Social Finance Forum
The 2012 Social Finance Forum: Measuring up took place November 8 and 9 at the MaRS Discovery District.
Featuring keynote addresses by recognized leaders from both Canada and around the world, the fifth annual Social Finance Forum embraced the theme of “measuring up.”
The two-day Forum examined the opportunities and challenges surrounding impact measurement, while exploring what makes a good deal and how existing market opportunities measure up.
Hold the date for next year as we host the impact investing stream at the Social Enterprise World Forum, October 2-4, 2013 in Calgary, Alberta.
About the Social Finance Forum
The annual Social Finance Forum drives the development of the impact investment marketplace in Canada by convening players from across sectors to collectively address key concepts and issues that are central to the field. The conference will feature investment pitch sessions from social ventures as well as workshops that focus on building skilss and advancing solutions.
Keynote addresses by recognized Canadian and international leaders from both Canada and the international stage will profile the current trends and challenges within the impact investing industry. Attendees will come away with practical tools and implementation support, as well as cutting-edge models that will catalyze the exchange of capital and inspire new ideas.
Whether you’re new to impact investing or an experienced practitioner, the Social Finance Forum is your place to connect with others and move your ideas and initiatives forward. Meet peers from your field and and from an array of sectors, from Main Street to Bay Street.
Who will you connect with?
Many of Canada’s leading decision-makers and thought leaders from across different sectors will attend the Social Finance Forum, including:
- Funds, foundations and private investors;
- Non-profits, co-operatives and social enterprises;
- Finance professionals;
- Academics;
- Representatives from government;
- Professional service providers; and
- Impact measurement and valuation practitioners.
The 2011 Social Finance Forum: Investing in good deals, took place at the MaRS Discovery District took place on December 13 and 14, 2011. The event was captured through various multimedia channels, including a brief two-minute video that was filmed and presented on December 14.
Thousands accessed the forum through multiple social media channels, as key messages and ideas proliferated online. As the conference unfolded at MaRS Discovery District, a virtual narrative was being captured and shared through Storify. To access many more of the post-conference conversations and productions form 2011 please visit www.socialfinance.ca and 2012 Social Finance Forum – Measuring up.
Since 2007, the Social Innovation Generation program has hosted the annual Social Finance Forum together with MaRS Discovery District. The forum aims to support the growth of social finance and impact investing in Canada by bringing in thought leaders to engage with diverse key stakeholders. A national social finance strategy spanning different sectors emerged in 2008 and, since then, many different organizations and networks have been working on its implementation.
One of the chief objectives of the strategy is to create conditions that empower entrepreneurs and community organizations to sustainably achieve their social or environmental missions. This resulted in the creation of the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance. The task force launched its landmark report, “Mobilizing Private Capital for Public Good,” at the Social Finance Forum in 2010 and has since received significant attention from various stakeholders.