14 languages.

During 2005, Stuart founded One Change—a non-partisan, charitable foundation based in Ottawa, Canada. The trigger was a surprising statistic regarding the energy savings from compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs that he stumbled upon while visiting the ENERGY STAR website: If every household in Canada replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a CFL bulb, the reduction in pollution would be the equivalent of taking 66,000 cars off the road.

Stuart wondered, “How hard can it be to get everyone to change one light bulb?”

He then shared the statistic with some friends and the group wrote a business plan for a door-to-door community-based social marketing campaign, designed to mobilize volunteer networks as the champions of simple actions (like changing bulbs). They felt that a simple action, delivered by a neighbour or friend with positive sponsor messages would ultimately lead to other changes. Within a year, Stuart and friends had raised over a million dollars and had reached 250,000 homes in Ottawa with a free ENERGY STAR certified CFL and an empowering call to action: Simple Actions Matter™.

Since its inception in 2005, in over 900 communities of all types across North America and with the help of over 12,000 volunteers, One Change has run highly successful campaigns in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, as well as New Jersey, Vermont and Washington states in the US.

Stuart’s biggest current challenge is how to manage growth as One Change is increasingly seen as the go-to organization among corporate, government and NGO partners that seek innovative ways to engage people in their own communities. Additional new products have been developed including fuel efficiency and water saving initiatives and One Change expects campaigns to be running in California and Ontario, plus numerous other states and provinces in the coming years.

Speaking Topics:

• At the doorstep: How community-based social marketing changes behaviour
• Simple actions matter™: How to convert awareness into action
• Empowering the disengaged: Community campaigns as a catalyst to good, green jobs
• The medium is the people: Why traditional approaches to marketing have failed and what needs to be done now

Past speaking engagements include:

“One Change: Empowering community networks to bring together business, government and NGOs.” Presentation to the Conference Board of Canada – Centre for Environmental Health. Ottawa, ON. April 2010.

“Community-based social marketing and university communities.” Presentation at Engage NOW Conference with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Calgary, AB. October 2009.

“Harnessing the power of youth”—Special Facilitator. Kick the Carbon Habit Youth Conference, UNEP Youth Network. Chicago, IL. December 2008.

“Social marketing and community engagement tactics”—Panel discussion. Department of Energy, ENERGY STAR lighting Partners meeting. San Diego, CA. January 2009.

“Fair weather friend: How community-based approaches to behaviour change sustain environmental commitment.” 2008 Behavior, Energy and Climate Change Conference, Precourt Energy Efficiency Center of Stanford University. Sacramento, CA. April 2008.

“Social Marketing: Inspiring Individuals to Act on Energy Efficiency.” ACEEE’s Symposium on Market Transformation, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Washington D.C. March 2007.

Testimonials

“Stuart is a leader in the emerging green economy. He is a clear-minded and articulate social entrepreneur who is building an organization that combines a passion for people with solid business principles and tremendous integrity.”
-Gerard J. Protti, Executive Vice President – Corporate Relations, EnCana

“Stuart Hickox possesses the rare ability to translate conceptual, visionary ideas into real action. To this he adds professionalism and the ability to connect with people from all backgrounds.”
-Hon. Rob Renner, Minister of the Environment, Alberta

“I am struck by Stuart’s innate marketing instincts and entrepreneurial skills. His ability to engage and mobilize grassroots networks for change is impressive and groundbreaking.”
-Richard Earle, Author of “The Art of Cause Marketing” and visiting lecturer of “Designing a Social Marketing Campaign” at Harvard University

For more information or to book Stuart Hickox for a speaking engagement, please contact:

Corrie Rabbe, Communications Coordinator
68 Chamberlain Avenue, Suite 200
Ottawa, ON K2J 0E7
Email: corrie(at)onechange.org Website: www.onechange.org
Telephone: 613-232-5892, ext. 218 Fax: 613-232-9504