We spoke with Regent Park entrepreneur Gail Lynch, CEO and Experience Designer of ZERO Cocktail Bar, about building a non-alcoholic bar and her experience as a Black woman entrepreneur. 

As we celebrate Black History Month, we’re continuing our learning, and we thought an update to our Black history reading lists (see our lists from 2018 and 2020) was in order! This year, we turned to our CSI community to crowdsource their recommendations. We asked our members and staff to share with us a favourite book, essay, movie, show, or podcast that they found impactful about the Black experience.

Every year, we honour a member or members with the Bow Tie Award during our famously festive Holiday Gathering. And no, it’s not for the best dressed attendee!

The Canada Animal Welfare Scorecard, the second annual report and the only one of its kind in the country, ranks more than 50 food companies. We spoke to PJ Nyman, Corporate Engagement Manager, about the report, its implications for the Canadian agriculture sector and for consumers nationwide, and how being a CSI member has benefited their work.

For our November Innovator Drinks, we were lucky enough to host CSI Annex Member and author, Alessandra Naccarato, and our event sponsor, Book*hug Press, to discuss Alessandra’s latest book, Imminent Domains: Reckoning with the Anthropocene. Alessandra joined us to discuss her book, the process of writing at CSI Annex, and advice for ourselves in this changing world.

CSI is chock full of amazing member organizations and entrepreneurs working on changing the world. Sustainable climate action start ups, literacy initiatives, newcomer services, and building leadership skills are just a few of the many ways our members are making a difference. Did you know that in addition to their changemaking work, some organizations also offer up awesome benefits to their fellow CSI members? One of those groups is Good Foot Delivery, a CSI member since 2014.

We hosted the first Six Degrees event in several years at CSI Annex, along with partners The Green Line and the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). Six Degrees: Toronto Talks Election 2022 brought together more than 60 attendees, as well as local candidates, to discuss urban futures and the October Toronto municipal election.

CSI members are doing world changing work, all over the globe - including right here in Toronto! One of our former DECAs and current members, Charles Ozzoude, is running for city council in Ward 1-Etobicoke North in the upcoming municipal election. We spoke to him about his experience as a first time candidate, the accessibility of politics, and how his time at CSI has helped him.

Jini served on CSI's board, and the first board of the Ontario Nonprofit Network (also co-founded by CSI's CEO Tonya Surman). Tonya would often describe Jini as her first call when she was starting something new, and a catalyst for much of the change she has made in her career.