Tonya Surman

Tonya Surman is one of Canada’s leading social entrepreneurs. Her clients: people and planet. Her superpowers: visionary ideas that inspire, models that harness collaboration, and spaces that accelerate systemic change.

Highlights from her career include co-founding and leading the Centre for Social Innovation, a pioneer in the coworking and social enterprise/finance movements that has catalyzed & supporting more than 6000 world-changing initiatives; developing the Constellation Model, a multi-stakeholder partnership framework that has been used globally including its use to ban toxic chemicals in baby bottles and organize 40,000+ Ontario nonprofits into a network with policymaking clout; creating the Community Bond, a ground breaking social finance tool that has raised over $10 million to purchase $40 million in real estate to house 900+ social entrepreneurs and is being replicated across the country.

When the timing was right, Tonya led the charge to unite social innovators with the creation of Social Innovation Canada – a national network that support people, organizations and systems to problem solve better. Tonya is currently leading massive organizational change as CSI carefully navigates the more significant commercial real estate transformation in 40 years.

Tonya is the recipient of numerous awards: the Ashoka Foundation, the Trillium Foundation, Canadian Urban Institute and Socialight Canada are among the many organizations that have recognized her leadership and contributions.