'Reflections on the Year': A Message from Alex Gill, SVZ Director

Social Ventures Zone Director Alex Gill reflects on the SVZ's busy 2023, the Zone's broad-ranging impact, and the power in the details (entrepreneurially speaking).

By: Alex Gill

December 7th, 2023

“God,” the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said, “is in the details.” While he might have been talking about one of his many award-winning buildings around the world (including Toronto’s TD centre), he could just as well have been speaking about entrepreneurship.

If those outside the startup world know anything about entrepreneurship, it probably comes from an “entrepreneur” in their social media feed or from a show like Dragons’ Den or Shark Tank. Those with personal experience of the entrepreneurial life know that it isn’t defined by the glamour of a pitch or a pithy self-help quote on a TikTok video. Entrepreneurship is made up of moments of mad possibility and delight surrounded by a million small details that are necessary to move a startup forward (“Financial reports? Check! Fix the coffee machine? Also check!”).

As we reflect on the previous 12 months here at the Social Ventures Zone, I’d like to thank all of those who chose to pursue their social enterprise dream as part of our growing community. In 2023 we continued to incubate between 30 and 40 startups at any given time, sharing in their progress and helping with their setbacks. We welcomed dozens of earlier-stage student entrepreneurs through our Paid to Innovate program, which continued to break new ground and reduce barriers to access by paying students to work on their start-up ideas. The Wes Hall Social Entrepreneurs Award, for its part, offered curated programming and the opportunity to work for a startup or begin their own venture to five students from TMU’s Caribbean community. And our small but mighty workspace played host to our weekly #CaffeinatedInnovators sessions and a range of workshops, meetings with our dozens of community coaches, and other events.

On behalf of the small team here at the SVZ – Sarah, Jake, Nabiha, Rose and me – thanks to all of you for what you did in 2023 and what you continue to do every day. We see the thousand small details you manage as you try to make your part of the world better through your social startup. We thank you for all of it and look forward to the great stuff you will no doubt achieve in the coming year.

Here's to a great 2024.

AG