#YWiBbtgc: Meet Lisa von Sturmer

Beyond the Glass Ceiling panel event is back again, and this year’s theme focuses on Women and Innovation. We sit with top tier panelists from Vancouver who live and breathe innovation. Who are these incredible businesswomen? Today, we’re pleased to introduce you to…

Lisa von Sturmer

Founder & CEO of Growing City

Ms. Von Sturmer is an entrepreneur from Vancouver who founded an urban composting company.

With a backdrop as stunning as Vancouver’s, it’s tough not to be conscious of our impact on the environment. The City of Vancouver has ambitious green goals and we Vancouverites love our community gardens, green rooftops, and widespread public recycling. Some residences have begun composting, but in other environments outside single-family homes, where people can collect and use their own composting in the garden, the process is more difficult.

Seeing an opportunity and being passionate about bettering her community, Ms. Von Sturmer founded Growing City to make composting a cinch for apartment buildings and residences, commercial buildings, and restaurants. She even pitched her concept on CBC’s Dragons’ Den.

Growing City customers receive a vestibule to collect their waste, the building’s employees or residents are educated on what can go into their bins, and away they go! Once full, a Growing City team member returns to remove the waste and clean the bins to prevent odour. A full-service company making composting effortlessly simple. As a result, they help clients reduce their waste by up to 40% or more!

An important part in retaining customers is educating and exciting them about composting and its positive impact, Growing City provides progress reports to show clients how much they’ve composted and what that means in terms of methane, CO₂, and monetary savings. They even make playful comparisons like the number of household items or Justin Biebers that it equates to in weight! Through this, Growing City keeps clients engaged and feeling good about their efforts.

Ms. Von Sturmer has presented on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, presented a TedxTalk on social entrepreneurship, is the current Canadian Global Ambassador for International Women's Entrepreneurship Day, and is an active advocate for youth entrepreneurship.

Come hear Lisa von Sturmer by grabbing a ticket to Beyond the Glass Ceiling: Women & Innovation, where she will share her perspective on innovation and how that secret ingredient landed her where she is today.

Watch her interview on Shaw's program, the Rush, where she talks about her Dragon experience and her jump into composting!