Continuing our video series with another best practice from the world of social finance, here's Anshula Chowdhury on the importance of measuring social value. What do we mean when we say 'impact'? What distinguishes an impact investor from a standard investor? Watch this short video to find out.
On April 8, MaRS hosted nine practitioners of social finance from across the spectrum to speak about the best (and worst) practices in social finance. Hear personal stories and interesting examples from Canada’s emerging social finance marketplace. With five minutes each and drawing on their experience and research, these regular contributors to SocialFinance.ca highlighted successful and/or poor social finance practices. A question-and-answer period rounded out the session.
A number of leaders in North America have been laying the foundation for impact investing, perhaps none more so than the Rockefeller Foundation who have been spearheading initiatives like the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) and the development of impact investment metrics (IRIS) for the last couple of years.
Today, the Canadian impact investing market is $2 billion. In 10 years, it is projected to grow to $30 billion In Canada, the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation has been equally bold in pushing the agenda. Last year, the President and CEO of the McConnell Foundation, Tim Brodhead, was instrumental in the success of the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance, which concluded its first year’s work with the release of Mobilizing Private Capital for Public Good.
Yesterday, MaRS proudly announced that both the Rockefeller Foundation and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation have endorsed the development of a MaRS Centre for Impact Investing with a combined financial contribution of $1.3 million.
MaRS Awarded $1.3 Million By Rockefeller Foundation and J.W. McConnell Family Foundation to Launch Centre For Impact Investing
Leading national and global foundations announce their support for Canada’s first Centre for Impact Investing
Toronto, September 29, 2011 – MaRS Discovery District announced today that substantial funding support from the Rockefeller Foundation and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation will be made available for the Centre for Impact Investing, to be housed at MaRS.
The Centre for Impact Investing will build upon the foundational work of MaRS and Social Innovation Generation (SiG), including the landmark report, Mobilizing Private Capital for Public Good, by the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance. The Centre will be a national hub that will increase awareness for and effectiveness of social finance to catalyze new capital, talent, and initiatives dedicated to tackling social and environmental problems in Canada. The Centre will act as a point of global connection for Canadian efforts into the emerging field of impact investing, delivering programs and initiatives focused on research and policy, market and product development, and education and engagement initiatives to build the collective ability to mobilize private capital towards public good.
This blog post is the fifth in a series related to the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance. In this series, Task Force members explore ideas and research that will help to catalyze a robust social finance marketplace in Canada.
Social entrepreneurship represents the elusive middle ground in our society - that combination between for-profit and non-profit commitment that has been kept at arm’s length until now.
Last night, the MaRS Discovery District auditorium was packed with people from all sectors, interested in the launch of the report from the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance, entitled Mobilizing Private Capital for Public Good.
The event kicked-off with an introduction by Task Force Chair and MarS CEO, Ilse Treurnicht, followed by an overview of the seven recommendations, presented by Task Force members Tim Jackson and Tim Brodhead.
In her recently released book, Disrupting Philanthropy - co-authored with Edward Skloot and Barry Varela, Dr. Lucy Bernholz explores the immediate and longer-term implications of networked digital technologies for philanthropy. 10 years ago the landscape of philanthropy was relatively simple. "There were foundations - private, community, and corporate - that awarded grants to non-profits. Givers gathered information about non-profits mainly through word-of-mouth. Commercial investment firms were relatively small players on the philanthropic landscape." In 2010 the landscape is very different.
What happens when you put a former Liberal Prime Minister, a former Conservative Party Leader and a leading social impact investor in a room? Fireworks? Pouting and disagreement? Or one of the most electric and optimistic events I’ve been to this year.
On November 6, the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin and Social Capital Partners (SCP), Bill Young came to MaRS for an event called, “Impact Investing: Building Prosperity Outside the Mainstream,” moderated by John Tory and Ilse Treurnicht. The discussion focused on how market forces can be used effectively to solve social challenges in Canada.
Hear Jed Emerson speak at the MaRS centre in Toronto as part of the "Lived It" series. Jed describes his journey from a social worker to discovering the challenges of capital formation and structures in the nonprofit sector. Jed also describes the evolution of social capital markets, and the role of blended value investments within mainstream finance.
It takes some guts to stand up in front of 500+ social entrepreneurs and enablers and tell them that they aren’t doing enough to help the world’s poor. Especially if you’re an invited speaker at the Social Enterprise World Forum, which just wrapped up last Thursday, October 8 in Melbourne, Australia.
However, it could well prove the most constructive advice as people head back to their enterprises and continue on their good work.
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Your Guide to Social Finance
SocialFinance.ca hosts an online guide that helps social entrepreneurs learn how to attract financing for their social ventures.
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