Joel Solomon is President of Renewal Partners, and Chairman for Renewal2 Investment Fund. A passionate thought leader within the sustainable-investment movement, Joel was instrumental in the development of Renewal Partners and the Endswell Foundation in 1993. Renewal has since invested in over seventy-five companies that share its commitment to socially responsible growth, including some of the best-known social purpose companies in Canada: Happy Planet Foods, Small Potatoes Urban Delivery (SPUD), Communicopia, and Michael Jantzi Research Associates. Through its long-term commitment to capacity building, strategic alliances, and institutional development, the Endswell Foundation, now in its long-planned spend down, helped sustain many charitable organizations who worked for a conservation economy.
Joel is a founding member of Social Venture Network (SVN), Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR), Renewal Land Company, Tides Canada Foundation and the Sage Centre. He also sits on numerous other boards throughout North America.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)