Communities in Action is an initiative that aims to encourage and advance the efforts of nonprofits that are working with low-income communities and individuals in creative new ways to tackle intractable issues of poverty and marginalization. As a charitable foundation registered with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the Metcalf Foundation can only offer support to organizations with charitable status. In addition to being a registered charity, eligible applicants must be located and operate in the City of Toronto and have a mission that focuses on addressing issues of poverty in Toronto. The next deadline for Communities in Action is March 1st, 2010.
The Innovation Fellowship is aimed at individuals with vision, a passion for their issue, intellectual rigor, and a willingness to ask questions and propose solutions that may surprise. Innovation Fellows may come from such places as nonprofits or higher education, and include policymakers, managers, academics and entrepreneurs. Eligible applicants must have a significant record of achievement and have worked in an area related to their proposed exploration for a minimum of three years. There is no set deadline as there is a continuous intake throughout the year.
These leaders are catalysts. They cause or accelerate change within organizations and around the issues on which they are engaged, and they attract resources, attention, and support to their work. Without them, we would have fewer creative ideas, less compelling visions of a hopeful future, and fewer innovative responses to the challenges of realizing that future. There is likely to be a time in these people’s careers when an infusion of fresh information, exposure to the work of others, or space for reflection will be galvanizing. The Foundation believes that, with a little support and encouragement, such renewal can be exceptionally generative for these individuals, their organizations, and the sector as a whole.
We are pleased to announce the Not Rex Murphy Contest. The winner(s) of the Not Rex contest will be featured presenting a video commentary on rabble.ca on the same nights as Mr. Murphy presents commentary on CBC. For more information: http://rabble.ca/rabbletv/notrex.
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Think your organization’s carbon footprint is small? You don’t know until you measure it. SSG works with specialized carbon audit software to provide you with an accurate count of your organization’s carbon emissions based on ISO standards and the GHG Protocol Initiative. We then work with you to develop progressive changes and policies covering everything from how you use air travel to the paper you use in your photocopier. Your result: a new form of accountability to your stakeholders and funders, a solid contribution to climate change mitigation, and possible cost savings resulting from less energy use.
6. Social Investment Organization RFP
The Social Investment Organization is seeking proposals for a consulting assignment to conduct research into the creation of an investment offering to finance social enterprise in Ontario. Consultants may submit proposals on either or both of the research areas, which are described in the full RFP posting. The goal of the project is to determine the requirements for financing social enterprises in Ontario, and to establish a province-wide or national investment offering that would provide financing to social enterprise initiatives.
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EVENTS
7. Art Exhibition: Undertaking Acquisition, Chronicles of Our Time
January 21: 4 – 8pm
January 22: 12 – 8pm
January 23: 12 -10pm; 7-10pm – Opening Reception
January 24: 12-5pm
1214 Queen Street West, Toronto
$8 – Tickets will be available to purchase at the door.
1/2 price for students; $20.00 for pre-registered student groups
We have brought the Archival Library of Found Treasures to the Gladstone Hotel and invite you to participate in the lost and found of priceless objects. Welcome to a dazzling array of unique items, paragons of the Toronto region. Bring your micro frippery, gimcrack cutting, divorced doodads, fandangle filaments and the odds of your analog widgets. Exchange it for a virtuously reputable fare! Come see a collection like no other. There is something for everyone, and everyone can walk away with something. Step into the world of imagination…welcome.
With backgrounds in theatre, industrial design and sculpture, Maggie Greyson, Christine Lieu, and Phoebe Lo have come together to create Room 202. Influenced by natural cycles, a fascination with collections, and an all around interest in cultivating stories of existing humanity, the trio have put their magical touch on a room that will take you to another world ‐ a place like no other ‐ where stories unfold and new experiences are shared. In order to continue this trail of treasures lost and now found, will you partake in the foreign exchange with them?
To register, please send an email to maya@gladstonehotel.com. For more information, feel free to e-mail mag.greyson@gmail.com. Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=270611488452&index=1.
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8.Sustainability Network Training Workshop: First Nations Awareness
January 25, 2010
8:45am - 2pm
Centre for Social Innovation
215 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
1st Floor Boardroom
$100 or $80 if organizational budget <250K
Refreshments and light lunch included
This workshop will provide participants with a knowledge base needed in order to communicate effectively with First Nations Communities and Peoples. This intensive training session will provide the foundation for ENGOs working with First Nations in Ontario with an important understanding of the basics needed to create the shared environmental outcomes we all seek. Our training will include customized awareness and appreciation of the unique cultures, histories, customs, business practices, mannerisms, values and deep connections to communities of the First Peoples. This knowledge is necessary in creating long lasting partnerships based on education and awareness.
The workshop will be led by Kathleen Padulo of Generation Seven Consulting. Kathleen has her Masters in Environmental Studies from York University. She is from the Oneida Nation of the Thames and has 15 years working experience planning, developing and coordinating programs with Aboriginal organizations and First Nations communities. Dan Shaule will lead part of the morning workshop session with Kathleen, providing background information on political structures, treaties, Aboriginal community characteristics, terminology and demographics. Dan is a Researcher and Document Manager at Olthuis Kleer Townshend and is registered with the Garden River Ojibway Nation. We will also be welcoming a special guest: an Elder from a First Nations community who will lead Opening and Closing Prayers as well as observe and contribute to the training day as desired. For more information and to register please visit Sustainbility Network's website.
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9.Merging Sectors: Marketing 2010 and Beyond
January 28th, 2010
5:30pm
Centre for Social Innovation, Suite 120
$10* at the door, exact change is appreciated
*$ Received over the cost of refreshments will go to support the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank
It’s the future now; 2010 is here. The world is influx, and change is swirling. How are we adapting—as humans, as communities, as marketers? The 'line' between the nonprofit and corporate sectors is blurring rapidly. Do you know where the discipline of Marketing is headed? Will the birth of more "Social Enterprises" call for a unique flavour of marketing? I invite YOU to come share your thoughts on how the nonprofit and corporate sectors will merge, and adapt to the new world of marketing. Register here!
A BIG thank you to our generous space sponsor, Social Energy - Bringing People Together to Do Good.
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10. Sustainability Network Training Workshop: Creating and Fundraising for Events
February 2, 2010
9:30am – 4pm
Centre for Social Innovation
215 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
4th Floor, Alterna Room
$120 or $90 if organizational budget <$250 000
Refreshments and light lunch included
This workshop will help answer some important questions: Who is your demographic?
What do they like? What is your organization trying to communicate? What is the main function of your event? From this starting point, you will be able to sculpt your special event to best suit your goals. The rest of the morning will be spent creating your event and discussing the important asset: volunteers. We will create a critical path which will include a timeline and goals for all stages. Fundraising aspects such as sponsorship and in kind donation will be addressed.
In the afternoon, we will break into groups and begin working on planning an event. You will experience logistical needs as well as begin to create leads and opportunities for your fundraising needs. You will leave with a plan of action on how to move forward to create a successful and appropriate event for your organization - and how to continue with donor relations. To register please visit Sustainbility Network's website.
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11.Alive Basic: Learn to Create Balance and Make Full Use of Your Physical Space
February 7, 2010
10am - 4pm
Centre for Social Innovation
215 Spadina Avenue, 4th floor
Alterna boardroom
$95 (Max. of 12 persons)
In this full-day, hands-on course, learn the philosophy behind our Danish Human Centred Design approach that can be used in a home, home office or small business. Participants gain introductory level knowledge of the methods and tools that can be used to inspire transformation, take advantage of the physical environment and optimize space. Be inspired to take action! To register: e-mail info@indevision.com. For more info, check out our website.
Note: If you aren’t able to make it the all-day workshop, consider attending the one-hour workshop on the February 23rd “Alive Inspire”. To go directly there in the newsletter, click here.
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12. TechSoup Canada Net Tuesday: Social Bookmarking
February 9, 2010
5:30pm - 8pm
Centre for Social Innovation
215 Spadina Avenue, Suite 120
$5 by donation at the door
Social bookmarking is a way of sharing resources and information online. Whether it is for synchronizing bookmarks for personal use or to collaborate with a team of individuals, social bookmarking tools allow you to quickly build a list of resources through use of tagging and content sharing.
Join TechSoup Canada for the February Toronto Net Tuesday event and learn how two organizations have used social bookmarking. To RSVP, please register on our meetup.com website or email team@techsoupcanada.ca.
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13. Blogging for People Who Should: February Session
February 9th, 16th, 23rd and March 2nd (four-session workshop)
6pm - 8:30pm
Centre for Social Innovation
215 Spadina Avenue, Suite 400
$160 including refreshments (8 participants max)
Register online here
If you are doing work in the social sector and want people to know about it, this workshop is for you. “Blogging for People Who Should” is both an introduction to the science of blogging (the original 'social media') and a workshop on the art of telling your story online in an authentic and engaging way. Over the course of four evenings, you will learn how to:
* put together a basic blogging plan that works for you
* find and use the blogging tools that will work for you
* join and initiate conversations on the web
* make sure your message is being heard by your target audience
* extend the reach of your blog with other tools (including twitter and facebook)
* monitor and measure the impact of your efforts
Eric Squair has been blogging, and teaching people to blog, at organizations such as Greenpeace Canada and Make Poverty History, since 2004. He works out of the Centre for Social Innovation, facilitating email, web and social media capacity and strategy for non profits and independent businesses. You can learn more about the course, including a synopsis of the sessions and answers to frequently asked questions here.
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14. Alive Inspire: Easy Steps to Improving Your Physical Space!
February 23, 2010
1:30pm-2:30pm
Centre for Social Innovation
215 Spadina Avenue, Suite 400
Alterna Boardroom
$25 ($10 CSI Members) GST inclusive
Max. of 25 people
Mette Keating from InDeVision with the support of the Centre for Social Innovation will be teaching everyone some quick solutions to help you immediately improve your space and mood! These techniques can be applied to any space whether it be your home, home office, or small business. Mette will provide you with a list of 10 quick things you can do to take control of your space and re-create it into a space you enjoy being in. You will be inspired to take action!
This workshop is for you if have an interest in colour, layout, lighting, your physical space and the influence that all of those things has on human behavior and development. We will be seeking to answer questions like what is colour and how do we perceive it? How can you implement colour in your workspace without painting? Choose the colours that you need? Create positive flow in your space? How to choose with awareness and to go beyond just taste? Control your clutter and create more focus and ease? Understand which layout will make you feel energized rather than drained?
Register here! If you have any questions, please contact Yumi Hotta at yumi@socialinnovation.ca.
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15. Authentic Facilitation II: Learning to Sit in the Fire of Conflict
March 5, 2010
9:15am- 5:00pm
Center for Social Innovation
215 Spadina Ave., 4th floor
Alterna Savings Boardroom
Early Bird Fee: $125 + GST (available until January 31st, 2010)
Register Here
The real test of facilitating or leading a group happens not when groups are in harmony, but when differences emerge. Many of us tend to contract, to take one side over another, to want to control or direct group response when this happens. How do we stay open to the transformational learning possible in times of conflict? This one-day primer on facilitating group differences offers a framework and different techniques and tools for what to do when things get rocky.
This program is intended to build on and deepen facilitation skills and is for anyone in situations where skillful navigation of differences is required whether in a unionized environment, school classroom, coalition process, or other organizational context. Prior experience facilitating is required or completion of the Authentic Facilitation Level I . Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions concerning this prerequisite.
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