WOSEN

SUPPORTING WOMEN SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS

Support for your women-led social enterprise

The Women of Ontario Social Enterprise Network (WOSEN) offers a suite of programs for women interested in starting or growing their own ventures that seek to have a positive social, cultural or environmental impact through their operations, and/or the sale of their products or services.

WOSEN is dedicated to equity and inclusion, and the term “women” is used collectively throughout this page. We serve trans and cis women, and our programming is inclusive of Two-Spirit, non-binary, and genderqueer individuals. We prioritize those from underserved and underrepresented communities, including Indigenous folks, folks in rural or remote regions, racialized folks, newcomer folks, LGBTQ2+, and folks with disabilities.

Our programming works to unleash the entrepreneurial energy and capacity of women who have solutions that put people and the planet first. Together, we are redesigning how business supports are provided so these entrepreneurs can build the skills, make the connections, and receive the coaching needed to achieve their missions.

CSI is offering three free programs within the WOSEN initiative:

An ongoing support system for women entrepreneurs looking to get investment-ready.

A 9-week program for women entrepreneurs at the ideation stage.

A 20-week program for women entrepreneurs looking to refine their business model and build leadership skills.

Investment Readiness Supports

As an entrepreneur it can be challenging to find and prepare for the right grant, loan, or investment opportunity. We are here to help.

The Women of Ontario Social Enterprise Network (WOSEN) is hosting Investment Readiness Supports for trans and cis women, Two-Spirit, non-binary, and genderqueer individuals who lead established social ventures, who have a defined capital need, and who are preparing for funding or investment in the coming year.

Registration closes October 22, 2021.

Where

Meet us online: Zoom Classroom and on the Common Platform.

What You’ll Gain

As a participant, you’ll…

Improve your venture story and presentation
Get to know the funding landscape
Map out a clear and actionable funding and capital plan
Understand when a grant, a loan, or an investment is best for your venture
Prepare for current funding opportunities matched to your needs

What’s Included

Participate in one 3-hour program orientation where you will begin to develop your funding and capital plan for your venture.

You then can choose to participate in the following offerings:

Join a monthly workshop that dives deep into investment readiness with special guests and exercises that help you to develop a funding and capital plan
Meet with us one-to-one to review your plan, or your funding submissions
Participate in monthly peer circles where your peers share back valuable insights and peer support
Our team will research funding opportunities matched to your needs
Find funding and opportunity updates on The Common Platform

We aim to provide a tailored approach to meet the needs of your venture and industry.

You are a woman, Two-Spirit, non-binary or genderqueer individual
Founder or 51% ownership of a social purpose business – that can be a charity, non-profit, or social enterprise that is revenue-generating and has a defined social or environmental purpose
You must be…
- Generating earned revenue or seeking R&D investment into your product
- Incorporated as a for-profit, not-for-profit, cooperative, or charity
- Working full-time on the venture
- Seeking to raise capital for a defined purpose through a loan application, or a grant, or an equity raise over the next 12- 24 months, or seeking to receive COVID response supports

If you are thinking about this opportunity but are in an earlier stage of development, please look at the Start and Grow programs on this page. They can help you get started on your business plan or support your business strategy.

The Start Program

Are you interested in exploring your purpose as a social entrepreneur? Do you have an early-stage idea that will create positive social or environmental impact?

Join the Start program, a 9-week online program for aspiring women entrepreneurs that covers the foundations of social entrepreneurship – from making sure you’ve identified the right problem, to developing a solution, to turning your idea into a sustainable business model. We serve trans and cis women, and programming is inclusive of Two-Spirit, non-binary, and genderqueer individuals.

If you’re ready to roll up your sleeves, invest in your personal and professional growth, and turn your idea into impact, this is the right course for you!

Applications for Start are now closed.

INDIVIDUAL COACHING

PEER ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS

ONLINE WORKSHOPS

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES AND COMPLIMENTARY CSI MEMBERSHIP

When and Where

Classes will run:
September 29, 2021 to December 1, 2021
Wednesdays: 5:30 – 8:30 PM ET
Online: Zoom Classroom and Slack workspace

What You’ll Learn

We’ve designed this program to foster a collaborative, supportive and inclusive virtual community for our cohort. Together, we will explore social entrepreneurship and various tools and resources to help refine your social enterprise idea, while gaining valuable skills that will give you the confidence to move your idea forward.

Throughout the 9-week program, you will:

Explore your purpose as a social entrepreneur within a supportive online community
Discover your problem space
Map opportunities for impact & discover your key stakeholders
Build your business model
Identify funding options

By the end of the 9 weeks, you’ll gain experience, confidence and practice in core areas such as critical thinking, systems thinking, active listening, storytelling, decision making and business modelling.

What’s Included

In addition to the 9-week Start Program online curriculum, participants will also gain:

Four one-to-one coaching sessions with an experienced social enterprise coach
Access to online CSI Community perks: CSI Community Membership & invitations to additional online workshops
Extra support through weekly (virtual) peer engagement sessions
Access to valuable tools, guides and worksheets for your future use

Who You’ll Meet

You will form deep connections with a diverse cohort of 15 women changemakers who are passionate, driven and committed to making a positive impact. In this program you will also have an opportunity to connect with a coach from our diverse community of social enterprise coaches, because we believe representation is important and highly valuable.

The Start Program was developed in partnership with the Women of Ontario Social Enterprise Network. WOSEN is dedicated to equity and inclusion and the term ‘women’ is used collectively throughout this page. We serve trans and cis women, and our programming is inclusive of Two-Spirit, non-binary, and genderqueer individuals. We prioritize those from underserved and underrepresented communities, including Indigenous folks, folks in rural or remote regions, racialized folks, newcomer folks, LGBTQ2+, and folks with disabilities.

WEEK 0: ONBOARDING & ORIENTATION

This is a wonderful opportunity for us to get to know each other and create connections among our cohort. We will also help you unpack some questions you may be wondering, such as:

How do I navigate this online offering in the most efficient way?
What is WOSEN? How are the WOSEN Design Principles incorporated into programming?
Setting intentions: What is my vision & personal learning goals?
How can I contribute to our online community and engage more effectively with my peers?

Learning Outcomes: Learn how to navigate the online offering, creating connections with each other and setting intentions. Together we will explore the importance of mindsets, and active & deep listening skills that will be helpful throughout the program.

WEEKS 1-4: YOU & YOUR ECOSYSTEM

In the first half of this program you will explore and gain a “bird’s eye view” of the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Expand your knowledge of yourself and the systems you are part of. Discover your network and how you can utilize it. Together, we’ll begin with some of the big questions you may be asking yourself, such as:

What is entrepreneurship and what is social entrepreneurship? How do I unpack my assumptions about it?
What is social impact? How can you generate social impact?
How do I define success? What does that look like for me?
How do I navigate this complex ecosystem? What are the steps for conducting discovery research on my topic of interest?
How do I incorporate research insights to help shape my social enterprise idea?

WEEK 1

Topic: Social Entrepreneurship & Self Exploration
Learning Outcomes: Understanding your vision, values, and your “why.” Explore Personal Asset Maps, personal narratives, and assumptions.

WEEK 2

Topic: Ecosystem Challenge
Learning Outcomes: Use an ecosystem approach to define your challenge. Learn about the Impact Gaps Canvas, Community Asset Mapping, and unpack some more assumptions. Learn how to conduct discovery research.

WEEK 3

Topic: Ecosystem Solutions
Learning Outcomes: Identify your ecosystem actors & stakeholders, and what solutions already exist. Learn more about discovery interviews to validate assumptions.

WEEK 4

Topic: Ecosystem Gaps
Learning Outcomes: Learn how to evaluate & prioritize opportunities and how to define impact.

WEEKS 5-8: YOUR ENTERPRISE IDEA

The second half of the program places more emphasis on your enterprise idea. You will explore this in greater depth using helpful tools such as the Flourishing Business Canvas to help strengthen your idea and build on your entrepreneurial skills through strengthening, practicing, and experimenting. Learn to iterate your business model based on new insight from your discovery research.

Questions answered during this phase include:

What type of business model can support my social enterprise idea? How do I create social and/or environmental impact?
What skills and resources do I need to get started? Where can I find them?
How can I learn from other women’s entrepreneurial journeys?
Who am I as a leader? And how can I utilize people within my network as I take the next step?
How do I build an action plan to move my idea forward?

WEEK 5

Topic: Enterprise ‘Why’
Learning Objectives: Unpacking your entrepreneurial toolkit – Introduction to business modelling.

WEEK 6

Topic: Enterprise Model.
Learning Objectives: Continue building on and iterating your Flourishing Business Model Canvas. How can you engage stakeholders to achieve your vision?

WEEK 7

Topic: Enterprise Mechanics
Learning Objectives: Social enterprise financials 101, defining success, and exploring how to structure and incorporate your enterprise.

WEEK 8

Topic: Enterprise Flourishing
Learning Objectives: Social enterprise financing (options, tips, and resources to get started), build on your action plan and gain momentum moving forward.

Week 9: End of Program Celebration

To wrap up the program, we’ll gather as a cohort to celebrate everyone’s journey, share resources on next steps, and figure out how we can stay connected.

The Start program will allow you to gain many entrepreneurial competencies no matter what path you decide to take after the program ends!

We incorporate the following WOSEN Design Principles in our programming: inclusive & accessible, systems informed, decolonized, responsive, ecosystems approach, human-centered, and taking an anti-oppressive lens. Incorporating these principles allows us to deliver programming in an effective and unique way to enhance your virtual learning experience. Here are some of the skills you will learn from this course:

Business Modelling: Learn the fundamentals of business model design and how to integrate and iterate various components of your social enterprise idea.
Personal & Community Asset Mapping: Identify your strengths (assets) and gaps, and learn how to connect to external resources to help you succeed.
Incorporating an Ecosystems Approach: Integrate systems thinking, mapping & navigation.
Storytelling: Crafting and telling stories to understand the impact you want to make and learning how to connect with audiences.
Critical Thinking & Research Skills: Learn how to problem solve, collect data and analyze it.
Design & Systems Thinking: Understanding the numerous factors that contribute to a problem you are wanting to solve.
Active Listening: Learn how to listen deeply and effectively in order to build strong relationships.
Inner Confidence & Awareness: Gain inner strength to connect to your values and goals.
Time Management & Goal Setting: Set realistic goals for your action plan.
Decision Making: Selecting the best course of action that will bring about authentic change.

Applicant Requirements

You are a woman, Two-Spirit, non-binary or genderqueer individual
You live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) or the Central Ontario region
Stage of venture: early stage
Your social enterprise idea is a product or service the will create measurable positive exchange in your community
You are at least 18 years old
You want to build an enterprise to address a challenge and you have an idea for a solution
You are motivated and open to learning, feedback, and new ideas
You want to be part of & contribute to an outstanding community of like minded individuals
You are available to join evening programming online (Wednesdays from 5:30pm to 8:30pm ET)

Canadian citizenship is not required to participate in the Start program.

Participant Commitment

Attend 1 onboarding session and 9 online workshop sessions (Wednesdays from 5:30pm to 8:30pm ET)
Be able to commit between 4-6 hours per week
Complete relevant coursework and exercises at your own pace
Attend four, 50-min, one-to-one coaching sessions (a commitment outside of class)
Always show respect and empathy towards your peers
Supporting WOSEN’s commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility

There will be a 1 hour weekly peer support group session throughout the program. Although it is not mandatory, it’s a great way for you to continue conversations with your peers in a supportive environment.

Important Timelines

Applications Close: August 29, 2021
Selected Participants Notified by: September 10, 2021

Questions? For more information, please contact Mitalie Makhani, Senior Programs Manager & WOSEN Central Ontario Program Lead, at mitalie[at]socialinnovation[dot]ca.

The Grow Program

Do you want to move your business forward with confidence? Are you looking to build traction, expand your partnership and network opportunities, and develop yourself further as a social entrepreneur?

We’re here to help!

CSI and the Women of Ontario Social Enterprise Network (WOSEN) have designed a twenty-week program to support a cohort of ten women social entrepreneurs as they build, refine, and test their business models, and learn new skills to help them succeed. We serve trans and cis women, and programming is inclusive of Two-Spirit, non-binary, and genderqueer individuals.

You will collaborate with a supportive community of facilitators, experts, coaches, and a cohort of peers as you explore two main themes throughout the program: 1) business model development and 2) leadership. We will support you through an immersive learning journey with a hands-on, practical approach to refining and validating your business model. You will engage in focused research to identify the key market gaps you want to address and conduct interviews with potential clients and partners to help you validate your business model and test critical assumptions.

Our team will support you in developing emergent strategies to refine and differentiate your product or service based on your research insights. You will gain leadership skills and competencies required to better understand your market and build your business strategy with intention and impact. Participation is free, we take no equity, and your intellectual property remains your own!

Applications for Grow are now closed.

INDIVIDUAL COACHING

PEER ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS

ONLINE WORKSHOPS AND EXPERT SESSIONS

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES AND COMPLIMENTARY CSI MEMBERSHIP

When and Where

Weekly on Tuesdays until March 1, 2022. No workshops on December 21 & 28. Our programming will take place on Zoom and Slack.

Onboarding & Orientation: Week 0 (Oct 12)

Get to know your cohort and how to navigate our online program.

Part I

Business Model Refinement & Implementation: Weeks 1-7 (Oct 19 – Nov 30)

Engage in hands-on, practical research to identify the key market gaps you want to address. Learn the process of creating a sustainable business model and apply your learnings in real time towards your business. Connect with experts to learn how to conduct market research and interviews on a budget to iterate your business model based on your stakeholder needs. Get support with networking and creating effective partnerships.

Part II

Integrate Insights & Develop Your Strategy: Weeks 8-9 (Dec 7-14)

Assimilate data you’ve collected and integrate insights from your research and interviews to develop your strategy moving forward.

NOTE: No workshops on December 21st & 28th

Part III

Build Traction: Weeks 12-19 (Jan 4 – Feb 22)

Continue to iterate your business model and learn more about financial modelling to make better informed financial decisions. Meet our marketing, sales, and communications experts to help you develop more effective strategies for communicating your offering to your target audience. You will also have the opportunity to participate in a WOSEN Pitch Showcase & Networking Event! Deliver your pitch and connect with potential partners and funders in the entrepreneurship sector.

Offboarding: Week 20 (March 1, 2022)

Connect to relevant resources and explore your next steps for growth and support.

After the Grow program is done, you will have 1) gained confidence in knowing how to refine and validate your business model, 2) improved your leadership skills to support your team and 3) developed a clear strategy as you grow your enterprise and navigate forward.

The Grow program will allow you to develop core entrepreneurial competencies as you work on validating your social enterprise model. Here are some of the business and leadership skills you will learn from this course:

Business Model Refinement & Implementation: Learn the process of refining and implementing your business model through an iterative design process.
Financial Modeling: Forecast the financial performance of your business and make better informed choices and financial decisions.
Strategy & Decision Making: Select the best course of action that will bring about authentic change.
Design & Systems Thinking: Understand the numerous factors that contribute to a problem you want to solve.
Critical Thinking & Research Skills: Learn how to collect, organize, analyze, and interpret data to make informed decisions and iterations to your business model.
Networking & Creating Partnerships: Build your network and transform your network connections into collaborations and partnerships.
Interviewing Skills: Learn how to connect with key stakeholders to gather important insights.
Active Listening: Learn how to listen deeply and effectively in order to build strong relationships with stakeholders.
Storytelling: Craft and tell stories to understand the impact you want to make, and learn how to connect with audiences.
Confidence & Awareness: Gain inner strength to connect to your values and goals.

Important Timelines

Applications Close – September 12 (by 11:59pm)
Selected Participants Notified – September 20
Orientation & Onboarding: Week 0 – Tuesday October 12
Program Workshops – Online, Weekly on Tuesdays until March 1, 2022
NOTE: No workshops on December 21 & 28

Applicant Requirements

You are a woman, Two-Spirit, non-binary or genderqueer individual
You live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) or the Central Ontario region
You are actively working on your business and are looking to refine and validate your business model
You have developed or are developing a product or service that will create measurable positive impact, and you currently have little or no customer traction
You are at least 18 years old
You are motivated and open to learning, feedback, and new ideas
You want to be part of and contribute to an outstanding community of women
You are available to join weekly workshop programming (Tuesdays from 1pm – 3:30pm ET)

Canadian citizenship is not required to participate in the Grow program.

Participant Commitment

Attend weekly workshop sessions on Tuesdays from 1pm – 3:30pm ET
Be able to commit a minimum of ten hours per week
Participate in a weekly peer support session (throughout the program)
Complete relevant action work & interviews to refine your business model
Attend eight one-hour, one-to-one coaching sessions (an eight hour commitment outside of class)
Complete participant program evaluation surveys (baseline & post-program)
Always show respect and empathy towards your fellow participants, and support WOSEN’s commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility

Please note that we only have capacity to support 10 participants for this Grow program. Once you apply for this program:

Applicants will be screened based on eligibility criteria
We will reach out to a select number of applicants to conduct a thirty-minute outreach phone call to learn more about your goals and needs, and to assess program fit
Selected candidates will be notified on September 20 (via email) and will need to confirm their spot by September 24

Confirmed participants will receive an onboarding package by October 5 and will start orientation and onboarding on October 12.

Apply for Grow!

Questions? For more information, please contact Mitalie Makhani, Senior Programs Manager & WOSEN Central Ontario Program Lead, at mitalie[at]socialinnovation[dot]ca.

Support for you every step of the way

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Photo credit: Christina Morillo on Pexels

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More About WOSEN

The Women of Ontario Social Enterprise Network (WOSEN) is a collaborative led by Pillar Nonprofit Network alongside Centre for Social Innovation (CSI), SVX, NORDIK Institute and Lean 4 Flourishing. WOSEN proposes to broaden and diversify the entrepreneurial ecosystem supporting women through inclusive program design. This will support 150 new women-led social enterprises across Ontario and help grow 75 existing ones, as well as offer 10 women-centred innovation training sessions to 250 people in 12 communities. CSI, along with members of the WOSEN partnership are committed to moving forward a set of key design principles in our Start program & Grow accelerator.

Our programs are designed to be:

Inclusive and accessible
Systems-informed
Decolonized
Responsive
Human-centred

Inclusion and Diversity

CSI and WOSEN are dedicated to equity and inclusion. We encourage participation of trans and cis women, as well as Two-Spirit, non-binary, and genderqueer individuals. We prioritize those from underserved and underrepresented communities, including Indigenous folks, folks in rural or remote regions, racialized folks, newcomer folks, LGBTQ2+, and folks with disabilities.

Partners and Funders

WOSEN is funded in part by the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. The Government of Canada is advancing gender equality, women’s economic empowerment, and supporting women entrepreneurs through the new Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, announced in the Budget 2018. It is a $2-billion investment that seeks to double the number of women-owned businesses by 2025.

Fed Dev Ontario

Women of Ontario Social Enterprise Network

Part of the CSI Accelerates Initiative

At CSI, we support entrepreneurs’ success with resources, mentors, expertise and connections that lead to viable enterprising solutions. Learn more about our approach here.

WOSEN

Support for your women-led social enterprise