The Power Plant

Join us for a public talk with Zita Cobb, Co-founder of Shorefast and Founder of Fogo Island Arts, presented in connection with Fogo, an exhibition by Sharon Lockhart's exhibition at The Power Plant. Cobb, a Canadian business leader and social entrepreneur who helped transform her birthplace into a model for community-driven economic development, will share perspectives on place, community, and culture. Last year, Cobb launched the Shorefast Institute for Place Based Economies, which brings together communities, governments, and markets to develop and expand place-based approaches to economic development, with the mission to create prosperity and dignity for more people and more places.

Learn more at: The Shorefast Institute - Shorefast.

Born on Fogo Island, Newfoundland and Labrador in 1958, Zita Cobb’s family was forced to leave when the cod fishery collapsed. As CFO of JDS Fitel (later JDS Uniphase), a global leader in fiber optics technology, she played a key role in the company's growth.

Cobb retired in 2001, returning to Fogo Island. She then founded the Canadian registered charity Shorefast in 2004 with her siblings, Alan and Anthony, with a mission to strengthen the community through place-based economic development. In 2008, she established Fogo Island Arts as Shorefast’s founding program. In 2013, Shorefast opened Fogo Island Inn, now an internationally acclaimed example of regenerative tourism.

Cobb's pioneering work has earned her a membership in the Order of Canada, and recognition as the first social entrepreneur inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.