Sharing! hhhmmm.... Weren't we supposed to have learned this in kindergarden?

For nearly four years, CSI has been doing an intense experiment in sharing... a concept that I thought we were supposed to learn in kindergarden (but most of us clearly didn't). We have learned a ton of what to do and what not to do and we thought it was about time to extend the experiment. So, this time, we decided to invite all three levels of government and multiple parties, funders, innovators and 100 others to the Centre to learn about sharing? What disasters might emerge? Well, at CSI, they learned a bit more about how to share and celebrate! Here is what it looked like...

On February 29^th, in celebration of our 1^st anniversary of the expanded 4^th floor space, we brought together David Miller (Mayor), Paul Martin (former Prime Minister), Adam Vaughan (Councillor), Olivia Chow (MP) and Rosario Marchese (MPP). Even my own MPP, Cheri DiNovo joined us. We also had Robin Cardozo (CEO, Trillium Foundation), Mary Lou Morgan (Carrot Cache), Madleine Rab (Citizen's Bank), John Evans (MaRS), John Honderich (Toronto Star) and about 100 other Toronto social change luminaries...

Mostly this was a “coming out” party... we have never had the time to let the world know that we exist. We've been having so much fun at the Centre hanging out with other social innovators that we had kind of forgot to mention it to others : ) Time to share : )

The morning started with a welcome to the hood by our MP, Olivia Chow, who then turned over the MC'ing to our Councillor, Adam Vaughan. Adam set the context, told a few jokes and then introduced Mayor David Miller. Miller's speech focused on the importance of clustering to city building, the vision that the model of CSI holds for the whole city and beyond, recogition of the leadership of Margie Zeidler for visionary development and congratulations on the world that we have achieved at CSI.

Adam then introduced me... and this is where it gets hard to write... perhaps I will post my written speech in a blog here (altho different from what I actually said) because it is difficult to talk about what you talked about : ) The big news was that I had the priveledge of launching the Enterprising Nonprofits Program which is yet another experiment in 'sharing' for social enterprise.

Madleine Rab of Citizens Bank then had a chance to speak to the ENP program as the first in funder, and then then the heavy hitter came on. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin spoke about the power of social entrepreneurship and the vital importance of creating a level playing field for social entrepreneurs by creating the right suite of tax incentives and legal forms to enable social enterprise in Canada.

If you want to see the whole thing, rabbletv streamed it live to www.rabble.ca and it is now available at

http://www.mogulus.com/rabbletv. (It was a personal high for rabble to film this as this is one of the projects that I helped to launch several years ago – it all comes full circle. )

It was a hell of a day. And although I am definitely one to be cynical about provding such a platform for polititians, it really was a great way to gather a broad spectrum of folks who are either existing supporters of CSI's work or potential supporters of our work so that we could share our little experiment in sharing with a much broader audience. And I can't deny that it was a heck of a thrill to have all of those VIP's saying what a great job we have done...

And now, with our official re-launch out of the way, with the ENP Program coming together, CSI is now going to put some more energy into sharing our model. We will start with the “Sharing for Social Change” event on June 18^th. We have started conversations with groups in London, Kitchener and Halifax about replicating the model and we are exploring how we can become a part of Toronto's urban and suburban redevelopment plans.

We have worked hard to figure out some of the secrets of sharing and we would love to share these to help create other community hubs around Toronto and beyond.

Here is a copy of that speech I mentioned... how embarassing : )

Tonya

Welcome to the Centre. We are so thrilled you could join us here today as we celebrate social innovation in Toronto!!!

 

Nearly 4 years ago a small group of social entrepreneurs saw that too many nonprofits, community groups, and social purpose businesses were struggling with a lack of resources, high admin, in substandard facilities, and in isolation from each other, without the support that comes from a community of peers. BUT what if we were to SHARE? HHmmm… what if we were to share?

And so we created the Centre for Social Innovation - a convergence centre that provides shared space and shared services for now over 85 social mission groups, projects, and for social entrepreneurs.

By offering shared space and services, we have also leveraged this into becoming a community centre for the entire sector, offering a range of skills-building and idea generating opportunities, hosting 100’s of events a year and always offering a hot, organic fair trade cuppa coffee to a social innovator with a world-changing idea.

We have also become an incubator, albeit a very poorly funded one, helping social entrepreneurs get their world-changing projects off the ground. With projects like Green Enterprise Toronto, the Ontario Nonprofit Network and Frontline Partners with Youth, CSI is striving to use entrepreneurship, networks and community to change the world.

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Today we are celebrating that 1 year ago today, we tripled our size, expanding from 6,000 square feet to 20,000 sq ft, and now supporting over 85 social mission organizations and projects. We are delighted to be home to the most amazing change-makers a city could ever have!

And this year we introduce another Toronto first - The Workspace Commons – a part-time workspace for activists, artists, social entrepreneurs, volunteer groups and social mission groups. If you are working for social change in Toronto, we want you to make your home away from home here at the Centre – our doors are open, so bring your energy and ideas and we will help foster the connections and provide the services and supports you need to achieve your mission.

 

The creation and expansion of the Centre for Social Innovation simply would not have been possible without a few key folks:

 

• Ontario Trillium Foundation provided us with the capital to make this space beautiful, healthy and productive

• Canadian Alternative Investment Co-operative offered us an essential loan for the expansion

• Harbinger Foundation provided early core support for staffing

• And most especially Urbanspace Property Group for being the best darned investor, co-creator and business partner a group could ever have

Happy Birthday CSI!!!

And now the Centre for Social Innovation has set its sights on helping to transform a marketplace. No small task! We recognize the power of social entrepreneurship! We recognize the potential of social enterprise! And we believe in Toronto! We are ready, along with our visionary supporters, to start creating a values-based market place – and make Toronto a hub for social entrepreneurship!

What is social enterprise, you ask? Most simply – it is about blending for-profit strategies with non-profit values; it's about using the power of the market as a tool for positive social, cultural and environmental change. It is about moving an economy towards greater sustainability, health and humanity.

Today we are thrilled to publicly announce the launch of the Enterprising Nonprofits Program – ENP – for Toronto.

This GTA pilot program will provide grants of between $3000 to $10,000 to nonprofit groups that are developing a business activity for the dual purpose of generating revenue and furthering their mission. This funding will help to SEED social enterprise in Toronto – it will allow nonprofits to hire the expertise they need to test the viability of their ideas; to conduct the market research, prototype development and business planning activities needed to help ensure their success. This will be a 1 year pilot project that begins April 1^st.

We are so grateful to our pioneering funders circle that has come together to make this happen. Their vision and commitment to the sector deserves recognition.

1. Citizens Bank – our first in!

2. Alterna Savings

3. Social Capital Partners

4. The Co-Operators Insurance

5. Social Entrepreneurship @ MaRS

6. Carrot Cache

7. Toronto Training Board

8. Metcalf Foundation

9. Haynes-Connell Foundation at the Toronto Community Foundation

In addition, a special thanks to ENP-BC for openly sharing their model and helping us to build a social enterprise movement across Canada.

This is just the beginning! We are open to more partners coming to the table to support social enterprise in Toronto. With a contribution of $10-20,000, you too could be part of ENP-Toronto and there are emerging social financing options emerging to support social entrepreneurship. If you are interested in ENP, social enterprise or any of the other entrepreneurial work of the Centre for Social Innovation, please speak to Eli or i. We would be delighted to speak to you.

Thank you again - and thanks to our special guests - for joining us today. We are honored that you could come. We look forward to working with each of you to bring world changing ideas to life! Now let’s get started! Let’s make some change!

Thank you.