Centre for Social Innovation - Where Change Happens!

Friday, March 19
3:00pm - 4:30pm
Centre for Social Innovation
Alterna Savings Boardroom
Free

Presented by Organization Unbound and the Centre for Social Innovation

Many of us involved in social service and social change work have been frustrated by the incoherence that can exist between our organizations' overarching visions and their internal cultures and practices. How many community organizations have we encountered that don't feel like communities? How many advocacy groups that forget to practice the things they themselves advocate? 

Our experiences and early research suggest that the distinction between serving the world and nurturing our organizations is a false one. Some of the most vibrant and socially catalytic organizations we have seen are places where there is a promising confusion about who is serving whom - schools where teachers learn and grow, food banks where staff and volunteers are nourished, hospitals where doctors are healed, social justice groups where activists are surprised to find their vision of a better world taking root in their own offices. These organizations are invoking the power of something we might call expressive change - a pattern of change rooted in who they are as much as in what they do. They ask themselves: "How can we become what we seek?"

Organization Unbound presents Changing the World by Changing Our Organizations, an exploration and dialogue into the specific practices of expressive social change. RSVP to warren@organizationunbound.org.

About the Presenters

Warren Nilsson and Tana Paddock are co-founders of Organization Unbound. Warren is a teacher and writer with a Ph.D. in organization studies from McGill University. His work focuses on how social purpose organizations can foster deep engagement and on how such engagement might lead to broader institutional transformation. Tana has spent fourteen years working in the United States and Canada as a facilitator, organizer, and trainer on a variety of community-based projects including sustainable design, micro-enterprise development, community economic development, food security, public education, the arts, and affordable housing. Her work explores ways of creating more vibrant community organizations through reflection, dialogue, and appreciative attention.

Saturday, March 20
7:00pm - Late
55 Mill Street
Distillery District
$20 plus volunteer pledge (20 hours recommended)

The Framework Foundation presents the 7th Annual Toronto Timeraiser!

Dig art? Volunteering? This is the event for you! The Timeraiser is an art auction with a twist, where participants bid with volunteer hours instead of money. Join us for one of Toronto's most innovative (and fun) annual events as we work to raise 10,000 community hours.

Click here for more information about the Timeraiser or click here to purchase tickets. This event will sell out!

March 25 & March 26, 2010
9:15am-5:00pm
Centre for Social Innovation
215 Spadina Ave., Suite 400
Alterna Boardroom
$500 for businesses, government and large non-profits;
$350 for small non-profits and sole entrepreneurs
Sliding scale available
Includes snacks and materials (lunch not included)

Do you desire to be more effective in your work while using less of your valuable time and energy? Want to become more skillful in handling workplace conflicts and differences of opinion?  Believe it's time for more women to occupy, and thrive, in leadership roles?

This 2-day program is an invitation for experienced women leaders from different sectors to sharpen leadership skills, clarify organizational vision and learn from a community of practice. Together, we will explore different frameworks, tools and techniques to help navigate the challenges that arise to offering transformational leadership at individual, team and organizational levels. You will leave with a renewed understanding of the dynamics involved in creating deep and lasting change on all levels of the organization and how to stay replenished in your leadership role. This program is for women who have experience in leadership roles including as team managers and senior level leaders, sole entrepreneurs, and facilitators/practitioners in different fields.

This course is by application only** - please send a paragraph including your current position, background and intentions for taking the program to:  kate@AnimaLeadership.com. (This is meant merely as a courtesy toward our collective learning environment by ensuring participants have similar experience levels and interests). Contact us at info@animaleadership.com for more details.