Is Toronto The Next Social Innovation Hub?

by Nathaniel Whittemore · 2010-03-27 21:57:00 UTC
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Today the first ever Young Social Entrepreneurs (YSEC) of Canada conference, re:Vision 2010, kicks off in Toronto, Ontario. With students, innovation centers, coworking spaces and an increasingly vibrant startup scene, Toronto is a place to watch.

Like so many groups, YSEC started as a regular conversation, held around couches and drinks by a group of friends who were increasingly excited about the emergence of the social enterprise field as a place to channel passion and energy for good. Last fall, they formalized the organization and have begun to undertake a series of programs including Monthly Meetups, Pitch Competitions, and now a conference -- all designed to create context for young changemakers to get together and begin building.

The conference is meant to be a chance for the community to come together. I'll be speaking later, as will "How To Change The World," author David Bornstein. But by and large, the community attending and facilitating are deeply invested in this particular innovation community.

The third in the triumvirate of speakers with David and I tonight is Tonya Surman, the founding director of the Centre for Social Innovation. The Centre started in 2004 as a response to the regular complaints from local nonprofits and social enterprises about resource constraints and a lack of good spaces where groups could begin to talk and collaborate more regularly and deeply.

The conference is being held at another important emerging innovation hub in Tornto, the MaRS Discovery District. MaRS combines advisory services -- where they partner organizations with leaders in their field to help build their capacity -- with lab space, events hosting, and other facility offerings.

Even if the ecosystem is young, it's clear that there is a ton of energy here. This is an innovation ecosystem to watch.

Photo credit: Ian Muttoo

Nathaniel Whittemore is the founder of Assetmap. Previously he was the founding director of the Northwestern University Center for Global Engagement.
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