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The Star writes about MaRS social innovation client, Tiffinday. Tiffinday delivers vegan Indian meals around Toronto. They also use GoodFoot couriers, another socially innovative company, to do their on-foot deliveries.

A Web 2.0 focused resource site for entrepreneurs, Virtual Handshake provides links to industry blogs, wikis, and discussion groups. Links to informative social networking sites, software (freeware), and other virtual communities can also be found, as is a comprehensive directory of other online networking/social software companies.

The social innovation eXchange (SIX) is a network that has been set up by a group of organizations to help build the emerging field of social innovation. They believe that many of the big problems that the world faces - from climate change to the care needs of an aging population - will only be solved by experiment, enterprise and innovation, and that innovation needs to tap into the creativity of every part of civil society, business and the public sector.

Rotman NeXus provides a variety of services to non-profit and social enterprise businesses. In addition to providing organizational help including budgeting, market research, and operational design, Rotman NeXus calculates the social and economic impacts of projects for a small fee. Roman NeXus is staffed by University of Toronto's second year Joseph L. Rotman School of Management top-tier MBA students.

ACE is a national charitable organization that is teaching and igniting young Canadians to create brighter futures for themselves and their communities. Working in partnership with business and higher education, ACE delivers experience-based programming that allows university and college students to move beyond the traditional path of post-secondary education. These students are challenged to address economic, social and environmental issues in their own entrepreneurial ventures and in their communities. ACE currently delivers two programs on over 50 university and college campuses across Canada with the involvement of over 1,700 student leaders and student entrepreneurs.

Does Ontario need a School for Social Entrepreneurs? SiG@MaRS wanted to find out, so they embarked on a feasibility study. The results of that study can now be downloaded. The answer, (not to ruin the surprise) is "yes!"

In America and Britain governments hope that a partnership with "social entrepreneurs" can solve some of society's most intractable problems.

The authors of this book present true and unique (mainstream) business models that have changed the world. In three parts, they present "Building Innovative Enterprises," "Creating the Markets of the Future," and "Leading Sustainable and Scalable Change." Case studies from for-profit and nonprofit social organizations are also discussed, including Whole Foods, One Laptop Per Child, Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8.

The book by David Bornstein who recently spoke at the re:Vision conference for young social entrepreneurs at MaRS (which incidentally fell on Earth Hour).

The Initiative is a new program designed to identify, publicize and direct new funds to individuals who have started successful, new non-profit organizations dedicated to helping those in need.

Rachel Mendleson states "A growing number of Canadian companies are now becoming certified as "B Corps," a new designation that seeks to distinguish firms that are committed to improving more than their bottom line." Allyson Hewitt, director of social entrepreneurship, MaRS Discovery District states that "MaRS is at the forefront of the Canadian B Corp movement."

Article concerning innovation and social needs

A blog about the business of giving - a good read for non-profits and other social-good institutions who would like to rely at least partially on philanthropy.

The Globe and Mail profiles Seema Pabari of Tiffinday, a vegan-Indian lunchtime meal delivery service. Tiffinday is a Toronto start-up and a MaRS client in our social innovation practice.

The Globe features Good Foot courier service, a MaRS client and social purpose business in Toronto. Their couriers hire developmentally disabled people, sure, but they're really a great business offering great service.

The Sunday Edition of the CBC Radio Show has posted a podcast of their interview with Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus. About Muhammad Yunus: After the great famine of 1974 the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh was founded by Muhammad Yunus. This bank was the first in an innovative approach to moneylending now known as "micro-banking". The Grameen Bank makes loans to the poor, and functions as both a business and a social development program (CBC, The Sunday Edition).

A Canadian Federally Registered Charitable Organization since 1999, Homeland Int., Inc. seeks to provide housing and better-quality-of-living services to global communities. The non-profit organization seeks entrepreneurs, lawyers, mentors, philanthropists, corporate leaders, and others. These individuals and companies can donate their time, commitment, collective knowledge, management resources, and other skills towards assisting communities with social implementation strategies and many other community-building projects.

Nic Sulsky is the co-founder of InGamer, the 3-screen social gaming platform turns a passive sports-watching audience into an active one. InGamer provides sports, live event broadcasters, and brands a platform that greatly diminishes audience fragmentation, eyeballs being distracted and early disengagement. It stimulates a stickiness that will allow partners to more effectively monetize that audience wherever & however they are engaged. It's the logical next step in live sport and live event production licensing, broadcasting, and marketing.