About Innovation North
The world is experiencing more frequent and interconnected crises. Businesses now face more disruptions that unfold faster and cut deeper than ever before. The historic approach to turbulence is to move fast and break things, but when everything is changing so quickly, moving blindly often leads to unintended consequences, impacting the organization, communities, and ecosystems. In our complex world, a small change can cascade to create unpredictable and unintended consequences.
Our Manifesto for Systems Innovators
Over the period of 2019 to 2024, we assembled 30 corporate partners and 15 researchers in a Lab to develop a tool that would integrate systems thinking into design thinking, which is reflected in the Compass. At the end of this period, the Lab members wrote the Manifesto below:
Systems innovators find answers to some of the most pressing challenges of our time. They anticipate trends, integrate diverse perspectives across settings and scales, and challenge entrenched assumptions. Innovators embrace collaboration, actively fostering partnerships that bridge traditional boundaries. Their approach creates enduring value for organizations and communities and contributes to resilient ecosystems.
Who We Are
Innovation North is a community of researchers working with for-profit, non-profit, and government partners to co-create solutions to business challenges. We are fuelled by the belief that we can create a future where businesses and society thrive together.
We use the Compass to guide our journey – a tool that was co-created with the community of practice. The tools and resources generated through our activities are available in the Knowledge Hub.
Our Founder
Dr. Tima Bansal has been thinking about business sustainability for the past 30 years. A globally recognized, award-winning researcher, her work has targeted the interplay between business strategy and sustainability, connecting theory with action.
Considered a pioneer in this field, she has led initiatives that shape business school curriculum and the management discipline. Tima has always been a strong advocate of the concept of sustainable development — that meeting the needs of present generations should not compromise the ability to meet the needs of future generations.
Led by this philosophy, at Innovation North, we believe that business success does not have to compromise the well-being of communities and ecosystems. They are interdependent.
Our Supporters
Innovation North is part of a constellation of organizations powered by Ivey Business School, including the Centre for Building Sustainable Value and the Network for Business Sustainability. All three organizations share the same North Star – that business and society need to work together to create a prosperous future for all.
In addition to corporate contributions, Innovation North has been generously funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Mitacs.
Our Values
We aim to build prosperous organizations and resilient and sustainable communities and ecosystems. The values that guide our journey are below:
Building Community
Facilitating cross-sector collaboration and professional networks of supportive business leaders and teams, working towards a better tomorrow.
Designing for Systems
Creating a higher-value(s) future by widening visibility and ambitions, with tools and skills that address the challenge, so that businesses can tackle complex, systems disruptions.
Conquering Complexity
Developing the thought leadership required to navigate accelerating dynamic change with researchers and educators mobilizing ideas around the world.
Reshaping Innovation
Providing a brave space to experiment and learn together, with results in real time, as business leaders and researchers try and test ideas.
Leading From the Front
Pioneering new modes of innovation with a Made-in-Canada approach that puts participants on the world stage for developing solutions that create business and societal value simultaneously.