A (Very Informal) Who’s Who of Social Innovation in Canada
Note: This article is the second of three blog posts originally published on Challenge Your World and cross-posted on SocialFinance.ca. In this blog series for Challenge Your World, Peter Deitz examines the current state of social innovation in Canada -- what it is, who's doing it, and how it might be measured. All comments welcome.
Second only to tightrope walkers, social innovators are people who often have to block out the world around them in order to get from point A to point B. The process of creating a successful social enterprise requires nothing less than total concentration, often at the expense of getting to know one's peers and following their progress. This blog post is an effort to reverse the trend by crowd-sourcing a directory of individuals and organizations who make up Canada's social innovation sector.
Please use the comments section below to highlight three or more people on this (very informal) Who's Who of Social Innovation in Canada. Add their names, organizational affiliation, and where they can be found online. If you feel inclined, contact the people you highlight and ask them to add additional names. I encourage you to select people whose work you are aware of but not intimately familiar with. The process of adding them to this page will serve as a reminder that we can all find a few minutes each day to step away from our respective tightropes in order to familiarize ourselves with the work of our peers.
To get the list started, I would like to draw attention to three Canadian social innovators whose paths I have crossed recently but whose work I have not yet had a chance to fully explore. While these innovators are far from representative, they illustrate the important role that young people are playing in the formation of Canada's social innovation sector.
Adam Spence, Social Venture Exchange
The mission of the Social Venture Exchange is to "develop and pilot the Social Venture Exchange (SVX) that will provide a platform to assess and attract sustainable financing for organizations with a social and/or environmental mission, from enterprising non-profits to for-profit social purpose businesses." Adam founded and is chairing the initiative in his capacity as the Executive Director of the Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB).
Assaf Weisz (& Co), Young Social Entrepreneurs of Canada (YSEC)
Yong Social Entrepreneurs of Canada is "igniting a national movement of young social entrepreneurs who align people, planet and profit." Assaf founded YSEC with five fellow community organizers after recognizing a need for support infrastructure for Canada's youth-led social enterprises.
Christine Ho and Kevin Tsoi, Well of Change
Well of Change is "an online platform that enables individuals and businesses to raise money for charity through the donation of skills and services. The goal is to make it easier for individuals and businesses to give back to the community." Christine and Kevin met in 2006, became good friends, and resovled to launch the platform that seeks to trasnfsorm the way people view volunteerism.
Please use the comments section below to highlight more people and organizations.
Additional lists of social innovators in Canada can be found by visiting Ashoka Canada's website, by reviewing the 'bloggers' section of SocialFinance.ca, and by perusing pages 49-50 of CPRN's report, Social Innovation in Canada: An Update (hat-tip to Karim Harji for pointing me to this report).
