Social Innovation Generation (SiG) is a partnership of The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District, the University of Waterloo; and Vancouver’s PLAN Institute. By fostering social innovation, SiG enables the creativity of social innovators to tackle the profound social and environmental challenges facing Canadians.  

As Executive Director, Mr. Draimin supports SiG’s growing network of academics, practitioners, social entrepreneurs, allied institutions and partnerships in expanding Canada's Social Innovation ecosystem.

SiG's role is to help enable Canadians' ability to innovate to overcome large-scale complex social and environmental challenges through change- or solution-labs and new forms of cross-sectoral partnerships.

SiG convened the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance, a blue ribbon panel that proposed a seven-point agenda for mobilizing private capital for public good.

A leader in the non-profit sector, Mr. Draimin was the founding CEO of Tides Canada Foundation. Mr. Draimin guided the Foundation’s expansion, established Canada’s first national support system for social entrepreneurs –Tides Canada Initiatives – and supported a world-renowned model of integrated conservation: BC’s Great Bear Rainforest initiative. 

Tim is the author of Canada's first national study of social entrepreneurship and a frequent advisor to government, non-profit associations and business. Tim Draimin brings to SiG over 30 years of international career experience. He has worked for or consulted in Canada and abroad with the Canadian Council for International Co-operation, the International Development Research Centre, Synergos, and Ford Foundation. He has served on many international delegations and participated at UN prepcoms.  He was a member of Canada's official delegation to UNCED.

An active volunteer, Tim serves on the boards of the Catherine Donnelly Foundation (Toronto) and the TRICO Charitable Foundation (Calgary).

Tim is a senior advisor to the new MaRS Centre for Impact Investing (CII), a hub created to increase the awareness and effectiveness of social finance by catalyzing new capital, talent, and collaborative initiatives to deliver innovative solutions to Canada’s social and environmental challenges.

He was an advisor to Community Foundations of Canada's Responsible Investing Pilot Project and a past board member of the Social Investment Organization (SIO), Canadian Environmental Grantmakers Network (CEGN), IMPACS, and past member of the Voluntary Sector Forum's Finance Action Group.