Jul

30

Innovations in Unexpected Places: The Tale of Aji Sai

July 30, 2008

I had the pleasure to have lunch last week with Tonya Surman, the Director of the Center for Social Innovation (CSI). I will try to write more about them and what they do in an upcoming post. Apart from providing fabulous and interesting company, I have Tonya to thank for a powerful lesson regarding innovation and where one can find it–in this case, she enabled me to discover it at the Aji Sai restaurant.
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Jul

25

Champion needed for innovative education business!

July 25, 2008

If this blog is about anything it should be about helping social entrepreneurs to succeed, at the same time as it learns from them and tries to communicate aspects of that knowledge. Heather MacTaggart is an impressive social entrepreneur who needs just a bit of help from a fellow Canadian. Like all social entrepreneurs she could probably also use some cash, but also really would like to find a more senior “champion”–someone that cares as much about reforming and thereby improving education as she does, but could open a few doors for her in the process. She has achieved a considerable amount already over the last ten years–would anyone like to step forward and help?
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Jul

21

A Green Submarine Company?

July 21, 2008

Earlier today I had the chance to meet with Andrew Heintzman, President of Investeco, a venture capital investor in early stage environmental businesses (get it? invest-eco). They are a bit like Impax Asset Management in the UK, with both private and listed equity arms. Perhaps I will write about them at some point this trip–but this post is about one of their clever investments–Triton Logging. As businesses go it is cute, shrewd and delightfully simple–like all the best ideas.
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Jul

18

Day 1: The Journey into the Light

July 18, 2008

Okay. I hate melodramatic titles as much as the next person, but in this case it just seemed so suitable. Today is my first day back to Toronto, Canada since my visit here in December 2007. The overwhelming message from the meetings I had today is of people of varying ages looking to do something “more meaningful with their lives”. More than half my meetings today (and there were seven!) involved this theme, which in fact is a key underpinning to the growth of the social business and investment area worldwide–let’s explore.
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Jun

15

Returning to Toronto, Canada

June 15, 2008

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


 

Dec

10

The Case for Business Schools: Is There a Prominent One in Canadian Social Entrepreneurship?

December 10, 2007

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.
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Dec

4

Catalyst in Canada: A cheeky start

December 4, 2007

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 50th birthday (and my 20th year in the UK and Catalyst’s 10th 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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