The Role of Social Sector Organizations in National Defence & Resilience

Tim Draimin is board member and past chair of Social Innovation Canada (SIC). His work focuses on social and environmental causes through the lenses of social innovation, philanthropy and social change. He was founding CEO of Tides Canada Foundation (now MakeWay) and convened the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance. He wrote Canada’s first study of social entrepreneurship and his articles appeared in Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Globe & Mail, Cooperation South, The New Internationalist, Philea, and The Hill Times. He led Social Innovation Generation (SiG) National and is a frequent advisor to non-profits, government and business. Past board roles include: Trico Foundation, Centre for Social Innovation (CSI), Green Economy Canada (GEC), Partnership Brokers Association (PBA), Institute on Media, Policy and Civil Society (IMPACS), Social Innovation Exchange (SIX), Philippines-Canada Human Resource Development (PCHRD).

Dr. Rahim Rezaie is Executive Director of the Institute for Collaborative Innovation (ICI Canada), where he leads work on innovation policy, community resilience, and the role of civil society in addressing complex national challenges. He currently co-leads ICI Canada’s Department of National Defence-funded MINDS project, Strengthening Canada’s Defence and Security through Social Sector Partnerships, which examines how community-based and nonprofit organizations can contribute to Canada’s whole-of-society approach to defence and resilience.

Dr. Rezaie is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Toronto and has extensive experience in research, program development, and strategic consulting across academic, nonprofit, and government sectors. He holds a PhD in technological innovation, a Master’s in Biotechnology, and a BSc from the University of Toronto, as well as management training from York University’s Schulich School of Business. His research and writing have appeared in academic journals including Nature Biotechnology and PLOS One, as well as Canadian media.

Gwendolyn brings insights from a 20+ year career spanning the non-profit, public and private sectors, where she’s worked locally, regionally and internationally alongside community and elected leaders, policy makers, academics, youth, non-profit and corporate leaders to develop organizational capacity to drive social impact and innovation.   Gwen comes to SI Canada most recently from the financial sector, where she acted as subject matter expert at a leading North American bank for their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy, disclosure and impact management approaches. In addition to her leadership roles, Gwen has held volunteer governance and advisory roles at a number of non-profit organizations in both the UK and Canada

A mother, community-builder and runner, Danya supports a network cross-sector, place-based partnerships focused on the interconnected outcomes of climate, education, and economic equity, and on social connection. A dual US and Canadian citizen, she worked first with resettling refugees and then with people impacted by systems of criminal justice. In 2012, she began a decade with Promise Partnership of Salt Lake, co-designing school, neighborhood, city and regional partnerships accountable to education outcomes. Since February 2022, she’s stewarded Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement. She is an inaugural Schwab Foundation collective social innovation awardee and holds a BA and MA from Stanford University and an MBA from New York University.

Geraldine Cahill is the founding Director of UpSocial Canada, facilitating social lab projects with diverse stakeholders to address systemic social challenges. In Alberta, she is engaged in a community wealth building strategy with Drayton Valley, deepening her understanding and appreciation for the unique and innovative work happening in rural communities across the country. As of January 2025, Geraldine is also co-managing Catalyst Community Finance, weaving relationships with community finance intermediaries that are enabling a place- and identity-based ecosystem for social impact in Canada. Geraldine has long championed social innovation field building, and is motivated to explore and integrate that learning with the growing mission-oriented innovation community. In 2017, she co-authored the book, Social Innovation Generation: Fostering a Canadian Ecosystem for Systems Change, which showcases the partnership’s field building efforts. 

Sara Lyons is based in Montreal and has worked in the not-for-profit and charitable sector for over 20 years. She has spent many years working on large-scale, national projects that bring together multiple sectors around new ideas. Before coming to Volunteer Canada, Sara was a Senior Director at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, a Vice President at Community Foundations of Canada, and in 2021 did a secondment with the Equality Fund.  

A graduate of McGill and the University of Toronto, Sara has been a frequent public speaker on philanthropy, social innovation, and social finance. She is currently a board member of Exeko, in Montreal and is the former Chair of the Circle on Philanthropy —two roles that have allowed her to live out her passion for transformation, social inclusion, and creating innovative spaces.

Sara loves cycling, playing tennis and spending time with her two teenage daughters.

David Watters is a former Assistant Deputy Minister for Economic Development and Corporate Finance in the Department of Finance, the founder and former CEO of the Global Advantage Consulting Group, and the founder and current President of the not-for-profit Institute for Collaborative Innovation. He has been a CSPC Board member since its inception.