Change for Good

Like the rest of the world, this time last year we could never have predicted what lay ahead of us in the year ahead. Today as we look back it’s clear that people who were vulnerable before became even more vulnerable. The health and economic security of millions of people has been jeopardized and many social change organizations that exist to provide support to those in need no longer exist. At the same time, the degree of social innovation in response to the crisis was extraordinary.

At impakt, our mission of helping corporations and civil society organizations to solve problems became more urgent than ever. Although social innovation has always been central to our work, the need to share ideas and foster new solutions took on new a new urgency. One of our first responses to the crisis was to launch Change for Good, a virtual community where social change leaders from around the world could provide much needed ideas and inspiration. This turned into 17 incredible conversations. The Change for Good conversation will continue to be a priority for us in 2021 and will feature in-depth explorations of issues including sustainable agriculture, impact investing and the importance of employment as a driver of social change.

In response to the need for personal protective equipment (PPE), we helped Canada Sportswear, a Toronto-based apparel firm started by a Holocaust survivor who came to Canada as a part of the Tailor Project to maintain employment for newcomers by pivoting to produce PPE. Millions of masks and other protective products were produced and vulnerable people across Canada were able to stay healthy. This program continues to support the health and safety needs of vulnerable people and provide secure employment for newcomers and others.

The Impakt Foundation for Social Change received charitable status in September. Achieving this important milestone meant that the mission of the Impakt Foundation - creating pathways to employment for vulnerable people - was recognized as being essential. In the year ahead the Impakt Foundation will be focused on new research to understand how to better connect Newcomers to Canada with meaningful employment.

In October, The Tailor Project: How 2500 Holocaust Survivors Found A New Life In Canada was published by Second Story Press. The Tailor Project is the story of a remarkable program that gave approximately 2,500 refugees, mostly Jewish tailors and their families displaced by the Holocaust, a chance at a new life. The Tailor Project book was written by Andrea Knight, Paula Draper and Nicole Bryck based on three years of research undertaken by Impakt Labs.

In November, we were so excited to help our partners at Petro-Canada launch the Petro-Canada CareMakers Foundation a national charitable organization that will create awareness and understanding of the issue of family caregiving in Canada and inspire Canadians to help. The need to support family and other informal caregivers was important before COVID-19 and has become even more of a priority today. This initiative demonstrates how corporations can help solve social problems at scale and is the perfect example of what our team is passionate about building. 

We believe that innovative and effective social change depends on finding new ways to blend investment capital with philanthropic capital. Creating new opportunities to invest for impact will be a common denominator that underlays our work in 2021 and beyond.

The situation this time next year is uncertain but our commitment to helping corporations and civil society organizations is unwavering. We will continue to make social innovation a priority, to inspire positive social change by convening more Change for Good conversations and to “walk the walk” by sharing our experiences and implementing our own social change programs.

Our friends at POV, a Toronto-based charity that helps marginalized youth break into the media industry, created this video that we hope will inspire you to take action and continue to make change in the year ahead: Change for Good.