Social Innovation Seed Funding

What is Social Innovation Seed Funding?

Student Social Innovation Projects are initiatives, ventures, products, programs or processes intended to create positive social, economic or environmental transformation for SFU and/or its communities.

Applications are now closed for the 2017-2018 funding period.

Applications for the 2018-2019 Social Innovation Seed Fund Cycle will re-open in Fall 2018.

Who you are

Are you an SFU student working on a radical idea with social or environmental impact at its core?

Hosted by RADIUS SFU and Embark Sustainability, the Social Innovation Seed Fund provides financial support ranging from $200 to $1,500 to help get your project off the ground. 

APPLICATION

How to apply for Social Innovation Seed Funding

All students from across SFU are encouraged to apply. A primary team member must be an active graduate or undergraduate student at SFU.

Each primary applicant and team may submit only one application per year. Please keep in mind that:

  • Academic research projects and conference fees are not usually funded.
  • Projects that are already funded by other SFU student organizations are less likely to be considered.
  • One-time events can be funded up to a maximum of $500.

Criteria and Requirements

Things to keep in mind

Applications will be reviewed by an internal committee led by Embark and RADIUS according to the following criteria:

  1. Their eligibility — according to the terms described above.
  2. Project potential — including demonstrated understanding of the problem being solved, communities served, need for funding requested, and strength of the individual/team making the request
  3. Impact — to what degree might this create lasting economic, social and/or environmental transformation?

Grantees are required to complete the following:

  • A short mid-project survey;
  • An end-of-project Learning Report; and
  • An end-of-project blog post (video and photo encouraged) not later than 30 days after project delivery – to be shared on the RADIUS and Embark websites.
  • Grantees are required to return any disbursed funds in the case that they are unable to provide the above deliverables. All deliverables must be completed by July 1, 2018. If the successful applicant receives funding at the end of the granting period, the parties may negotiate an extended contract on a case-by-case basis.

Important Dates

Application Cycles

Applications are accepted at four points during the current academic year:

round

1

2

3

4

Application Deadline​

Oct 13, 2017​

Jan 19, 2018

Mar 9, 2018

May 18, 2018

Notification of Results

Nov 10, 2017

Feb 16, 2018

Mar 30, 2018

May 31, 2018

CONTACT

Questions about writing your impact goals, how the funding gets to you, and more?

Read through these Frequently Asked Questions before you apply.

THE PARTNERS

Inspiring Sustainability Leadership

Embark Sustainability Society: (“Embark”) is a an independent, student-led not-for-profit based out of Simon Fraser University that empowers the next generation of student sustainability leaders. We engage our SFU student members in change making and inspire their sustainability leadership through our grant, advocacy, and student-designed programming. Currently, we represent the sustainability interests of 35,000+ undergraduate and graduate SFU students at the university level.

RADIUS (RADical Ideas, Useful to Society) is a social innovation lab and venture incubator based at the Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University. RADIUS is inspired by an emerging wave of entrepreneurs and innovators questioning the old rules with new ideas about how our society might work. As a part of this movement, we work on three key levers: ­­People (RADIUS Edu), Systems (RADIUS Lab) and Solutions (RADIUS Ventures)­­ to encourage the emergence of a healthy, sustainable economy. RADIUS’ time on the Social Innovation Seed Fund is graciously sponsored by SFU Innovates and the Beedie School of Business.

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PAST RECIPIENTS

Read about past SFU Social Innovation Seed Fund recipients