Not Far From the Tree (NFFT), an organization founded in 2008, has the unique mission of ensuring Toronto’s fruit doesn’t go to waste. Here’s how it works: if homeowners feel overrun by an abundant fruit harvest, they call NFFT who quickly mobilize their volunteers to get picking. The harvest is split three-ways, one-third to the tree owner, one-third to the volunteers, and the last portion donated to food banks, shelters and community kitchens.
When educator Mary Gordon founded Roots of Empathy in 1996, some were doubtful. Championing the power of empathy and its ability to transform children - and, in effect, the world - Gordon’s views were seen as laudable for sure. But practical? Debatable. At the heart of the program are classroom visits by an infant and their parent. By observing the loving relationship between the two over a course of time, the theory is children become more attuned to their thoughts and feelings and those of others. Empathy is the powerful result.
Dedicated to creating sustainable communities and production systems, UK-based BioRegional Development Group was co-founded in 1994 by Sue Riddlestone and Pooran Desai to stem what they viewed to be the primary cause of the world’s environmental issues: over-consumption.
Listen to a clip of Elisa's interview with Nicole, from February 2011.
Next time you pick up the Globe & Mail, reread the Harry Potter series or absorb the latest Canadian Geographic, rest assured the environment was protected in the process. You can thank Nicole Rycroft and Canopy for that. For more than 11 years, Canopy - with Rycroft as its innovative ringleader - has been protecting the world's forests by galvanizing publishers, printers and paper producers and strategically persuading some 700 of them to adopt green practices.
Loretta Cella is the founder of Passion Foundation, a Vancouver, BC-based social profit organization that focuses on the health and well-being of young women in Canada by raising literacy and social development. As a "young woman assisting young women to be passionate about life," one of her dreams is to make this grassroots organization nationally extended over the next few years. Find out why she decided to go the social enterprise route in our Q&A.
Not Far From the Tree (NFFT), an organization founded in 2008, has the unique mission of ensuring Toronto’s fruit doesn’t go to waste. Here’s how it works: if homeowners feel overrun by an abundant fruit harvest, they call NFFT who quickly mobilize their volunteers to get picking. The harvest is split three-ways, one-third to the tree owner, one-third to the volunteers, and the last portion donated to food banks, shelters and community kitchens.
Listen to a clip of Elisa's interview with Nicole, from February 2011.
Loretta Cella is the founder of 
