Document 6518521

 Social Innovation Generation (SiG) is a national collaborative fostering a culture of continuous social innovation in Canada What is Social Innovation? Social innovation is the successful application of new ideas in ways that produce positive social, environmental, and cultural outcomes. Most simply, social innovation is about new ideas that work to address old social problems. How is SiG fostering this culture of social innovation? Public Engagement and Policy Engaging the Canadian public and its elected leaders in our work is vital. We do not assume that we have all the answers – we need to work on solving social and environmental challenges together. Through online and offline media, public events, networking, and marketing opportunities, SiG is committed to engaging all stakeholders in a discussion that will produce the most effective solutions to our greatest challenges. SiG@PLAN has extensive experience engaging people in vulnerable communities and continues with a renewed focus on creating a culture of belonging. To produce a range of solutions that can be tested and implemented, we encourage government to be proactive. SiG is meeting with elected ministers and their departments to explain the innovative opportunities available and to encourage legislative changes that would enable the growth of social entrepreneurship in Canada. Social Entrepreneurship SIG@MaRS provides advisory support, education and networking opportunities to social entrepreneurs; individuals who recognize a social problem and create a venture that seeks to maximize both impact on society and financial return. SiG@MaRS has also successfully integrated its social entrepreneurship work into the greater MaRS Advisory Group ensuring that the organization as a whole is committed to maximizing the economic and social prosperity of Ontario. The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation is a philanthropic organization funding programs that support Canadians in building a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient society. As a team, the SiG collaborative is committed to strengthening an environment for social entrepreneurship, knowing that innovative ideas must be allowed to seed if we are to find solutions to society’s systemic problems. Knowledge Generation & Dissemination Understanding community and the DNA of innovation is vital when proposing ways to do things better. SIG@Waterloo seeks to generate new knowledge about social innovations and the social innovation process in Canada. This knowledge is disseminated through publications and learning events from graduate programs to lecture series developed inside and outside the university research community. SiG@Waterloo is also developing an open source curriculum for social innovation, ensuring this learning is continued for years to come. SIG@MaRS builds on SiG@Waterloo’s work through the development of a Social Entrepreneurship White Paper series. This series is buoyed by a robust Entrepreneurship toolkit on the MaRS website and distributed throughout Ontario to all sectors either directly or at its various public events. Social Finance SiG is deeply involved in the development of a new finance infrastructure in Canada that will strengthen innovative non-­‐profits and bolster social purpose businesses. Development of a more robust social finance sector will be achieved through dialogue with the private and non-­‐profit sector and through regulatory change at the government level. Through our Ottawa-­‐based SiG Fellow, SiG is attuned to proposed and developing legislation. Our work in this area will be greatly enhanced by the convening of the first Blue Ribbon Social Finance Taskforce in Canada. Their finding will be presented to our elected leaders upon completion in the fall of 2010.