In Canada we have a vibrant social economy that tackles complex social issues, often in imaginative ways. The problem, though, is that far too many of us don’t know much about the social economy, or we see the social economy as somehow inferior to the private sector. Our ignorance needs to be addressed, as the social economy is a significant and unheralded economic contributor. Our ability to appreciate the scale and scope of the social economy isn’t helped by how difficult it is to define the social economy! Here, I use the term to mean organizations that have a clear social mission, some form of social ownership, volunteer participation and engagement of community members.

Recently I gave a talk to a bunch of college students. The talk theme was a bit vague, and the title was simply "Apathy is Boring," so I took an opportunity to speak to these students about the reality and challenges of starting an organization - my favorite topic. Usually my number one piece of advice in these types of situations is "don’t do it." Or more precisely, don’t do it unless you really know what you are getting yourself into.

At Tides Canada, we like to say that we deliver “uncommon solutions for the common good.” In essence, that means that we bring a spirited and creative approach to problem-solving. As a national foundation, we support a wide variety of charities—everything from neighbourhood-scale nonprofits, all the way up to the big household names you read about in the papers.

But one common thread runs through much of our work: We tend to gravitate toward the thorniest challenges of our age, and bring together strange bedfellows to put in place the conditions needed to enable lasting solutions.

Have you seen the V8 commercial where the person smacks themselves on their forehead with the realization that they “could have had a V8”? Well, in December 2007, SiG@MaRS, along with our partners at The Boston Consulting Group, Centre for Social Innovation and (what was then) Toronto City Summit Alliance, hosted the first of our now annual Social Entrepreneurship Summits. At the end of this first event, I was inundated by people who had been struck by the realization that, “Wow, I’m a social entrepreneur.”