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Michel Venne is the Executive Director and founder of the Institut du Nouveau Monde (INM), a non-partisan organization whose mission is to promote citizen participation and to stimulate innovative public discourse in Quebec. INM was established in 2004 and was awarded the Prix Claire-Bonenfant in 2005 by the Quebec government for promoting democratic values and citizenship education. Each summer, the INM organizes a citizenship school for young people and also hosts dialogues between ordinary citizens and recognized leaders. Each year, it publishes L’État de Québec (a report on the state of Québec) and offers a number of programs designed to provide information, stimulate debate and mobilize citizens.
Michel is a Fellow of Ashoka, an international organization that has created a network of 2000 social innovators around the globe. Michel is a journalist by profession and worked at Le Devoir from 1990 to 2006, as the parliamentary correspondent to the National Assembly, editorial writer, Director of information, and reporter. He was awarded the Judith-Jasmin prize (written press) in 1993 and the Michener Bursary in 1997 in recognition of his journalistic work.
Fellowship project: An examination of the role of citizen participation in the creation and implementation of social innovations, with a particular focus on the work of INM, its citizenship schools and its citizen forums on various themes. The project will result in a video production that illustrates the tools used to engage citizen participation and to generate social innovation.