Engaged and active citizens make great cities
These are types of people who insist on rolling up their sleeves to make their city a better place. We teamed up with 15 outstanding partners to create 2015 Agents of Change: City Builders program, giving these dreamers, doers and innovators a helping hand.
Over 12 months, the selected startups in the Toronto cohort achieved a 461% increase in revenues, and 214% increase in paid staff.

Azeeza for Women is a social enterprise designed to address the issue of violence against women through health and fitness training.

Building Roots is an emergent initiative of Food Forward, a grassroots non-profit organization, where Torontonians meet to create a better City through food.

Building Up is a non-profit social enterprise that will install energy and water efficient retrofits in low income housing, while training and employing the marginalized residents of these buildings to carry out the work.

Building Roads Together/Farahway Global reduces mental health disparities and promotes inclusion and empowerment by building capacity for people to lead peer walking groups.

The Drop Distribution is a cargo cycle fleet operating year-round bringing the best of the city to consumer’s door stoops.

Five/Fourteen is a social service agency providing services and support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer and otherwise gender-non-conforming youth and young adults in and from foster care in Ontario.

Toronto Needs a Creative Director is a project to establish an office of Creative Direction within Toronto’s City Hall.

Shape My City brings the power of networks to people, ideas, projects, and organizations, helping to build a better Toronto.

StopGap Foundation is helping communities discover the benefit of barrier free spaces and providing support to create them through their Community Ramp Project outside storefronts across Toronto.

The Storefront Theatre is a performance space in the Bloorcourt area in Toronto, born out of a vacant storefront and converted into a thriving theatre venue.

Techsdale is helping Rexdale youth learn web, app and game design and development, in order to maximize their capacity for creative self-expression, their employability and their sense of agency.

Credit Do aims to break the cycle of financial exclusion specific to youth’s patterns with credit cards, work opportunity and affordability of college.

Safe Passage Project Corporation addresses the unmet legal needs of immigrant youth living in New York by ensuring they know about the legal options and services available to them.

TYTHEdesign’s Community Capacity Lab equips civil servants and nonprofit professionals with the capacity to integrate design thinking processes into the way their agencies design and deliver services.

NWNY is a cross-community nonprofit dedicated to empowering young women immigrants, particularly low-income women and single mothers, living in New York City.

Appigi is a directory and data tool for social service professionals used to ensure their clients are safe, healthy, housed, educated, and employed.

PopUp Forest: Times Square will put a slice of real nature in the heart of NYC.

BK Farmyards is a collective of urban farmers dedicated to the advancement of social justice through urban agricultural production and training.

White Roof Project paints the roofs of low-income and non-profit buildings white to promote environmental education, advocacy and community building while reducing the summer temperatures on the inside.

Akimbo’s mission is to build an inclusive workforce by connecting underserved individuals to professional opportunities.

#YesWeCode is a national initiative committed to training 100,000 low-opportunity youth to become high-level computer programmers.

CHAMPION Network is a 1-year membership-based employment program for young adults who are looking learn, grow and flourish in their careers.
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Our Agents are making lasting impacts on their communities. See for yourself.
StopGap Foundation
Building Up
Part of the CSI Accelerates Initiative
At CSI, we support entrepreneurs with solutions that drive change through acceleration and incubation. Learn more about our approach here.