How DemocracyXChange is expanding beyond Toronto—and why civic entrepreneurship is key to what comes next.

Chris Cowperthwaite, a co-founder of DemocracyXChange (DXC), is a civic entrepreneur and digital strategist passionate about advancing participatory democracy and systems change. He is President of the Open Democracy Project, a DXC co-presenting partner, and is Founder of Groundforce Digital and CTO at Art Canada Institute. We sat down with Chris to learn what motivated him to start DXC, his excitement about the DXC+ regional expansion beyond the Toronto national summit, and his practical tips for aspiring social entrepreneurs.

What motivated you to start DemocracyXChange?

Chris: Ever since I was in high school, I have been involved in community work and interested in connecting with others to create change. I grew up in a political family, so I saw firsthand what it takes to get involved in our democratic system.I’ve also seen the challenges people face when they try to participate. Whether it’s running for office or creating change in their communities, the barriers can be significant. Even though our political system is notionally open to everyone, it can be very difficult for people to actually step into leadership roles. I’ve always been interested in expanding the tent and making sure more people who represent the diversity of Canada’s views are able to participate.

That perspective really became concrete for me during the 2014 municipal election cycle. I worked with 17 municipal candidates and saw how demanding campaigning had become. Candidates needed to understand budgeting, fundraising, communications, multimedia, messaging. It’s a huge lift, especially for people who don’t have party backing or formal support.

You could see the impact of those barriers in the numbers. Women and people of colour were significantly underrepresented. That was what drove me to reach out to others who shared these concerns to create DemocracyKit, an initiative aimed at providing open resources and building a network to support people running for office.

DemocracyKit started as a working group at Civic Tech Toronto. While the actual process of securing tangible resources proved more challenging than we expected, a valuable and lasting outcome has been the network that formed around it. It brought together people who shared a desire to strengthen Canada’s democracy by empowering more people to take action, whether by running for office or creating change in their communities.

We were trying to connect that with transforming the experience and participation of democracy, and that’s the ethos through which DemocracyXChange was launched.

Chris presenting DemocracyKit at Civic Tech Toronto in 2016

What are you most excited about for DXC26? Tell us about DXC+ regional expansion.

Chris: I’m really excited about the new role of the Ecosystem and Strategic Engagement Lead, which has been a real unlock for DemocracyXChange and has been made possible thanks to the support of the Atkinson Foundation.

For years, our partners have done incredible work getting the summits running through 2025, but now through the Ecosystem and Strategic Engagement Lead, we’re able to expand our strategy and execute regional events.

In 2026, we’re planning to pilot regional events in at least one or two cities, including Ottawa and Vancouver, again thanks to support from one of ODP’s co-founders, Sam Broadbent, and the Helix Foundation. The regional event strategy is one of the things I’m most excited about and most involved with as part of DemocracyXChange’s growth initiatives for 2026 and beyond.

Chris speaking at the first DemocracyXChange Summit in 2017

What role does social entrepreneurship play in creating a strong and healthy democracy?

Chris: For me, entrepreneurship is a mindset: identifying problems and solving problems that may not be worked. Social entrepreneurship applies that mindset while connecting and collaborating with others to create change for the benefit of the community.

When DemocracyXChange was getting off the ground, there was a lot of optimism about how new technologies and connectedness could enable social entrepreneurship and civic action for positive change. Since then, we’ve seen a lot of negatives that come along with it as well. 

There are many people who are entrepreneurial and who are getting involved in strengthening Canada’s democracy, but there are also very strong entrepreneurial forces that are working against democratic norms and free society.

AI and software tools are not neutral. We need people who understand these emerging technologies and are thinking critically about how they affect democracy, whether through partnerships, starting a business, or civic initiatives.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to take action as a social entrepreneur?

Chris: If you’re just starting out as a social entrepreneur who wants to make change, my advice is practical: write down, on one page, the problem you’ve identified, why you’re positioned to tackle it, why it’s core to your purpose, why you’re the person with the passion and ideas to solve it, what change you want to achieve, and who could join your team.

That’s the starting point. Then use that to find one or two other people who share that belief in the mission. Send them the one-pager and ask if they’ll participate in an initial planning exercise. The key is being clear for yourself that this is something you’re ready to commit to long term, whether five or ten years, but you start small. Find one or two people to get started in a manageable campaign. You don’t need them to commit to ten years, because everyone would say no, but would they commit to a three- or six-month push to do a proof of concept? Through that, you learn how to work together, get feedback, and see if it works. I’ve done that a bunch of times, and it seems to work.

If you had to boil your advice down to a few words?

Chris: Find your co-founders.