Changemaking News and Insights from Canada

Fashion is under increasing scrutiny for environmental degradation and worker exploitation. Ashoka Fellow Lis Suarez-Visbal believes Circular Economies and sectors can change the system for the better

Ashoka Fellow Alejandro Mayoral Baños discusses how his organization the Indigenous Friends Association is bringing digital sovereignty and cultural connection to Canada

Q&A with Laura Allan, Assistant Professor; Director, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Wilfrid Laurier University 1. Laurier has been a Changemaker Campus since 2016 and recently renewed its designation for another four years. In your experience, how have you seen changemaking evolve at Laurier? How do...

By Mark Abbott & Martin Ryan Artificial intelligence (AI) is a captivating frontier that holds immense excitement and promise. It’s a realm where machines learn, adapt and innovate, reshaping industries and enhancing our daily lives. From self-driving cars to advanced medical diagnostics and natural...

Ashoka Fellow Scott Stirrett draws attention to the increasing urban-rural divide within Canada, which is leading to frustration and anger and contributes to heightened political polarization.

In February, our DEI team sat with Nick Tilsen, the CEO of NDN collective and an Ashoka Fellow since 2014. We asked him to share some thoughts on the sector of philanthropy, the value of decolonization and indigenization in this sector and connected to major issues like climate change, and where he...

Q&A with Change Leader John Fischer, Interim Associate Vice-President, Indigenization and Decolonization, Mount Royal University

Ann Mortifee is a member of the Ashoka Support Network. Learn more about it here and consider joining our community. 1. As a changemaker yourself, tell us about your own journey and the role that changemaking and social innovation have played. I was very influenced by my upbringing in South Africa...

Shifting an organization towards a culture of impact can allow them to better meet the ESG goals they seek to achieve

We wish a very fond farewell to Charmaine Lyn as she steps out of her role as Ashoka Canada’s Director of Changemaker Education. In this brief Q&A, she reflects back on the last four years of impact with the Changemaker Campus network and anticipates what’s ahead for the field. 1. In your view, why...

“The vicarious experience of working with an entrepreneur teaches you what it truly takes to build something from the ground up.” Scott is the Founder and CEO of Venture for Canada, a national charity that is driven to foster entrepreneurial skills and mindsets of young Canadians. Venture for Canada...

Everyone in Canada needs to be more entrepreneurial, says Scott Stirrett. But Scott, the founder and CEO of Venture for Canada (VFC), doesn’t mean that every Canadian needs to launch a multinational startup. Rather, he envisions a country where everybody has the skills to identify and act upon...

COVID-19, tuberculosis, Ebola, Zika: When a health crisis hits a remote or Indigenous community, what usually happens? The usual pattern, says Rachel Kiddell-Monroe, is that a major player in the humanitarian aid industry parachutes in to implement an external, cookie-cutter solution; wrings its...

Decades after being taken from his Inuit home to be treated for tuberculosis in Hamilton, Louasee Kunilusee glimpsed Lake Ontario from the former Mountain Sanatorium property and the emotions welled up inside him. “I cried,” said Kunilusee. “I was just a child at the time.”

Venture for Canada (VFC), where Canada’s next entrepreneurs are cultivated, announced it received $23.23 million in additional funding from the Government of Canada. The funding received by VFC will support 6,097 students to participate in VFC’s programs over the next two years. VFC’s programs...

by Isabelle Morin Rachel Kiddell-Monroe has witnessed the unimaginable, particularly during the Rwandan genocide, which was a defining moment for her. Her humanitarian experiences, spanning three decades, have reinforced her convictions: compassion, solidarity, and empathy must be at the heart of...

by Katherine Boothby No stranger to working, Nathaniel Scott had been steadily employed since the age of 15. He found success through his work performance and moved into management positions in his varied occupations, even while completing university studies in psychology. Article content Scott’s...

Dance Revolution Intergenerational trauma, racism, addictions, violence and suicide epidemics. These are just a few of the challenges facing many Indigenous youth growing up in communities where the effects of residential schools and other colonial systems persist. In fact, these issues surface in...