Social and Enterprise Development Innovations

Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI)

Founded in 1986, Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) is a Canadian nonprofit organization dedicated to helping low-income earners gain financial independence through financial literacy, asset building and entrepreneurship.

To achieve its goal, SEDI partners with businesses, governments and not-for-profit organizations to find innovative ways to reduce poverty in Canada. SEDI also helps shape Canada’s social policies by conducting market and policy research and acting as a knowledge broker between communities and governments.

SEDI is unique for its economic development innovations which, by being incorporated into public policies, affect Canadians on a large scale.

Key initiatives

Financial literacy task force

The [1] included the creation of a financial literacy task force, a measure recommended by SEDI to the government. The independent, multi-sectoral task force will make recommendations to the minister of finance on a national strategy for financial literacy. With this initiative, Canada will join a growing list of countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and New Zealand that have developed national strategies to improve the financial literacy of their citizens.

Canadian Centre for Financial Literacy

In November 2008, SEDI launched the Canadian Centre for Financial Literacy, a first of its kind in the country. The Centre seeks to partner with businesses, governments and communities across Canada to achieve its goal of increasing the financial literacy of over 230,000 lower-income Canadians by 2013. According to Statistics Canada, more than 4.7 million Canadians live on a low income.

Self-Employment Benefit program

SEDI’s early work in the area of self-employment was incorporated into Canada’s new Employment Insurance legislation in 1992, making the Self-Employment Benefit available to unemployed people nationwide. From 1993 to 2005, under SEDI management, the Self-Employment Benefit program generated over $172 million in business revenues and 2,000 new jobs in the city of Toronto alone.

Youth Ink

SEDI’s Youth Ink program has provided entrepreneurship training to over 250 front-line agents throughout the province of Ontario since March 2006. These agents have offered self-employment workshops to more than 2,000 youth from 50 communities.

learn$ave

The 3,609 participants in SEDI’s learn$ave pilot program accumulated personal savings of $3.7 million over three years. These savings leveraged over $10 million in matched contributions from the federal government, enabling participants to invest in post-secondary education and job training or start small businesses.

Independent Living Accounts (ILA)

The 100 participants of the 2005 Independent Living Accounts (ILA) pilot saved over $33,000 in 16 months. The participants’ savings were matched with funds from the private sector, helping them move from shelters into private rental accommodation. In 2008, the program was implemented in six shelters across Toronto and received the Vital Ideas Award from the [2] for its lasting impact on the community.

Entrepreneurship for people with disabilities

Communities across the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia are participating in SEDI’s [3] program, which offers e-tools for individuals with disabilities who want to start their own business.

History

SEDI was founded by Canadian social entrepreneur Peter Nares. In 2008, Nares was awarded an Ashoka Senior Fellowship for his innovative work in socio-economic development in Canada.

References

  1. ↑ 2009 Canadian federal budget
  2. ↑ Toronto Community Foundation
  3. ↑ Building a Bridge to Self-Employment for People with Disabilities

Recent reports

External links

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