Tonya Surman is a Canadian social entrepreneur, and the founding executive director and current CEO of the

Centre for Social Innovation The Centre for Social Innovation is a social enterprise based in Toronto, Canada. It specializes in the creation of shared workspaces for people or organizations with a social mission. It has two locations in Toronto that serve as shared workspace ...

Education and early social ventures

Surman studied Environmental Studies and International Development at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and has been creating and leading social ventures in Canada since 1987. She was the founding co-chair of the Ontario Nonprofit Network, is a founding trustee in the

Awesome Foundation The Awesome Foundation for the arts and sciences is an international network of autonomous 'chapters' (groups) of philanthropists that provide small grants for projects to "people devoted to forwarding the interest of awesomeness in the universe." ...

Toronto, and has been active within the Ontario Social Economy Roundtable and the Social Enterprise Council of Canada. Tonya and husband Mark Surman were instrumental in developing the Constellation Model of Governance, a complexity-inspired framework designed to enable collaborations within dynamic systems. She was the founding Partnership Director of the Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment, a legislative framework to manage chemicals and the banning of BPA in baby bottles.

Centre for Social Innovation

In 2009 Tonya was named a Global Ashoka Fellow. She was recognized for building shared spaces and networks for social innovators designed to foster cooperation. The

has four locations in Toronto and one in New York City. CSI is home to over 700 organizations. In 2012 Tonya Surman co-authored the book "The Community Bond: An Innovation in Social Finance". The book details the process by which the

raised $2 million through community bonds to purchase and renovate its Annex location. She also co-authored three books on creating shared work spaces for social innovation, and has developed an expertise in the creation of shared spaces for social innovation.

Personal life

Tonya Surman was born in London, Ontario, and currently resides in Toronto.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Surman, Tonya 1969 births Living people Canadian women in business Businesspeople from London, Ontario Canadian social entrepreneurs Ashoka Canada Fellows