Catalyzing Social and Environmental Change: a conversation with SI Canada’s Andrea Nemtin

In this conversation with Tonya Surman, CEO of the Centre for Social Innovation, or CSI, we hear about the effect of COVID on their core social purpose coworking space and significant strategic changes happening at CSI.  We see the value of CSi (and other nonprofits) owning real estate, unpack SI Canada’s new role, learn about their leadership on an Impact Dashboard with a Common Approach, and a pilot social enterprise in Muskoka for healing, connection and learning for impact leaders…and much more.   Resources  Tonya Surman : https://socialinnovation.org/team/tonya-surman/   Centre for Social Innovation (CSI): https://socialinnovation.org/   Social Innovation Canada (SI Canada): https://sicanada.org/   CSI Community Living Room, Regent Park: https://socialinnovation.org/space/locations/community-living-room/   TechSoup Canada : https://socialinnovation.org/about/techsoup-canada/   Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN): https://theonn.ca/   Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB): https://vancitycommunityinvestmentbank.ca/   Climate Ventures : https://climateventures.org/   Tapestry Community Capital: https://tapestrycapital.ca/   Wasan Island: http://www.wasan-island.de/   Breuninger Foundation: http://www.breuninger-stiftung.de/en/   Community Foundations of Canada (CFC): https://communityfoundations.ca/   McConnell Foundation: https://mcconnellfoundation.ca   Common Approach: https://www.commonapproach.org/   Adopting Common Measures with the Common Approach: https://socialinnovation.org/offering/adopting-common-measures/   Impact Dashboard: https://impactdashboard.org/       Thank you for listening to Impact Conversations with Lynn Fergusson & Sally Fazal . Find out more about our work at Social Impact Advisors: https://socialimpactadvisors.ca

How the world has changed!  There are a lot of new challenges and opportunities these days as organizations look to clarify their purpose, strategy, and evaluation of their work to create social impact in these uncertain times.  The work is more complex and challenging than it was say three years ago, the stakes are higher, and success is less certain.  In this podcast, Andrew Taylor, Co-Founder of Taylor Newberry Consulting and Lynn Fergusson, Partner at Social Impact Advisors let you in on some insights from the kind of conversations they often have to better understand the sector and how to support it.   Resources  Andrew Taylor:  https://taylornewberry.ca/our-team/andrew-taylor/   Taylor Newberry Consulting: https://taylornewberry.ca   TNC and Centre for Evaluation Innovation : https://taylornewberry.ca/what-it-takes-to-learn-during-crises-reflections/   McMaster research – Nonprofit resilience in context of COVID-19: https://resilience.degroote.mcmaster.ca/home/non-profit-resilience-in-the-context-of-covid-19/      Thank you for listening to Impact Conversations with Lynn Fergusson & Sally Fazal . Find out more about our work at Social Impact Advisors: https://socialimpactadvisors.ca

Laura Manning, Executive Director at the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation (LSHF) shares the journey and lessons learned from a bold Canadian pilot started in 2018, granting significant additional, unrestricted General Operating Support (GOS) to known grantees.  We hear about the time it takes to get boards comfortable with this approach and what’s behind that. We also hear how Laura and the Foundation see advocating for this approach as part of their work, to help shift the sector.  Now issuing more than 70% of the Foundation’s grants in unrestricted General Operating Support, LSHF provides insights and a framework in a Canadian context, and encouragement to Canadian funders to take a closer look at unrestricted giving as a way to enable impact.   Resources  Lyle S. Hallman Foundation: http://www.lshallmanfdn.org   General Operating Support pilot reports: http://www.lshallmanfdn.org/Pilot-Projects.htm   Laura Manning on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-manning-3b052718/ Ford Foundation Unrestricted Giving: https://www.fordfoundation.org     Thank you for listening to Impact Conversations with Lynn Fergusson & Sally Fazal . Find out more about our work at Social Impact Advisors: https://socialimpactadvisors.ca

In this episode, we talk to Paulina Cameron, a Globe and Mail ’22 Changemaker and CEO of The Forum, a Vancouver-based charity teaching, mentoring and supporting women entrepreneurs across Canada to take their businesses to the next level.  We hear about the challenges and opportunities the organization and women entrepreneurs faced through COVID.  We also hear about the systemic issues women entrepreneurs face, and work The Forum is doing in both supporting women to overcome these barriers, while at the same time providing training to banks to address systemic biases.  We’re encouraged to learn that more and more, younger generations of women entrepreneurs incorporate a social purpose in their business.      Resources  The Forum: https://www.theforum.ca/       Thank you for listening to Impact Conversations with Lynn Fergusson & Sally Fazal . Find out more about our work at Social Impact Advisors: https://socialimpactadvisors.ca

Our guest today is Andrea Nemtin, Executive Director of SI Canada. Sally and Andrea talk about what Social Innovation is, the history of the field in Canada, and how Social Innovation Canada (SI Canada) came to be.  Andrea talks about the priorities of the organization as our country emerges from COVID, and how solutions to the complex challenges of social justice and climate change can be catalyzed and aligned through education, intentional networking at local and national levels across all sectors, and storytelling.     Resources:   Social Innovation Canada:   https://sicanada.org  [email protected]  Post Event Check-in with our National Gathering Design Team  Igniting Local Actions for an Inclusive Economy  Andrea Nemtin LinkedIn  White Fragility Subscription Box:  https://www.edmontonshiftlab.ca/shift-lab-2-0-prototype-the-white-fragility-subscription-box/ Report: Unfunded:  https://www.forblackcommunities.org/reports/ Foundation for Black Communities:  https://www.forblackcommunities.org/ NFB film The Children of Fogo Island: https://www.nfb.ca/film/children_of_fogo_island/ SiG – Social Innovation Generation:  https://thesigstory.squarespace.com/ MaRS Discovery District https://www.marsdd.com Tonya Surman: https://socialinnovation.org/team/tonya-surman/ Darcy Riddell: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/darcy-riddell-11153a52 Alex Ryan: https://www.marsdd.com/bio/alex-ryan/ Radius: https://radiussfu.com/ Manitoba's Social Enterprise Centre: http://www.secwpg.com/ Boldness Project: https://www.winnipegboldness.ca/ Alberta's ABSI Connect: https://www.absiconnect.ca/ Quebec's MIS – Maison de l'innovation sociale: https://www.mis.quebec/ Atlantic Canada's Inspiring Communities:  http://www.secwpg.com/ Democracy Collaborative:  https://democracycollaborative.org/ Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority. https://rpra.ca/ Circular Economy Act: https://rpra.ca/the-circular-economy/ Michael MacMillan: https://www.samaracanada.com/about-us/board-of-directors The Samara Centre for Democracy:  https://www.samaracanada.com/home  . Thank you for listening to Impact Conversations with Lynn Fergusson & Sally Fazal .   Find out more about our work at Social Impact Advisors: https://socialimpactadvisors.ca

Hannah Askew started as Executive Director at Sierra Club BC in late 2018 with a mandate to bring an Indigenous lens to the work of Sierra Club BC, alongside the traditional scientific lens.  As a lawyer, prior to this role, Hannah practiced public interest environmental law and was deeply involved in learning from Indigenous communities about their systems of law and governance.      You’ll hear that Hannah is a big proponent of the McConnell Foundation’s Innoweave program “Impact and Strategic Clarity”, which they completed in 2019.  It’s how they developed a Theory of Change (see the podcast resources), building clarity around what the organization aimed to achieve and how they would do it.   While it was a difficult process, coming in as a new Executive Director and with this big change mandate, they've come through the other side and landed in a strong position to face the challenges of COVID-19.  They’re able to leverage their clarity of purpose, shared values, and bonds as a team as they work remotely.  They have greater direct participation from Indigenous peoples in the work.  This clarity has also led to a stronger funding position.       Sierra Club BC’s experience highlights the need to check our biases and identify things we may take for granted.  It also shows how challenging it can be to question our values, and change, but it also highlights the great value in doing so.     Resources Sierra Club BC:  https://sierraclub.bc.ca  Sierra Club BC’s Theory of Change: attached Hannah Askew:  2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report: https://www.ipcc.ch/2018/10/08/summary-for-policymakers-of-ipcc-special-report-on-global-warming-of-1-5c-approved-by-governments/    Thank you for listening to Impact Conversations with Lynn Fergusson & Sally Fazal . Find out more about our work at Social Impact Advisors: https://socialimpactadvisors.ca

Sarah Midanik, Executive Director of the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund shares a message of hope, as she reflects on the important work of reconciliation requiring us all, and non-Indigenous Canadians in particular, to take action. We hear about the important work to be done to address systemic racism and how this national charity found a way, working from the ground up, to address the history not previously being told in the school  curriculum, providing tools and resources into some 6000 schools within 4 years. And that’s just one example.   Resources  Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund:  https://downiewenjack.ca/   ReconciliACTIONS: https://downiewenjack.ca/our-work/reconciliactions/       Thank you for listening to Impact Conversations with Lynn Fergusson & Sally Fazal . Find out more about our work at Social Impact Advisors: https://socialimpactadvisors.ca

Selina Young, Director of the City of Toronto’s first Indigenous Affairs Office speaks with us about Toronto’s Reconciliation Action Plan, recently unanimously approved by Council.  We hear about the process, informed by various Indigenous community leaders, which pushed Selina and her team to revise the plan, ensuring big, bold action towards reconciliation.  It’s also made clear that this plan is not for Indigenous folks to undertake, but rather actions for non-Indigenous folks to be taking, namely by the City and its some 38k people, leveraging its role as service provider, policy developer, partner, system navigator, convenor, negotiator and regulator.      Resources  City of Toronto Reconciliation Action Plan: https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/accountability-operations-customer-service/long-term-vision-plans-and-strategies/reconciliation-action-plan/   Toronto Aboriginal Support Services Council (TASSC); https://www.tassc.ca/   CAMH reconciliation plan: https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/camh-launches-truth-and-reconciliation-action-plan   OPG reconciliation plan: https://www.opg.com/building-strong-and-safe-communities/indigenous-relations/reconciliation-action-plan/   Yellowhead Institute: https://yellowheadinstitute.org/       Thank you for listening to Impact Conversations with Lynn Fergusson & Sally Fazal . Find out more about our work at Social Impact Advisors: https://socialimpactadvisors.ca

Veronika Berlicki, co-founder and leader of CityHive, shares how they are transforming the way young people engage in shaping their cities.  Based in Metro Vancouver, this 5-year old nonprofit has revisited its initial strategic plans, to assess the impact its been making and see what changes that might mean for the way forward. They’ve engaged key stakeholders along the way and had some tough conversations as a team, looking at the change they want to be making and considering the trade-offs. They’ve developed a Theory of Change that is not only guiding their work but providing momentum, as they aim for youth facing systemic barriers to have an increased and lasting sense of civic agency.  To really understand the youth they aim to serve and the solutions they might need to serve them, we hear about a 10-point continuum of civic agency they’ve created, from not really being interested in engaging around 1, to those working with their municipality to create change. They’ve further dug in to understand what it might take to create that sense of civic agency, uncovering things like voting at the first possible election.    All of this puts CityHive in a strong position to take action, assessing everything they take on against the impact they seek.    Resources: CityHive: https://cityhive.ca   Thank you for listening to Impact Conversations with Lynn Fergusson & Sally Fazal . Find out more about our work at Social Impact Advisors: https://socialimpactadvisors.ca

Bianca Caramento is the Manager of the Bay Area Climate Change Council, leading the collective impact initiative to advance and accelerate climate change action in the cities of Burlington and Hamilton.  She shares with us the structure behind this collective, with her “backbone” role housed in the Centre for Climate Change Management at Mohawk College, supporting a collective of 14 community organizations.     We hear about their Theory of Change – the master plan for reducing green house gases in the community by 50% by 2030, towards becoming net zero cities by 2050, and how this work was informed by data and community consultation.  We see the power of this collective, supporting the work of the cities to address climate change while holding them to account.      BACCC provides a model for catalyzing change that many seek to emulate in their own communities, be it for GHG reductions or for using a collective approach to address other local issues.      Resources  Bay Area Climate Change Council : https://bayareaclimate.ca   BACCC plan/Theory of Change: https://bayareaclimate.ca/zero-carbon/#our-plan   BACCC Regional GHG inventory: https://bayareaclimate.ca/zero-carbon/#ghg-inventory   BACCC Indigenous Collaboration Policy: https://bayareaclimate.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/BACCC-Indigenous-Collaboration-Policy.pdf   BACCC members:  Burlington Economic Development Corp  Burlington Green  Clean Air Hamilton  Conservation Halton  Environment Hamilton  Hamilton Chamber of Commerce  Hamilton Conservation Authority  Hamilton Health Sciences  Hamilton Industrial Environmental Association  Hamilton Regional Indian Centre  Sustainability Leadership  United Way Halton & Hamilton    Thank you for listening to Impact Conversations with Lynn Fergusson & Sally Fazal . Find out more about our work at Social Impact Advisors: https://socialimpactadvisors.ca