Uncharted Territory - Essential Skills Ontario

INTRODUCTIONWhat is social innovation?“Social innovation” has emerged as a buzzword in social policy circles overthe past decade. Thousands of research papers and briefs reveal dozens oforganizations committed to the concepts, strategies, and ideas around socialinnovation. Yet despite the many words, it is not always clear what itactually means.There is currently no commonly accepted definition. The sheer malleability ofthe concept is its primary challenge. It has the potential to mean everything andnothing at the same time. Nevertheless, the term has increasingly becomecommon shorthand for applying market tools and engaging private sector playersin areas normally reserved for the non-profit sector.There are many strands of social innovation in Canada. Some are emerging,while others predate the notion itself. The people engaged in these efforts oftendo not see themselves as social innovators, but simply as people trying to achievethe best results for their clients and community. An example comes from thefounders of Pathways to Education Program in Toronto, often-cited as anillustration of the power of social innovation:When we founded the Pathways to Education Program we didn’t think ofourselves as social entrepreneurs. But, like others, we could not accept thestatus quo. While the dropout rate among Regent Park youth was longthought to be an intractable problem, we needed – and the communitydesperately needed – to find a solution. We not only had to find answers toconfounding questions, we also had to fundraise for the social venture capitalto develop the innovation and sustain it. We had no idea what the outcomewould be, but our process was clear: action research, built on a foundation ofcommunity development, while looking through a “systems” lens. Welearned the importance of tenacity, the ability to live with potential failure,the power of passion for social justice and of leveraging partnerships with theprivate sector (Acker and Rowen, Forthcoming 2012).Uncharted Territory: Can Social Innovation Revitalize Literacy and Essential Skills Programs? • 5