What’s Happening at Humber’s Centre for Social Innovation

Tags: Vol. 4, June 2024, Issue 2

At Humber’s Centre for Social Innovation, we believe in communicating with a purpose. Social innovation is everywhere, and we are working with faculty, students, and community organizations to collaborate towards better positive outcomes. We’ve taken on several new projects recently and continue to grow! Read on for some of the many issue areas we’re working on below with the invaluable support of six Humber students.

Food Security

InnovEAT Challenge

Humber’s Centre for Social Innovation and the Longo Centre for Entrepreneurship kicked off the new year with the InnovEAT Challenge, in partnership with Daily Bread. In January and February 2024, over 20 students explored unique approaches to achieving food security in Canada. Food security would effectively eliminate the need for food banks, which are commonly considered to be a band-aid solution to food insecurity, not a long-term solution.

Nine teams of students were supported by five expert mentors. The CSI and Longo CfE teams presented brief video pitches to five local judges.

The GARDENS Project

In the last issue, we shared that the 2023 growing season produced over 615lbs of fresh produce for the community. As the GARDENS Project springs into the 2024 growing season in partnership with LAMP Community Health Centre, community volunteers have started urban gardening training and preparing the garden sites. 25 South Etobicoke community members (“Pod Fellows”) underwent eight weeks of practical learning and 11 of them are continuing this summer as Pod Masters who maintain and harvest a variety of produce in small, raised planters (“pods”).

Follow @theGARDENSlakeshore on Instagram for updates about this year’s cohort and announcements to volunteer for the 2024 growing season in the spring!

Accessibility

Experiential Adaptive Toys

Did you know that Humber College has an Idea Lab on the Lakeshore Campus? The Idea Lab offers access to various resources for a wide range of creative makers, including tools and workshops for podcasts and 3D printing. For the Winter 2024 semester, Idea Lab librarian Erin Walker worked with Makers Making Change and students from Chrissy Decker’s Child and Youth Care (CYC) diploma course to build assistive devices. Using the Idea Lab’s 3D printer, students worked towards making mainstream toys more accessible for children with disabilities.

Impact Evaluation

Humber CSI Impact Evaluation

The CSI is working with two students to develop a toolkit to facilitate effective impact evaluation throughout the college. Every project or venture has a social impact, whether or not it is measured, and Humber strives to be an intentional leader in positive community impact. Research includes an environmental scan of current social impact evaluation measures and frameworks, as well as technology that can streamline the data collection process. This student-led research will become foundational in the CSI’s future impact evaluation work.

“Become a Cannabis CEO” Event

On April 30th, 2024, the CSI hosted “Become a Cannabis CEO,” an event which aimed to empower Black, Indigenous, and other racialized communities to enter or progress in their careers in the cannabis industry. The event was a collaborative effort between the CSI, The SEED Initiative, the Longo’s Centre for Entrepreneurship (CfE), and the Dean of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. The legal non-medical cannabis industry has exhibited many of the same systemic barriers seen in other industries, limiting opportunities for advancement into management positions for the BIPOC community. The evening featured an entrepreneurial skills-building session, a panel discussion with industry experts, and a keynote speech by Ika Washington, the founder of DiversityTalk, a consulting firm that focuses on health policy and equity reprojects. Over fifty participants joined the event.

Cyber Security

Cyber Security Collective

The CSI is working on foundational research to understand the cyber security needs and gaps of social purpose organizations. Cyber security is a rapidly growing challenge, making support for vulnerable organizations particularly vital. According to the RCMP and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, losses from fraud and cybercrime totalled $530 million in victim losses in the past year alone. Specifically, social purpose organizations tend to work with significant sensitive personal or financial data, have clientele from marginalized groups, and work to fulfil a societal mandate, all with deeply limited resources. Understanding the overall landscape and current needs or gaps across the non-profit and social purpose sector can support large-scale improvements in safeguards and processes.

Scaling Up with Vertical Gardening

On April 27th, the CSI hosted a community workshop, “Scaling Up with Vertical Gardening.” The hands-on workshop aimed to educate participants about sustainable gardening, with a focus on indoor vertical gardening techniques. Organized by our team at Humber College’s Centre for Social Innovation in collaboration with local gardening experts and community organizations, the free event took place at CF Sherway Gardens shopping centre and saw over 60 community participants, many of whom were families with young children.