Centre for Social Innovation's video: A Fireside Chat with Nobel Peace Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus - round 1

Alterna Savings and the Centre for Social Innovation are thrilled to invite you to an intimate conversation with microfinance and social entrepreneurship pioneer Muhammad Yunus, February 2, from 3 – 6 pm at CSI Annex. (for the second conversation later that evening, you can see the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF6-xRwAUhg ) Muhammad Yunus is the founder of the Grameen Bank, a pioneer of the microcredit movement that has helped lift millions of families around the world out of poverty. Yunus and Grameen Bank were winners of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. He is also the recipient of the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, and was rated number 2 in Foreign Policy magazine’s list of “Top 100 Global Thinkers” in 2008. In 2011, he launched the Yunus Social Business - Global Initiatives to help create and empower businesses that solve social and environmental problems around the world. Yunus’ most recent book, A World of Three Zeros, argues it's time to admit that the capitalist engine is broken, that in its current form it inevitably leads to rampant inequality, massive unemployment, and environmental destruction. To save humankind and the planet, he argues, we need a new economic system based on a more realistic vision of human nature—one that recognizes altruism and generosity as driving forces that are just as fundamental and powerful as self-interest. Muhammad Yunus will be in conversation with Tonya Surman, Ashoka Fellow and CEO of the Centre for Social Innovation from 3:30-4:30, followed by a Q&A and networking. Tonya Surman is one of Canada’s leading social entrepreneurs. Highlights from her 20-year career include co-founding and leading the Centre for Social Innovation, a pioneer in the coworking and social enterprise movements; developing the Constellation Model, a multi-stakeholder partnership framework that was used to ban toxic chemicals in baby bottles and organize 40,000+ Ontario nonprofits into a network with policy-making clout; creating the Community Bond, a social finance tool that raised $6.3 million to purchase two buildings in downtown Toronto for social innovation; and launching the Ontario Catapult Microloan Fund with government, corporate and nonprofit partners. Tonya is the recipient of numerous awards: the Ashoka Foundation, the Trillium Foundation, and Socialight Canada are among the many organizations that have recognized her leadership and contributions.