Work at CSI for the day with our new Lounge Pass!

Innovating access to capital

If you are like 80% of social entrepreneurs in Ontario, access to capital is the major barrier to your success.

It can be pretty frustrating. You know that if you were a traditional business, you would have access to business loans. And if you were a charity, you’d be able to apply to foundations. But because you believe it is possible to make meaningful profit while also putting people and planet first, both types of support are out of reach.

The DUCA Impact Lab has a solution! They have partnered with FundThrough to offer an innovative, low cost working capital financing opportunity designed specifically for underbanked entrepreneurs and social enterprises. We are helping DUCA bring that solution to CSI! Wonder if your social enterprise could benefit? You are invited to a free cash flow consultation where you can find out! The next session is:

Wednesday June 27, 10am to 11am workshop at CSI Spadina – Meeting Room B: RSVP here

About DUCA: DUCA is a vibrant credit union that was started in 1954 by a group of new Canadians who didn’t have access to the mainstream banking system. As immigrants, they didn’t fit the conventional wisdom of the time of what a good banking customer looked like. So they established a financial co-operative that would work on behalf of its Members.

About Soshent: Soshent is a platform that lets you easily connect to the programs and supports you need to accelerate your success and amplify your impact. It connects you to the offerings of a growing number of partners. By simply filling out a short profile, you can discover the programs and resources you may be eligible for, so you can get to success, faster and smarter!


Photo by VanveenJF on Unsplash
Keep Reading
CSI Spadina in the ground floor kitchen, looking out towards the lounge and meeting rooms. In the foreground is a kitchen counter, with waffles, toppings, and glasses of coffees and teas. In the background, CSI CEO Tonya Surman is speaking into a microphone on the left. In the middle and on the right, a variety of people stand and sit, listening to her speak.
One of the keys to CSI's magic is our Community Animator Program (CAP) and, specifically, the Community Animators themselves! Through this program, we've worked with more than 1,000 exceptional individuals who have each brought a little something different, and a little sparkle, to our spaces. And we're so glad to have had them in our community, because we've learned that each and every one of them has some exceptional talents, skills, and experiences to offer the world!  
Third floor lounge of CSI Spadina. In the foreground is a light blue loveseat sofa. In the background, we see two people working separately at coworking desks and tables. On the ceiling is a chandelier; to the right, a progress Pride flag.
The CSI staff team includes Pride veterans, newcomers, and everywhere in between! This year, as we celebrated Pride in our spaces and with our member community, we turned to our staff team to learn what Pride means to them. Some experienced it for the first time this year and were awash in the joy; others delighted in the fact that Pride remains such a fun celebration decades later. Others noted the increasing corporatization, which draws our attention away from the central premise of Pride - a protest.
whai header
CSI is many things - a coworking space, a non-profit organization, and a launchpad - but, first and foremost, we are a community. A community of innovators, of changemakers, of neighbours, of people putting people and planet first. And the awesome work that our members do, each and every day, never ceases to amaze us! So of course, we do our best to highlight our members whenever possible. Recently, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Molly Bannerman, Director of Women HIV/Aids Initiative (WHAI), a community-based response to HIV and AIDS among cis and trans women in Ontario. Below is an edited summary of our chat, where we discussed the work of WHAI and their latest Collective Action Community Change report.
Become A Member