This is the final installment in our series about social innovation. The series is published as a collaboration between The Philanthropist and McConnell Foundation. As we were striving to understand how the United Way-Centraide (UWC) movement has leveraged social innovation methods and tools to achieve more impact, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus quickly became the most significant global…

Alors que nous travaillions à comprendre comment le mouvement Centraide-United Way Canada (CUWC) avait amplifié son impact grâce à des méthodes et à des outils d’innovation sociale, la flambée du nouveau coronavirus a rapidement provoqué la plus importante pandémie depuis plus d’un siècle. Au Canada, les contrecoups sanitaires et financiers de la crise ont souligné…

Voici le dernier article de notre série consacrée à l’innovation sociale. Celle-ci est publiée dans le cadre d’une collaboration entre The Philanthropist et La fondation McConnell. Comme tout écosystème digne de ce nom, celui de l’innovation sociale au Québec est riche et diversifié. Cet article offre les portraits de six organismes dans ce secteur qui ont développé des modèles novateurs et porteurs…

This is the latest installment in our series about social innovation. The series is published as a collaboration between The Philanthropist and McConnell Foundation. Like any ecosystem worthy of the name, social innovation in Quebec is rich and diverse. This article offers a glimpse into six organizations that have developed new models that bring hope…
This is the ninth article in our series about social innovation. The series is published as a collaboration between The Philanthropist and McConnell Foundation. I started thinking more critically about philanthropy’s potential as I prepared my keynote address for this year’s Canadian Environmental Grantmaker’s Network (CEGN) annual conference. The theme of my talk was…
This is the eighth article in our series about social innovation. The series is published as a collaboration between The Philanthropist and McConnell Foundation. Three events over the course of one week in November 2017 shone a light on the past, present, and future of social innovation in Canada. At the Social Innovation Generation (SiG)…
This is the seventh article in our series about social innovation. The series is published as a collaboration between The Philanthropist and McConnell Foundation. In 2013, the team at Ryerson University’s Faculty of Community Service invited me to join them as the inaugural John C. Eaton Chair of Social Innovation. The faculty has deep social…

This is the sixth article in our series about social innovation. The series is published as a collaboration between The Philanthropist and McConnell Foundation. Let me begin with a story that recently moved me. It’s the story of Emily. She lives in Edmonton. She is curious and creative but also a tad shy. Emily lives…
This is the fifth article in our series about social innovation. The series is published as a collaboration between The Philanthropist and McConnell Foundation. Social innovation has become a popular policy buzzword globally, prompting strategies across all levels of government, as well as in business and philanthropy. Unfortunately, as many of us interested in philanthropy…

This is the fourth article in our series about social innovation. The series is published as a collaboration between The Philanthropist and McConnell Foundation. The challenge with understanding systemic change is that it is like describing a lake in which you are currently swimming. In Part I of this reflection on Robert Couchman’s 1992 article…