Zita Cobb, Fogo Island, Canada
Zita Cobb has joined CIMAM as a Supporter in June 2024.
Zita Cobb is an eighth-generation Fogo Islander, Co-Founder and CEO of Shorefast, and Innkeeper of the Fogo Island Inn. A registered Canadian charity, Shorefast uses business-minded means to help secure economic and cultural resilience for Fogo Island, Newfoundland: a centuries-old settler fishing community off Newfoundland’s northeast coast. Zita graduated high school on Fogo Island before leaving home to study business in Ottawa. Following a subsequent successful career in high-tech, Zita returned to Fogo Island to help grow another leg on the Island’s struggling economy to complement its ever-important fishery.
Shorefast’s notable achievements to date comprise a holistic set of charitable initiatives, including the world-class artist-in-residence program Fogo Island Arts (fogoislandarts.ca), and three innovative social businesses whose operating surpluses are returned to Shorefast for reinvestment in further community development work. Specifically, Shorefast is behind the award-winning, 29-suite Fogo Island Inn (fogoislandinn.ca), Fogo Island Workshops (fogoislandworkshops.ca), and Fogo Island Fish. Shorefast has pioneered the innovative practice economic nutrition labelling for its social businesses, transparently demonstrating “where the money goes.” Shorefast’s model is both unwaveringly specific and universally applicable, holding relevance for communities worldwide.
Zita has been a Member of the Order of Canada since 2016 and was a 2020 inductee to Canada’s Business Hall of Fame. She holds honourary doctorates from McGill University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, the University of Ottawa, and Carleton University. She is an active CEO and volunteers her full time and energy for Shorefast’s work on Fogo Island.
About Shorefast
Shorefast is a registered charity that is forging a new path at the intersection of business, philanthropy, and community economic development. Our suite of community businesses, including Fogo Island Inn, Fogo Island Workshops, and Fogo Island Fish, are designed to be economic engines driving toward our mission: To unleash the power of place for local communities to thrive in the global economy. All our business surpluses are directed to supporting Shorefast’s holistic set of initiatives and programs, including Fogo Island Arts, distilling learnings to share with other enterprising communities across Canada.
About Fogo Island Arts (FIA)
Fogo Island Arts (FIA) is the founding program of Shorefast, a registered Canadian charity dedicated to unleashing the power of place so local communities can thrive in the global economy. Fogo Island Arts was founded in 2008 as an international artist residency program with the belief that artists are visionaries with a unique capacity to reveal and respond to the complexities of our time.
The residencies enable artists, curators, and writers to think, create, and connect on Fogo Island, promoting discovery across perspectives and disciplines. The geographic specificity as an island off an island in the North Atlantic is a foundational platform for engagement around issues of sustainability, ecology, economy, and belonging. Over the last 15 years, Fogo Island Arts has grown into a program of exhibitions, public programs, publications, and research projects that aim to explore art and ideas and bridge connections between the local and the global.