CSI Programming

Every year, CSI organizes events, summits, competitions, workshops and more to accelerate the work of social innovators in Toronto. On this page you’ll find an assortment of ongoing and past programming CSI has been proud to offer.

Ongoing

Social Innovation Pop Up Labs

In partnership with Rural Ontario Institute, Ontario Nonprofit Network, and Canadian Centre for Community Renewal, the Centre for Social Innovation is hitting the road! We're traveling across the province and offering a range of one day pop up labs designed to help nonprofits accelerate their social impact and implement social innovation strategies that heighten their capacity to respond to the changing needs of the communities they serve. Upcoming labs will explore Trends in Social Innovation, Innovative Collaborations, Community Bonds and Other Social Finance Strategies, Social Enterprise Development, and Network Revolution. For more information about each lab please visit www.theonn.ca/popup-labs.

Past

2012 Youth Agents of Change

The Youth Agents of Change Program is an initiative of the Centre for Social Innovation and ING Direct to provide space and support to young people aged 19-29 with a promising social venture – click here to see the 2011 winners, and here for the 2012 callout for submissions. Visit the 2012 program page to meet this year's winners and to get updates.

ClimateSpark

The Centre for Social Innovation teamed up with the Toronto Atmospheric Fund and the Toronto Community Foundation in 2011 to launch the ClimateSpark Social Venture Challenge. Our goal was to identify, strengthen and launch promising social ventures that could tackle the causes and effects of climate change. This three-phased program included an online crowd-sourcing platform, a two-day venture development bootcamp, and a Dragon's Den style pitch for close to $750,000 in funding. Read our blog about it here, and find the final report here.

Community Innovation Summit

We believe deeply in the power of everyday citizens to create change in their neighbourhoods. That's why we hosted the Community Innovation Summit, a day-long event to inspire, strengthen and support Toronto’s diverse environmental community. We wanted to prove that environmental change starts from the ground up, so we strengthened links among activists, environmental nonprofits and a cross-section of experts to create the conditions for a greener Toronto…and to celebrate Citizen Power! Read the event recap here.

Social Entrepreneurship Summit

We see social entrepreneurship as core to finding solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems. So CSI, in partnership with MaRS, the Boston Consulting Group and the Toronto City Summit Alliance, hosted the first Social Entrepreneurship Summit on Dec 3 and 4, 2007, to foster a more resilient social mission sector. The summit was a smashing success with 250 people from a wide range of backgrounds in attendance. Read the event recap blog here.

Financial Knowledge & Skills Building

CSI has partnered with Alterna Savings, the Centre for Social Innovation’s credit union, to offer financial literacy courses for social enterprises, entrepreneurs and start-up organizations – click here for more information.