23 Daring Predictions that will Shape the Social Impact World in 2023

Why It Matters

Signals tend to reveal emergent phenomena sooner so that changemakers can turn their attention to possible opportunities, disruptions, innovations and developments that affect their missions, programs and work. Signals can become mainstream and evolve into trends — when a signal hits a certain threshold, for example, it might become a trend in the broader society or sector, and begin to diffuse rapidly.

Missed the Social Enterprise World Forum? Here are five key insights

Why It Matters

Social entrepreneurship is vital to creating a sustainable social impact, and to economic growth and inclusion. The rapidly growing industry, which merges mission-focused work with entrepreneurship has much to teach the philanthropic sector.

Canada’s small businesses are closing. This organization is working to save them — by turning them into social purpose businesses.

Why It Matters

It’s estimated that, even before COVID-19 struck, 700,000 small businesses in Canada were already at risk of closure in the next ten years, because they don’t have viable succession plans. And the pandemic made local business and community self-sufficiency even more urgent. Social acquisitions could be a big part of the solution.

This social enterprise is building Indigenous ethical systems into digital tools — here’s what you can learn

Why It Matters

Building Indigenous value systems into the bedrock of an app allows an Indigenous developer or online community to practice digital sovereignty — meaningful control over their digital space that allows them to safely share their culture, language, and practices.