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In December 2007 I had a delighteful time meeting with a wide variety of participants form the social enterprise and social business scene in Toronto.  I will be returning to Toronto between 16 and 24 July and would welcome the opportunity to meet with (active or prospective) social investors and social entrepreneurs during the course of that trip.  If you would like to meet up or are aware of anyone whom you feel I should meet, please email me at rod@catfund.com.

 Rodney Schwartz

This is a blog post, the first part of the title of which I would never have expected to write–ever!  My own experience at business school (name of school withheld to protect the guilty) felt like a complete waste of time, although much of my recollection has been lost in a beer induced (largely Molson and Genessee Cream Ale) haze.  I remember something about markets being efficient, something called dynamic programming and a wonderful class in venture capital–but much else remains untouched since it entered the recesses of my brain three decades ago.
Read more

This year, Catalyst commenced an activity which began just out of a wild idea. The “Catalyst in” series reflected my own desire to do something special to celebrate my 50^th birthday (and my 20^th year in the UK and Catalyst’s 10^th anniversary), which led me to travel to the Balkans over the summer (see www.catfund.com/balkans). My colleague Jessica Shortall also visited Thailand earlier this year (see www.catfund.com/thailand) and our friend Gus Poston journeyed to Sri Lanka (www.catfund.com/srilanka.htm). There are now several other trips planned for 2008 and we seem to have entered the field of what we are calling “Engaged Tourism”, where people aim to visit interesting countries but have had their fill of churches, beaches and art galleries and “get under the skin” of a place and interact with people in the local community.

The theme of these trips, social business, makes this very easy. There is a shared ethos, Read more

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Other Catalyst in Blogs

• Catalyst in Mozambique
• Catalyst in Micronesia
• Catalyst in the Balkans
• Catalyst in Thailand
• Catalyst in Sri Lanka

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• Altrushare Securities
  Offers institutional clients a brokerage platform based on an agency-only model free of traditional conflicts of interest, which ensures clients’ interests are always put first
• Canadian Alternative Investment Co-operative
  CAIC is mandated by its members to make mortgages available to non-profits or charitable organizations working to provide social services in their communities (i.e. youth group homes, non-profit, homeless shelters).
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  Member-driven organization that seeks to increase the scale and effectiveness of community economic development
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  Not-for-profit organisation promoting voluntary action and co-operatives within Canada
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  Organisation that educates, recognizes and funds existing and emerging Canadian and Global Social Entrepreneurs
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  a unique partnership that promotes and supports social enterprise development and growth as a means to build strong non-profit organizations and healthier communities
• Envision
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• Francophones for Sustainable Development
  FSE is the first bilingual not-for-profit Toronto based organization dedicated solely to the protection of the environment.
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  Network helping local businesses 'vote with their dollars' for the planet
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  Firm engaged in evaluating and monitoring the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of global securities
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  Canada’s first Fair Trade coffee roaster
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• Maytree Foundation
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• Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres
  Through supporting the work of local youth employment centres across Ontario, OAYEC aims to help young people find and maintain meaningful employment that will help improve the quality of their lives.
• Ontario Trillium Foundation
  Grantmaking foundation helping to create vibrant communities throughout Ontario by strengthening the capacity of the voluntary sector, through investments in community-based initiatives
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  Investment in Social and ethical businesses
• Roots of Empathy
  Emotional Litercay Program for youths
• Salt Spring Coffee
  A 100% CERTIFIED ORGANIC micro roaster located on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia
• Small Potatoes Urban Delivery
  A natural and organic web based home food delivery company serving Vancouver, BC
• Social Capital Partners
  Invests in social enterprises that employ populations outside the economic mainstream in Canada
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  Organic produce store
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  Canadian charity donation portal
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  Somali women's and childrens support network
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  Largest social housing provider in Canada
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  Research alliance that aims at enhancing capacity for ongoing research and development for the social economy of Southern Ontario
• Vancity
  Canada's largest credit union, guided by a commitment to corporate social responsibility, and to improve the quality of life in the communities in which it operates
• Village Real Estate
  Socially-conscious, community building real estate
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  Development of science and technology education projects in not-for-profit and educational organisations