Hello World
more...TonyaSurman
Hello world
more...Developing for the web goes beyond HTML and CSS. CSI members are eligible for substantial discounts on a fantastic technology bootcamp in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.
You’ll go from HTML/CSS basics to Web Application Developer in just 9 weeks: CSI…
Stewardly is pleased to announce the launch of “One Million Hours: Shorter Research for Longer Lives”, a major crowdfunding campaign to fund a project which will permanently remove a million hours a year from the medical research process. Research done…
more...Knock knock
more...We’re thrilled that CSI member Ilana Ben Ari has been named a 2014 Ariane de Rothschild Fellow. The founder of Twenty One Toys, Ilana and her team are creating toys designed to teach empathy. They even had an elf building toys in the lobby of CSI Annex…
more...Note: This article in Charity Village by Jodie Shupac covers how CSI played an incubation role for the Ontario Nonprofit Network and how incubators can help the nonprofit sector.read more
more...Developing for the web goes beyond HTML and CSS. CSI members are eligible for 5% discount on a fantastic technology bootcamp in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.
You’ll go from HTML/CSS basics to Web Application Developer in just 9 weeks: CSI alumni …
We’re thrilled that three CSI members were among those selected by Ashoka as future leaders of social change in North America. Congrats to:read more
more...Do the leaders of the provincial parties know what social innovation is? Are they enabling those of us that are putting the wind in the sails of the new economy? Who will insure that there is equal access to government supports for nonprofit and for-pr…
more...Wishing your nonprofit could save money, use technology more effectively, or reach more supporters?read more
more...Wishing your nonprofit could save money, use technology more effectively, or reach more supporters? Good news – with the help of our program, TechSoup Canada, Google for Nonprofits has now launched in Canada! As of today, June 9th 2014, Canadian Registered Charities, Canadian Federal Nonprofits, and Canadian Provincial Nonprofits can now apply to join the program, which offers access to Google’s suite of free products and tools.
more...By Jordan Phoenix
We’ve all heard the saying before: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. International development is one field that has seen its fair share of well-meaning initiatives backfire—by fostering aid dependency and harming local economies, for example (see the article 7 worst international aid ideas for more).
more...By Robert Shirkey, Executive Director of Our Horizon and a member of CSI
“My name is Emily Kelsall and I am a teenager who is scared for my future.”
more...From Toronto Artscape
Artscape is inviting creative entrepreneurs, and those working in support of them ( for example, Art Service Organizations, or professional services businesses operating within the creative industries, ), to come together and craft an ‘a la carte menu’ of workshops tailored specifically to the commercial aspirations of the creative community. Workshops will be delivered in the Fall of 2014.
Workshops should be directed towards
more...CSI has a a deal with the Conference Board of Canada and the Centre for Business Innovation that allows members to attend the Business Innovation Summit 2014 at a reduced rate. See below if you’re interested…
—read more
By Ted Killin, CSI Reporter
Like never before, children and young adults are making their voices heard and offering their own solutions to the problems we face. Several organizations in Toronto are providing a springboard for youth who are keen to help…
By Cameron Norman
When we say we’re making a difference, changing the world, and inspiring innovation: what do we mean and how do we know it? When you’re speaking to partners, investors, clients, or community members, you need a better answer than “We just are.” Frankly, a good answer to that question helps you out just as much as everyone else. Evaluation provides a means to help you articulate what you’re doing, how well you’re doing it, and what to do next.
By Beatrice Paez, CSI Reporter
The city can be an alienating place for people with mental illness.
It’s hard to talk about, it’s heavily stigmatized, and for those learning to cope, it can often be overwhelming.
But, as two organizations in Toronto are…
By Jordan Phoenix, CSI Reporter
New York City – Crowdfunding has become somewhat of a revelation for creative and business-savvy types all around the globe over the past few years. The amount of collective funds raised worldwide via crowdfunding platfo…
By Jodie Shupac, CSI Reporter
The room buzzing with energy and curiosity, last month’s Turnout Toronto event felt, in the best way, somewhat reminiscent of a middle school science fair. Held January 14 in the CSI Annex Lounge, Turnout Toronto—aptly named, with over 500 people in attendance—was indeed intended as a kind of civic engagement fair, an innovative opportunity for CSI members and non-members alike to get acquainted with a diverse range of local advocacy and civic engagement groups.
more...Our Toronto and New York City Events Coordinators share some highlights from the past year…
By Erin Kang, Events Coordinator at CSI in Toronto
Toronto – Events at CSI exemplify the very spirit that sets us apart, showcasing the diversity and connecti…
It can be as big as aThe Centre for Social Innovation recently hosted Turnout Toronto – a civic engagement fair for citizens looking
for ways to get involved in their city. Hundreds of Torontonians showed up to learn how to make Toronto even greater, and to shar…
What does it look like when a live crowd funding event raises over $50K for innovative and deserving startup organizations? Check out this video of the The Funding Network’s recent event hosted at CSI Starrett-Lehigh to find out.
more...By: Tonya Surman – CEO, Centre for Social Innovation
Published in: Innovations, Volume 8, Issue 3/4,
“Interest in social innovation is growing, and that’s great news […] But, just as social and environmental concerns are reaching a frightening crescendo, technological advances, activism 2.0, and market transformations are changing the world, mostly for the better.
more...The New Year is often a time when you tell
yourself you’ll eat less cake, play more, and work less. For real this time.
But we know we’re going to eat plenty of cake and work hard. We’ll just make
sure our work feels more like play. Instead of telling ourselves what we won’t
do, we took the time to think about what we will do to create more awesome in
the world. So here’s our list of resolutions.
2013 has been a wild ride. One year ago, we had just opened a pop-up
space in suite 325 in the Starrett-Lehigh building in NYC, and we were starting to host a few events. We were
working day and night to make CSI Starrett-Lehigh a success but some pr…
The B Corp community in Canada believes that where we spend our shopping dollars matters, and we’re convinced that better businesses make better gifts. In an effort to help jump-start (or wrap-up) your holiday shopping this season, we’ve put together a…
more... http://nownet.me/1f095Qf
The B Corp community in Canada believes that where we spend our shopping dollars matters, and we’re convinced that better businesses make better gifts. In an effort to help jump-start(or wrap up) your holiday shopping this se…
By: Rania El Mugammar – Director, Editor in Chief at SpeakSudan
SpeakSudan began around my kitchen table while
eating biscuits and spiced tea. We needed something, my friends and I,
something that was ours. Hailing from the Eastern part of the African
continent, we grew up on stories – the story-telling and oral histories which
built our civilizations. They were central in our lives, crucial to our
survival and the most powerful form of commnuication we could generate from our
positions as marginalized youth.
By Michael Cayley, Founder Cdling Capital Services, and, Vitalik Buterin, full time Bitcoin writer and developer.read more
more...By Katherine Hodgson, CSI Spadina DECA
From the first day of Desk Exchange Community Animator (DECA)
orientation there is an instant feeling of inclusion and welcoming into the CSI
family. Upon arrival, instead of the awkward silences, I was greeted a…
By
Vareia Boxill, founder of Technovation Academy of Science and Technology, and CSI Memberread more
Educational Consultant Ryan Burwell
thinks they should be – and it starts with lessons in assessment
By Ryan Burwell, CSI Memberread more
By Aruna Handa,
founder of Alimentary Initiatives, and CSI Memberread more
By
Charlotte Bondy, CSI Reporter
First
published in Yonge Street Media, Sept. 25, 2013.read more
By Oliver Nassar , Co-Founder of Podium , and CSI Member
I always thought that a podium was something
that public speakers stood behind. Nope. That’s a lectern. A podium is
something that they stand on. Truth be told, we didn’t realize the
difference until after we launched as Podium. Luckily, it would seem that most of our visitors don’t
quite know the difference either. No vexing emails yet (fingers crossed).
By
Tierney Smith, Community Engagement Manager, TechSoup Canada and TechSoup
Global
Is
your nonprofit just starting up, and looking for a professional email? Do you
work for a small charity that wants to save money on IT? Are you looking for
more flexi…
By Jodie Shupac
A version of this article was published in
the Toronto Star, Sept. 2013
In an unmarked upstairs lair in Kensington
Market, ten or so people—men, mostly—tap on laptops in an open room or mill
about a small kitchen. A passageway running through the space is lined on one side
by four 3D printers and on the other, by a narrow ledge crammed with curious
trinkets.
By Christopher Charlesworth, cofounder of HiveWire
Twitter: @C_Charlesworthread more
Originally published in Pivot Magazineread more
more...By Amy Weinrieb, CSI Programming Team
This summer we’re on the hunt for 10
innovative projects with a focus on building stronger, more resilient
communities. Could this be you? We sure hope so!
For the past two years, the Agents
of Change competition has provided selected changemakers with free space (yes,
FREE), training and support.
You could make CSI your home too!
Applications for Agents of Change Youth: Community close on FRIDAY JULY 26.
Apply Now!
By Amy Weinrieb, CSI Programming Team
For the past two years, the Agents of Change Youth
competition has provided selected changemakers with free space, training, and
support. Agents of Change winners are given the opportunity to turn their world
changing ideas into real impact. This summer, we’re looking to find 10
innovative projects with a focus on building stronger, more resilient
communities!
By Amy Weinneb, Programming Intern
This summer, our Agents of Change Youth program
is focused on community! What does that mean? We are looking for projects and
ideas that help strengthen communities. From rooftop community gardens, to
educational pro…
By
Odette Hutchings, Communications Assistant at Action
Against Hungerread more
By Leah Pollock, Program Coordinator
At the Centre for Social Innovation, we have always facilitated an
environment of growth through community. Whether it’s through intentional
events like Six Degrees of Social Innovation or through collaboration by
osmosis, we have seen member projects grow and transform through the
relationships they form.
In
an introductory post to the CSI community, I wrote about my new role in the
organization as the Director of Culture (DOC). And you may still be asking yourself, so what
exactly does the DOC do? In an attempt to answer this question, I have
spe…
At
CSI, we believe that new innovations are the key to turning the environmental,
social, cultural and economic challenges we face into opportunities to improve
our communities and our planet. We know that early stage social ventures often
struggle to raise capital to test and scale their ideas. Well, we’re all about
solutions, and we don’t like excuses! That’s
why I am so pleased that we were able to announce the launch of the $600K Ontario
Catapult Microloan Fund.
By Maria Karpenko, CSI Reporter
Just how powerful can stories be?
Jo Altilia had always thought of stories as a force for good, but she
experienced the full extent of their power at a poetry reading in Chicago many
years ago when a woman, inspired by the poem “Black Goddess”, was finally able
to kick out her abusive boyfriend.
The Lisbon Challenge is a truly trans-Atlantic 4-month program for existing startups looking for investment and/or to grow internationally.read more
more...Amazing member success
stories happen all the time at the Centre for Social Innovation. Yet we never
tire of them. Au contraire! They thrill us every time!
This story
is especially thrilling to me because, well, it’s about me.
At CSI,
we talk a lot about the impact our members have on each other. After all, they
come to CSI to find collaborators, to accelerate their missions, or to simply absorb
the kind of energy they can’t get at home in their pyjamas.
By Lisa Ferguson, CSI Reporter
Actor Daniel Stolfi was
undergoing chemotherapy treatment when he started writing a one-man comedy show
about cancer. His friends and family thought he was crazy. No one was going to
laugh at cancer, they told him.read more
Update: 3 days left to apply for this great programread more
more...For the third consecutive year, CYBF and Spin Master Ltd., Canada’s most innovative toy company, are teaming up to offer financing, mentoring, an innovation workshop and more to innovative entrepreneurs through the Spin Master Innovation Fund.
The official launch was April 8, with applications being accepted until May 21. The fund will support up to ten innovative start-ups with each recipient receiving:
more...The opportunity
to open a space in NYC came out of nowhere. There we were in Toronto,
minding our own damn business, when the chance to expand suddenly presented
itself to us. Fate can take many shapes; in this case, it took the shape of
David Gise, a …
By Lisa Ferguson, CSI Reporter
There is no
doubt Regent Park is in a period of massive transformation. The revitalization
of Regent Park is converting what was once Canada’s oldest and largest social
housing complex into a mixed-income, mixed-use community.
But change is
happening beyond the cranes and bulldozers, and has been happening long before construction
started.
“I think if you
search you could see many, many examples of the change that residents themselves
are making,” says Adonis Huggins.
The second issue of CSI’s burgeoning community
newspaper, The Collider, is out and available to download and share!
Featuring articles, photos, stories, events and more from the world’s
most dynamic community of social innovators. Download here. rea…
Hello
Innovators!read more
Swerhun Inc. designs and delivers multi-stakeholder decision making processes. She works for towns and cities across the GTA, the US, and internationally to help build relationships between leaders and the constituencies they serve.
more...Swerhun Inc. designs and delivers multi-stakeholder decision making processes. She works for towns and cities across the GTA, the US, and internationally to help build relationships between leaders and the constituencies they serve.
more...March 28th, 2013 by Brian Iler
For some time now, Ontario Nonprofit Network has been highly critical
of the as‑yet unproclaimed Ontario Not‑for‑profit Corporations Act. The
Ontario Government hadn’t listened much.
Until now.
This morning, the Ministry of Consumer Services announced:
more...Culture is the glue that holds our shared workspace together and the air
that breathes vitality into the lives of everyone who moves through it.
The Centre for Social Innovation is an amazing shared workspace with a
palpable vibrancy that everyone w…
By Maria
Karpenko, CSI Reporter
In Whitehorse, Yukon, a youth high on
drugs got into a boat and ended up on an island with a house. In his delirious
state, he set the house on fire. He was charged and convicted of arson. The
judge then called the aboriginal community together in order to get their
advice on sentencing, remarking that he’d have to send him to jail unless the
circle participants came up with a better solution.
Raymond Aaron
Frank O’Dea
Jim Geraghty
Jim Grieve
Janet Carding
Diane Brisbois
Jason Field
Cheryl Gregory
Maxine Warsh
Cathy Nesbitt