Jory is the Director of Finance and Impact Investment at the Inspirit Foundation. Since graduating from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University as the Valedictorian of his class, Jory quickly garnered a reputation as a next-generation leader in the impact investing field.

Before joining Inspirit, Jory was the Managing Director of Youth Social Innovation Capital Fund (YSI), an impact investing fund. He also co-founded an impact venture in East Africa. Most recently, Jory played an integral role in launching Inspirit’s 100% impact portfolio and continues to lead the rollout of that strategy while managing all aspects of the finance department.

Jory is often called upon to share his expertise within the sector and academic institutions. He also co-authored a children’s book.

As President and Chief Executive Officer of Vancity, Canada's largest community credit union, Christine believes that banking plays a vital role in developing a healthy society - building the well-being of people and, at the same time, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the communities in which they live and work.  Christine is also CEO of Vancity’s federally chartered bank, Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB). 

Prior to becoming CEO, Christine held several senior leadership roles within Vancity, including serving as Vancity’s Chief Member Services Officer, leading the Member Experience & Community Engagement division. In this role, Christine oversaw services to Vancity’s over half a million members, including its branch network and retail, business, commercial and wealth management operations. She also led the credit union’s community impact and investment strategies.

Prior to Vancity, she spent her career working in early-stage venture capital, public markets and broadly with entrepreneurs; financing innovative companies and building financial firms – all focused within the cleantech, sustainability and impact investing sectors.

Christine's achievements in fostering community impact, social justice and environmental sustainability have earned her accolades from Business in Vancouver magazine as a previous Top 40 under 40 winner and influential business leader within British Columbia’s banking sector. In 2022, Christine was named as Corporate Leader in the Women of the Year awards by BC Business.  

Christine chairs the board of InBC Investment Corp., and currently represents North America on the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s Banking Board. She is a member of the Government of Canada’s Sustainable Finance Action Council. She serves on the board of Aviso Wealth and the Board of Governors for the BC Business Council. 

Christine pursued post-secondary education at the University of Guelph and UBC, earning a B.A. in sociology and MBA in Strategic Management.

In her free time, Christine enjoys exploring all Vancouver has to offer with her family and especially enjoys running, hiking, skiing and cycling. She is passionate about education, democracy, social trends and empowering people to be the best they can be.

Elected in 2019, Ryan Turnbull is the Member of Parliament for Whitby. He currently serves on the Procedure and House Affairs and Agriculture and Agri-Food Standing Committees, and he is the Chair of the Social Innovation and Sustainable Finance Caucus which he founded.

As an experienced social entrepreneur with a proven record of community service, Ryan is committed to working in Ottawa on the issues that matter most to the people of Whitby. His priority is to ensure all voices are heard in the community to reflect the diverse experiences and needs of Whitby and the people who call it home. Since being elected, Ryan has been a tireless advocate for building a stronger social innovation ecosystem in Canada and improving access to finance for social and sustainable enterprises.

Ryan is passionate about having a positive impact on Canada’s most pressing social issues, that’s why in 2008 he launched a social innovation consulting firm. Since then, he has managed numerous projects set on tackling some of society’s toughest challenges. He’s worked to address: climate change, children’s health, seniors’ home care, community safety, diversity and inclusion, poverty, and affordable housing.

As a father, Ryan’s passion for working towards social and economic progress is a deeply personal endeavour. He aims to continue the progress made on climate change and gender equality, in part, to ensure that future generations in Whitby can enjoy the same vibrant and thriving community we have today.

Throughout his career, he has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to take action and move Canada forward. After ten years of working on these issues, Ryan is working hard on these issues in Ottawa on behalf of the people of Whitby.--

Chelsey is the President and CEO of Common Good Solutions, an Atlantic Canadian community interest company working to strengthen the impact sector to transform the way we think about the intersections of social and economic well-being across business, non-profit, and public institutions.

Chelsey is a strong community leader and brings a unique entrepreneurial perspective to systems change work. Chelsey is committed to strengthening the capacity of communities, individuals, and institutions to create strong and sustainable solutions to complex problems. Prior to joining Common Good Solutions, Chelsey worked with Choices for Youth, where she led the creation of a portfolio of social enterprises – purpose-built to support education and employment outcomes for youth, while contributing to policy change in income support reform, social procurement, and community economic development.

Chelsey has been recognized nationally as a transformative young female leader and her contributions to the development of impact companies and the ecosystems that support them. She holds an MBA, B.Ed. in Post-Secondary Education, and a double major in Music and Arts Administration.

Sage Lacerte is a Carrier womxn from the Lake Babine Nation, and lives in Victoria, BC on unceded Coast Salish Territory of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ nations. Sage is the Founder of Sage Initiative, a national Indigenous womxn's impact investing collective. Sage Initiative trains and empowers Indigenous womxn impact investors through a learning curriculum where participants can learn about Indigenous concepts of wealth and commerce through a trauma informed lens that addresses colonial relationships with money, as well as overlapping identities such as Indigeneity, gender, age, and sexuality. Sage Initiative aims to make capital available to Indigenous owned social purpose businesses, with the goal of forming a circular economy. 

Sage is also an Indigenous engagement strategist who is well versed in gender policy, investment literacy, trauma-informed learning, and public speaking. She is a National Youth Ambassador for the Moosehide Campaign, and holds a degree in gender studies from the University of Victoria.

Diane Bérard is a freelance solutions journalist based in Montreal.

This practice, currently deployed in some over 300 newsrooms in the US, is also present in Canada and Europe.  Solutions journalism is the critical presentation of solutions to the societal challenges of the 21st century. While journalists are generally reputed to be watchdogs, solutions journalists are guide dogs. The practice of solutions journalism poses a major challenge: while problems howl, solutions whisper.

Over the course of her career, Diane Bérard has been editor-in-chief of a business magazine; she has also contributed to numerous print media, as well as being a radio and TV columnist. She is currently a contributor to Radio-Canada's "Zone économie".

With a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's in economics, Diane Bérard values community involvement. She sat on the Board of Directors of Maison-Théâtre (a theater venue for children and teenagers) for seven years. Today, she is a director of the Institut du Nouveau Monde, where she chairs the strategy committee. This is a non-partisan organization whose ambition is to increase citizen participation in democratic life.

She has written five books in her spare time, each corresponding to her current explorations. She has covered capitalism excess ( Les fous du rois); thought leadership 

( J'ai perdu ma montre au fond du lac); motherhood (Deux filles le mercredi soir); grief 

( La chaise rouge devant le fleuve) and resistance to change ( Le réflexe du castor). 

She is currently working on a documentary about solutions to the housing crisis. It will air on all Radio-Canada platforms in 2024.

Jillisa Brown is a global leader. Her passion for the development of people and communities was the launchpad of her journey as a community leader, mentor, and coach. Her work in decolonizing systems that exclude equity-seeking communities has helped to lay some of the groundwork for change within the social finance and social innovation ecosystem across Canada. Her focus is on building capacity engulfed in inclusion, diversity, equity, and access specializing in Anti-Black Racism.

Jillisa’s role as the System Collaborator of the Solidarity Working Group provided her with the experience and deep sense of community of practice needed to lead TIIP as the Executive Director.

Upkar Arora is a seasoned organizational leader and board director with a proven track record of delivering results. He is committed to systems change to create a more just and equitable society, using financial, human and social capital.

Upkar is currently the CEO of Rally Assets, Canada’s leading impact investment management and advisory firm. Rally is a purpose-driven organization, and an award-winning B Corporation, committed to using business as a force for good. 

 Prior to Rally he worked in finance and leadership roles with some of Canada’s most successful organizations for more than 25 years - building, operating and advising companies of varying sizes, stages and sectors, domestically and globally, private and public.

Upkar has extensive governance experience, having served on boards of several for profit and not-for-profit organizations including Meridian Credit Union, Vancity Community Investment Bank, Metrolinx, University of Waterloo, Institute for Canadian Citizenship, Why Not Theatre and several early-stage startups. He holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors, has completed the Competent Boards Climate Competent director certificate and is actively engaged in governance best practices.

 He is an FCPA, FCA having been awarded the accounting profession’s highest honour (the “Fellow”) in 2017. Upkar is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Waterloo where he received the Distinguished Teacher Award in 2022. He is also a BMW Foundation Global Responsible Leader. He obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in accounting and economics from the University of Waterloo.

Narinder is an award-winning innovator, Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 and a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader. Her work spans across sectors and silos, she brings depth and rigour to drive social impact in North America and the Global South.

She is the President of the Sonor Foundation, Executive Lead and Co-Founder of New Power Lab, and a gender lens investor.  Over the last decade, she built, designed and scaled social ventures including: in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) she led a venture philanthropy fund, LEAP | Pecaut Centre for Social Impact, and alongside Sandra and Joseph Rotman at the University of Toronto, Narinder was the founding Executive Director of Rise, a microfund for entrepreneurs with mental health and addiction challenges. In the Global South, she worked in microfinance across Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali at La Première Agence de Microfinance (PAMF) and in impact investing in Ghana & Nigeria with Acumen.

She is a lecturer at Ryerson University and the University of Toronto. Narinder serves on multiple boards including the Community Foundations of Canada, Venture for Canada, The Circle, and CAFIID and is an investor in social ventures across Canada.

Kat (she/her) is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Environmental Stewardship (FES). Kat’s main focus is building The Youth Harbour, a youth-for-youth climate support system focussed on supporting youth climate leaders with financial, technical, and networking support to amplify and scale their work, so far raising $1.5M dollars for the project.

Kat is a Future of Good Young Impact 2022 Leader, Clean50 nominee, and Corporate Knights Top Sustainability Leader 30 under 30. She was one of the 40 leaders invited to the first ever Ditchley Energy and Climate Summit in the UK, and attended multiple other conferences such as the UN Framework on Climate Change’s 26th Conference of Parties in Glasgow, the Convention on Biological Diversity’s 15th Conference of Parties, Imagine Canada’s Non-Profit Leadership Roundtable, among other high-level conferences.

Kat is passionate about activating in the local community, whether that be organizing grassroots campaigns and clothing swaps, volunteering at the University of Calgary as an Advisory member or the local foundation. She has worked on a diversity of projects from volunteering at Calgary Legal Guidance, presenting systems research on the national pharmacare, or co-founding literacy campaigns. Kat is passionate about empowering youth to take impactful action on sustainable development, strengthening and amplifying the youth *force* in the Canadian climate movement. 

Kristi Fairholm Mader (KFM) has always worked in the social impact sector. After returning to school to complete a business degree, Kristi began exploring social enterprise and enterprising approaches to social change and founded several social enterprise initiatives. In 2014, Kristi co-founded Scale Collaborative to support the growth of the social economy sector on Vancouver Island and beyond. Within Scale’s family of organizations, KFM is the Managing Director of Thrive Impact Fund and Scale Institute. She also is the Project Manager for the BC Social Procurement Initiative. Kristi lives in Victoria with her husband, 2 children and a very lazy husky.

Nejeed Kassam is the proud father of a rambunctious boy and husband to an amazing wife. He serves as the CEO of Keela - an impact technology company, dedicated to empowering nonprofits with powerful, data-driven software. Nejeed is also the co-founder of Fundraising KIT, a world leading AI-powered predictive analytics tool, built exclusively for nonprofit fundraisers. Nejeed was educated at McGill University (B.A.) and Osgoode Hall Law School (JD). Called to the Bar in Ontario in 2015 and in British Columbia in 2017, Nejeed focuses his legal work on charitable and nonprofit law. Nejeed is also the founder of the Better Canada Institute, a public policy organization. He has spent decades working in-and-around the nonprofit sector and is the former executive director of both End Poverty Now and Conversations for Change. Nejeed is a global innovator with experience working for the United Nations and the Senate of Canada. He is the author of the book ‘High on Life’ (foreword written by former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien) and the co-producer of the documentary, ‘Conversations for Change’. Today, Nejeed sits on a number of corporate, Crown corporation, education, and non-profit boards, speaks at conferences around the world, and is an alumnus of the Global Shapers Community (World Economic Forum) and a former fellow at the Royal Society of the Arts in the UK. In 2012, Nejeed received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal for his contribution and service to Canada. In 2022, Nejeed was named 40 under 40 by BIV.

As an advocate for social equity, Lee works to challenge norms and practices in the charitable sector that are barriers to social justice. Lee works with community partners, foundations, corporations, and philanthropists to advance systems change in the pursuit of social, economic, and environmental equity.

Kevin McCort is President and CEO of Vancouver Foundation. With more than 30 years of service to the non-profit sector, both in Canada and around the world, he has earned a reputation as a smart, strategic leader who always puts community at the heart of his work.

Kevin has led Vancouver Foundation through a period of significant transformation with a sharpened focus on donor service, community inspired grant-making, and world-class endowment management. Since he joined in 2013, strong growth in new funds and assets enabled the foundation to contribute over $650 million to towards building healthy, vibrant, equitable and inclusive communities across BC.

As the scale of Vancouver Foundation has grown, Kevin has also worked to expand its impact, pioneering new initiatives and innovations that create meaningful change at a community level. Kevin has led his team in a transformation of Vancouver Foundation’s approach to community granting, focusing on supporting systems change work that address root causes of pressing social, cultural, and environmental issues. The Foundation is committed to further shifting and sharing power in service to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Before joining Vancouver Foundation Kevin worked with some of Canada’s leading humanitarian aid organizations, including six years as President and CEO of CARE Canada. He co-founded The Humanitarian Coalition in 2005 and currently serves on the boards of Friends of Vancouver Foundation and the B.C. Unclaimed Property Society. He is also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and is a member of the federal Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector, advising the Minister of National Revenue and the Canada Revenue Agency.

Kevin graduated from the University of Toronto in 1989 with a B.Sc. (Specialist/Honours), and an MBA from Queen’s University in 2005. In 2013, he was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal and is currently working towards his ICD.D designation.

At Tapestry, Ryan supports organizations across Canada to raise community bonds. Community bonds are a powerful way for non-profits and charities to finance capital projects by raising investment from their supporters. They allow citizens to invest locally in meaningful projects. Right now at Tapestry, he has active projects financing affordable housing, a historic rowing club, an arts charity, and an international youth hostel. Ryan is inspired to help communities develop spaces that make our country happier, healthier, and more equitable. He holds an HBA with from the Richard Ivey School of Business and sits on the Social Purpose Real Estate advisory group with the United Way of Greater Toronto.

Mike provides leadership at Genus Capital for the investment products and sustainable initiatives, including research, portfolio construction, and strategy.  Genus Capital is an innovator in sustainable investing and manages $1.8 billion for families, foundations, and institutions.  Prior to joining Genus, he was a strategic consultant working in London, UK focusing on projects in sustainability, finance, and technology. Mike also led an equity research firm and worked for a quantitative hedge fund. He holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge concentrating in Social Innovation and is a CFA Charterholder.

Tyler Hamilton is senior director of cleantech at MaRS and guides all climate-related activities for ventures, corporate partners and investors, including the flagship Mission from MaRS program. Previous to joining MaRS, Tyler spent two decades as a journalist and wrote extensively about Canada’s clean technology sector and global cleantech trends. Most recently he was editor-in-chief of business and sustainability magazine Corporate Knights. He also spent 13 years at the Toronto Star, where he reported on Canada’s energy sector and wrote a popular weekly column on clean energy technologies and trends. In 2011, Tyler authored Mad Like Tesla, a book that examines the various barriers to clean energy innovation and surveys the landscape of some potentially world-changing clean technologies. A recipient of the Cleantech Group’s “Pioneer” award for his early writings on the sector, Tyler was also recognized in 2016 on Canada’s “Clean50” list for his thought leadership on clean energy and climate issues.

Namendra is an impact-driven leader with extensive experience in energy, sustainability, and climate solutions. As the Impact Director of The Northpine Foundation's Climate, Carbon, and Nature portfolio, he's at the forefront of driving innovative solutions for a greener future. Namendra has held executive leadership roles in public, private, and non-profit organizations and has been actively engaged in advocating for investments in clean energy transition, low carbon economy and unlocking private equity deployment for environmental benefits. Namendra's commitment to creating a sustainable and equitable future makes him an asset to any initiative.

Environmental Defence, where she advances climate-related financial policy and regulation. She previously managed a portfolio of impact investments at the McConnell Foundation. Her career combines sustainable finance and climate advocacy. She sits on the investment advisory committee of The Michaëlle Jean Foundation and is an Associate at Youth Climate Lab. She’s won national and global awards for her work integrating environmental justice into sustainable finance, including winning First Prize Paper in the Ethics & Trust in Finance Global Prize. Julie writes about climate finance in the media, volunteers with various community- and youth-led environmental groups, and advises foundations on strategies for impact investing. Julie completed a Bachelor of Commerce at McGill University.

Dr. Kenneth Chau is an associate professor at the School of Engineering at the University of British Columbia who has spearheaded various initiatives to promote technology and social entrepreneurship in the university ecosystem. In 2017, he co-founded a social enterprise (happipad.org) that has developed a scalable platform that is helping communities across Canada address the housing affordability crisis through home-sharing. Home-sharing provides one of the most direct ways to increase housing supply by tapping into the estimated 12 million empty bedrooms across Canada. Happipad collaborates with provincial governments, non-profit organizations, and universities and colleges to provide turn-key housing solutions tailored for seniors, students, and refugees (including those from other countries and those displaced by climate disasters).

Alia Abaya is a highly collaborative and strategic leader with expertise in the areas of community development, social finance, and cross-sector and stakeholder engagement. Ms. Abaya is passionate about improving social and economic inclusion through initiatives that capture emerging opportunities while maintaining operational integrity. Her work is currently focused on Affordable Housing as the CEO of Circle Community LandTrust. Ms. Abaya comes to Circle with over a decade of leadership experience acquired in both the not-for-profit, and financial services sectors.

Graham Singh is Founder / CEO of the Trinity Centres Foundation, a Montreal-based charity established to transform faith properties into community hubs and new housing. TCF has released more than $75 million of property financing and has launched a pre-development fund aimed at investment from the Federal Social Finance Fund. TCF's impact is measured in affordability and equity for the thousands of charities and non-profits who are so often excluded from religious narratives. Graham is a graduate of the London School of Economics, guest faculty at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University, ordained Priest in the Anglican Church of Canada, professional member of the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals and Board Director at the Table of Impact Investing Professionals.  

Aline Nizigama is CEO of YWCA Canada since March 20, 2023. Aline is a dynamic, multilingual leader with extensive professional experience working with equity-deserving groups. Her career has instilled in her an in-depth understanding of issues affecting diverse and continuingly marginalized communities; how these complex issues intersect to produce varying degrees of inequities in the Canadian and global contexts; and how to address such challenges. 

Aline joined YWCA Canada from Centre Francophone du Grand Toronto, the largest francophone multiservice charitable agency in the Greater Toronto Area, where she served as Director of Strategic Projects, Communications and Partnerships. In this role, she led the development and implementation of key initiatives, including the establishment of a new affordable housing department, strategy, and associated services. She has extensive experience in providing services for women, delivering affordable and supportive housing for women, grassroots organizing for feminist solidarity, and intersectionality. 

As a leader deeply rooted in her community, Aline chaired the Board of Directors of Margaret’s Housing and Community Support Services for over 8 years, where she actively supported the Executive Director and the rest of the Board in championing  the redevelopment of 2 heritage properties into 35 new apartments for women with mental health challenges, new housing acquisitions and a merger with a small feminist housing charity. Aline was inducted to the 2016 Wall of Role Models as part of the annual Black Canadian Awards by the Diversity Advancement Network, a celebration of success and inspirational stories of Black Canadian community builders and outstanding achievers.

Sally Miller (MA/ PhD; MES), is the Executive Director of the Fair Finance Fund. She has worked in sustainable food and agriculture management, development and research for non-profits and co-ops for over thirty years, including the Local Food and Farm Co-ops, Toronto Public Health, Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario Natural Food Co-op, Organic Meadow, Fourth Pig Worker Co-op, West End Food Co- op in Canada, and Finger Lakes Organic Growers’ Co-op in the U.S. She has been on various Boards, including the board of the Ontario Co-operative Association, and Greenest City. Publications include Edible Action: Food Activism and Alternative Economics (Fernwood 2008); and Belongings: The Fight for Land and Food (Fernwood 2016) and numerous research reports.

Stephen Miller is Director of Delivery and Impact at Power to Change, the independent trust that strengthens communities through community business. He oversees the Trust’s funding and support, and to date Power to Change has invested over £106 million in the community business sector in England and supported over 1,400 community businesses. He has almost 20 years' experience in the third sector, having also previously worked for Design Council and UnLtd - the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs. He has authored multiple publications exploring the potential and impact of social innovation, community development and social entrepreneurship, and spoken across the UK, EU and US on these topics. He has also been a Trustee and Director of various social enterprises and charities, and is currently Chair of Cliftonville Cultural Space, converting a former synagogue into a new community-led arts and cultural centre. 

Graham has spent his career working with entrepreneurs as an executive, impact investor, advisory, and board member. He has focused particularly on companies with social missions and has helped transform them into sustainable business models.

Graham is currently Chief Investment Officer at Spring Activator where he oversees all investment programs. He is also Managing Partner of Spring Impact Capital, a new impact fund focused on early stage companies across Canada.

Previously, Graham spent more than a decade in Latin America. He has a Bachelor’s degree in International Business and Marketing from the Sauder School of Business in Vancouver, Canada and a Masters degree in International Affairs and Economics at the School of Advanced International Studies (Johns Hopkins University) in Washington DC.

Jenny is the Program Lead at the DUCA Impact Lab. The DUCA Impact Lab work is rooted in facilitating and scaling up novel social finance projects with the objective of building a fairer banking system for all. In her work at DUCA, Jenny leads the daily operations and process management of the Impact Lab’s keystone project, the Escalator Loan. The Escalator Loan provides financial relief to individuals trapped in the predatory loan cycle and helps them rebuild their credit history and guides them back towards the path of financial security and independence. Prior to working at the DUCA Impact Lab, Jenny held various product quality and supply chain management roles within the vaccine manufacturing and alternative energy manufacturing industries. Jenny is a proud alumna of the University of Toronto’s Master of Science in Sustainability Management (MScSM) program from the class of 2021. Jenny holds a BSc in Biology from Western University. During her final year in MScSM, Jenny’s course work and research focused on dissecting the social inequities that lead to the marginalization of certain populations in society as well as the innovative ways to use finance to help achieve holistic sustainability goals. 

Eloise is CEO and Founder of Financial Resilience Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the financial resilience and well-being of all Canadians and global citizens. The Institute is the leading independent authority on financial resilience and financial well-being in Canada, and measures household financial resilience through its Financial Resilience Index model, created by Eloise and her team.

Eloise has lived and worked in six countries. She is a leading expert on financial well-being in Canada, and Certified Management Consultant (C.M.C) with over twenty-five years of experience in strategic management consulting and financial services. As an impact-preneur she is working with passion to make a difference particularly for Canada’s most financially vulnerable and underserved populations. 

A member of the C.D. Howe Institute, Eloise is dual nationality Canadian and British, and lives in Vancouver with her husband and three children. 

Sarah Stuewe is the Associate Director, Philanthropy, at Windmill Microlending. During her 14-year career in the charitable sector, she has worked as a fundraiser at Parkinson’s Society Canada, Parkinson’s UK and WaterAid Australia. In her role at Windmill, she raises donations and impact investments from philanthropists and impact investors who are seeking a strong social return. Windmill Microlending converts potential into prosperity by offering low-interest loans to skilled newcomers and refugees to restart their careers in Canada. On average, Windmill’s clients triple their incomes.

Since 2019, Sarah has raised nearly $25MM in donated and invested loan capital for Windmill, capital that goes directly into the hands of newcomers to fund training and associated costs. Sarah was inspired to join Windmill after finding that in her privileged position as a white English speaking woman, she was able to easily secure employment and progress in her career as a fundraiser while overseas. This is in direct contrast to the experience of newcomers who come to Canada, and this disparity motivates Sarah to continue raising funds for Windmill.

Yetunde is a CFA Charter holder with rich and diverse experience in capital raising & management, deal advisory and client management. She is a Fund Manager within the Fund Design and Management practice at SVX. Ask Yetunde about crafting winning strategies, raising capital, investments, data science and cooking.

Adam’s career has focused on advancing social, environmental and economic justice through community action, impact investing, and cross-sectoral systems change. Adam leads on partnerships and strategic projects, while providing support and oversight on education, advisory, fund, and platform activities at SVX. Ask Adam about collaboration opportunities, sector trends, and exploring food in Toronto.

 Économiste de formation, Philippe Garant travaille dans le domaine du développement économique depuis 30 ans, tant à l’international que dans différentes régions du Québec. Désormais directeur général la Fiducie du Chantier de l’économie sociale depuis 2021, il a pendant plus de dix ans assumé la direction du Réseau d’investissement social du Québec et la présidence de CAP Finance de 2017 à 2021. Il possède une connaissance fine des enjeux du milieu de l’économie sociale et du développement économique québécois.

As President, Kelly runs Rally. She is responsible for Rally’s day-to-day operations and client relationships. She leads the team and manages the business to enable Rally to grow. Kelly anchors Rally’s impact thought leadership both internally and externally.

For two decades she has helped clients create impactful portfolios. She has worked with a range of asset owners to design and implement their approach to responsible and impact investing, strategically aligning their investment and portfolio strategies with positive outcomes for people and the planet. Before joining Rally in 2012, Kelly was with Mercer in the responsible investing team. Kelly is a board member of the Responsible Investment Association and an Investment Committee member for SheEO’s Venture.Fund. 

As CEO, Upkar is responsible for setting the overall direction, strategy and vision of Rally, and nurturing the right culture, environment and values to enable our people to flourish and deliver impact in alignment with our mission.  Upkar brings sophisticated expertise in business, capital markets and finance from working with companies of all sizes, at different stages, sectors and geographies. Over the past 35 years, he has been active in investing, financing, operating and advising companies, using innovative investment structures (debt, equity and hybrid) in the public and private markets.

Upkar is an FCPA, FCA and holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Upkar serves or has served on the boards of several organizations such as Vancity Community Investment Bank, University of Waterloo and Metrolinx. He is a BMW Foundation Global Responsible Leader and also teaches at the University of Waterloo.

A bilingual corporate executive, entrepreneur and strategy consultant, Christelle is the Board Chair of the Table of Impact Investment Practitioners. She is also the co-founder & Vice-Chair of the Afro-Canadian Cultural Center of Montreal, and founder of Untold & Co. agency.  In January 2021 she was appointed President of the Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce, where she spearheaded a successful fundraising strategy.  For her work in the public, private and voluntary sectors, Christelle was recognized as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Black Canadians of 2022.

As the Impact manager at Acumen, Luan works across functions to develop and install impact measurement and management processes to help Acumen better understand the impact of its work, while helping to inform strategies to magnify impact in the future.

Previously, Luan worked as a development consultant, focusing on better understanding (measuring and managing) the risks associated with land-based investments and developing systems to manage and mitigate associated risks. Most recently, Luan participated in a team that designed and developed a project proposal for the Green Climate Fund.

Luan has worked on projects situated in over 10 countries in emerging market across Sub-Saharan Africa, central America and South East Asia and holds a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch, in South Africa.

Kiran Toor is an Advisor at the Impact and Innovation Unit in the Privy Council Office (PCO). She has experience applying novel methods to measure the impact of programs, including Impact Canada’s Challenge program. Prior to joining the PCO, Kiran worked as an Economist at Statistics Canada conducting research on business performance, supply chain analyses and housing analysis. Kiran holds a Master’s of Arts in Economics from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Economics from Dalhousie University. Kiran is located in Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Kate Ruff leads Common Approach to Impact Measurement, which is stewarding community-driven impact measurement standards that create flexible, shareable data and that center the voices of social purpose organizations and those they serve. Kate has 20 years of experience advising social purpose organizations on feasible approaches to measuring (sometimes estimating) their impact. Kate is also an Associate Professor at the Sprott School of Business, Carleton University. In her academic role, Kate publishes research on impact measurement, particularly measures focused on centering the voices of those whose lives are most impacted.

Paluck works as a communications, engagement and impact coordinator at Social Innovation Canada. She is supporting the Adopting Common Measures program and her work is focused on helping social purpose organizations align with United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and measure their impact using Common Approach's framework. She, along with her team, is empowering SPOs to build a sustainable impact measurement practice by making Impact Dashboard accessible to social entrepreneurs and entities. She completed her Master of Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Smith School of Business at Queen's University. Her superpowers are building meaningful collaborations and creating synergies through impact tracking. She comes from a diverse background ranging from business consulting to Food and Beverage industries but found her purpose in social innovation.

Sara Olsen is the founder of SVT Group, a pioneering impact management advisory firm that supports clients to tap and grow previously unseen social and environmental value. SVT's work has been used to manage the social and environmental impact of $9.9Bn+ in assets, and Sara has personally trained over 7,000 individuals in impact measurement and management skills. She is also a champion of the emerging impact management profession, and to that end serves as boardmember and methodology co-chair of Social Value International, the international standards body and network for professionals who are "changing the way society accounts for value”; SVI’s liaison to the Impact Management Platform, which works to harmonize the leading ESG and impact disclosure and management standards; and a founding boardmember of SVI’s US chapter; and frequently writes and speaks on these topics. 

Jason is an Engagement Manager at Quinn+Partners and leads the firm’s Impact Services. He has extensive experience advising corporate and investor clients on how to develop impact measurement and impact investing strategies that aim to intentionally improve outcomes for people and the planet, while generating financial returns. He previously led the impact measurement and management practice at MaRS through the Centre for Impact Investing. He has also previously worked in international development with the Clinton Foundation’s poverty alleviation initiative and as a researcher and co-author of articles in global health innovation.

Samantha Whiteye is a community leader from Eelūnapéewi Lahkéewiit. She is very passionate and dedicated to her work within Southern Ontario and the Indigenous Communities she actively serves. Samantha comes from grassroots immersed experiences which she utilizes her lived experience and understandings to create space, advocate and lead conversations centering on Truth and Reconciliation. Leading with an ethical two eyed seeing approach Samantha demonstrates leadership as a changemaker in the environmental sector.

Samantha is very knowledgeable and connected to her Lunaapeew/Lenape culture as she continuously weaves the medicine and teachings into her work and daily lifestyle. She is also passionate about ancestral seed sovereignty and hopes it will help build bridges back to identity for her people.

Over the past year Samantha has worked closely with Carolinian Canada Coalition and continues her work in a new role as Indigenous Leadership Director to help shift the narratives in conservation.

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James works with people, places, and partnerships to foster civic participation, promote equitable urbanism, and grow our social economy. He leads the advisory team at SVX, which helps organizations raise or invest impact capital. Ask him about advancing social equity through investments and philanthropy, experiential learning programs, and urban design.

Julia has held senior leadership positions in the environmental sector for nearly 30 years, managing campaigns and organizations, defining strategy and policy, and inspiring public and private action to address air pollution and climate change. Julia leads TAF’s staff in advancing the organization’s solutions to climate and air pollution, and with support from TAF’s Investment Committee, oversees the fiscal integrity of TAF’s endowment. Julia is a recipient of the 2016 Minister’s Award for Environmental Excellence for her environment and climate work and a member of the federal government’s Generation Energy Council.

Alexa is co-Founder and Managing Partner of Deetken Impact, where she leads portfolio management, finance and operations. Deetken Impact is a Canadian impact asset manager focused on investments in women’s empowerment, clean energy, and impact enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean. Deetken Impact manages over US$150 million in assets across five funds with a diverse team of seasoned investment professionals based in Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and Canada, and spanning a track record of more than two decades of direct investing experience. 

Prior to joining Deetken, Alexa was an executive with African Alliance, a pan-African financial services group and an associate with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Macquarie Group in Toronto. 

Recognized as one of Vancouver’s Top Forty Under 40 by Business in Vancouver magazine, Alexa is a CFA Charterholder, a Chartered Business Valuator and holds an MA in Financial Economics from the University of Toronto.

Filsan has a background in community development, livelihood programs, and supporting entrepreneurs. She is dedicated to contributing to the creation of more inclusive and just systems. Filsan is passionate about connecting with people, places and communities.

Bernard Worthy, Co-Founder and CEO of LoanWell, is a third-generation entrepreneur with a passion to see capital access and affordability democratized across communities of color in an effort to drive generational wealth creation. Bernard has leveraged his gifting for software architecture, design, and development for startups to Fortune 100 companies and now leads that effort at LoanWell. LoanWell is an automated lending and grant technology to help community lenders deploy more capital, more efficiently. LoanWell is a Google for Startups company, a grant recipient of the Google Black Founders Fund, and a portfolio company of SoftBank’s Opportunity Fund, Impact America Fund, and Collab Capital. Bernard is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill with distinction and a Robertson Scholar. He is married to Lauren Worthy (10 years) and father to two beautiful girls Evie and Maya.

Tracy Lagasse is the Financial Services Industry Solution Executive for Microsoft Canada across banking, insurance, and capital markets. Working with Microsoft’s largest financial services clients, partners and fintechs to accelerate digital transformation with leading edge technology in cloud, data, AI, blockchain and Open API platforms.  She came to Microsoft with a distinguished 20-year career in Financial Services where she led Innovation in one of Canada’s largest fintechs and co-founded a fintech Accelerator.  An advocate for advancing ESG in the financial technology industry, Tracy is a frequent speaker at Women in Technology, Payments and Sales Events along with holding positions on advisory boards for payments modernization and social impact initiatives.

Kevin is a serial entrepreneur with a background in technology and management consulting. He leads the Fund Design and Management practice at SVX as well as heading up the SVX US Operations. Ask Kevin about raising capital, creating an investment fund, or pretty much anything related to Disney.

Narinder is an award-winning innovator, Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 and a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader. Her work spans across sectors and silos, she brings depth and rigour to drive social impact in North America and the Global South.  She is the President of the Sonor Foundation, Executive Lead and Co-Founder of New Power Lab, and a gender lens investor.  Over the last decade, she built, designed and scaled social ventures including: in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) she led a venture philanthropy fund, LEAP | Pecaut Centre for Social Impact, and alongside Sandra and Joseph Rotman at the University of Toronto, Narinder was the founding Executive Director of Rise, a microfund for entrepreneurs with mental health and addiction challenges. In the Global South, she worked in microfinance across Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali at La Première Agence de Microfinance (PAMF) and in impact investing in Ghana & Nigeria with Acumen. She is a lecturer at Ryerson University and the University of Toronto. Narinder serves on multiple boards including the Community Foundations of Canada, Venture for Canada, The Circle, and CAFIID and is an investor in social ventures across Canada.

At the age of 24 Victor Beausoleil Co-Founded Redemption. Reintegration Services one of the largest youth-led, youth justice agencies in Canada. In 2013 Victor Beausoleil received his first public service appointment by the Premiere of Ontario Kathleen Wynne as amember of the PCYO (Premiere’s Council on Youth Opportunities).
Victor has worked diligently in the broader equity seeking communities across Canada for the past nineteen years.
As a lecturer Victor Beausoleil has travelled extensively throughout Canada, the United States, UK and Africa for speaking engagements for community organizations, institutions and philanthropic foundations. Victor Beausoleil has been a board member of the Atkinson Charitable Foundation, a member of the grant review committee's of the Laidlaw Foundation, and the Toronto Community Housing Social Investment
Fund. Victor is currently on the board of directors for the Toronto Community Benefits Network, The Board President of CCEDnet - The Canadian Community Economic Development Network, on the loan review committee for the Fair Finance Fund, on the advisory of the Table of Impact Investment Practitioners, on the advisory of New Power Labs/Marigold Capital and on the board of REAC - the Regional Ethno- Advisory Council for Corrections Services Canada, on the board of the Tribe Network and a Co-founder of the Canadian Centre for Non-Profit Digital Resilience.
The Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, National Post, Share Newspaper and The Caribbean Camera, have all highlighted Victor Beausoleil’s work in communities across Canada. Victor Beausoleil is currently the CEO of Intuit Consulting and the founder and Executive Director of SETSI – The Social Economy Through Social Inclusion Coalition. Victor has written thirteen books and is a Husband and Father of four brilliant children.

Hillory Tenute Gi Chi’noodinkwe Aapti Beebom N’gigikwe (She/Her/They/Them), is an Anishinaabekwe with settler descent from the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation located in Neyaashiinigmiing, Ontario part of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation Territory in what we now call Canada. Hillory is the Executive Director (“Executive Auntie”) at Canadian Roots Exchange (CRE), a national Indigenous Youth led organization that provides reconciliation-based programs, grants and opportunities that are designed to strengthen and amplify the voices of Indigenous youth across Turtle Island.  

Hillory has extensive experience providing research, evaluation and culturally safe and responsive engagement strategies for Indigenous youth on a variety of subjects, including but not limited to settler-Indigenous relations, rights implementation, social impact and economic development. As a proud Anisnaabekwe, she is a life-long advocate for ensuring Indigenous youth are provided with equitable opportunities that are aimed at enhancing youth’s self-determination to become dynamic leaders in the reconciliation movement across Canada. For Hillory, it is integral that these young leaders are part of decision-making processes regarding socio-political, economic, cultural and environmental future of this country. These decisions will become part of their legacy work to support the next seven generations.

Justin Sweeney is a social entrepreneur and social finance professional who has been leading the social finance activities of Kaléidoscope Social Impact since 2018. Building on Kaléidoscope's success as a micro-lender in Saint John, New Brunswick, Justin lead the creation of two new investment programs that have launched dozens of social enterprises and created 100's of affordable housing units across the province of New Brunswick.

 Justin has been the lead on all aspects of their fund development, including creating their place-based investment thesis, raising capital, building out their administrative policies and processes, and tackling their impact measurement and reporting in alignment with global standards. He firmly believes that investing local will be a natural evolution of the buy local movement, and that supportive policies, open-source knowledge hubs, and improved administrative software will enable place-based funds to channel billions into local communities over the next decade.

 He lives with his wife in rural Kings County, raising their two young children close to nature.

Nabeela is a Principal at the TELUS Pollinator Fund, an early-stage social-impact venture fund that invests in founders addressing the biggest challenges in health, education, agriculture and the environment. Nabeela cut her teeth in venture at Relay Ventures, where she focused on transformative fintech and AI solutions at the early stage. As an advocate for women’s empowerment, she co-founded the Canadian Women in VC community and is an activator at Coralus (fka SheEO). Prior to joining the venture ecosystem, Nabeela had a short half-life as an Electro-Optics Engineer. Nabeela holds a B. Eng. in Engineering Physics from McMaster University. She is the recipient of Corporate Knights’ Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leaders (2022).

Jonah Chininga is the co-founder and CEO of Woveo, a financial technology company that provides a community wallet for rotating savings and credit building. He's passionate about entrepreneurship and sits on the board of the Startup Zone. Jonah is accredited by the World Bank on Alternative Financing.

Sagal Dualeh (she/her) is the Senior Director at the Canadian Women’s Foundation – a national leader in the movement for gender equality and gender justice in Canada. Sagal has over ten years experience working with a diversity of organizations, from non-profits and charities, to SMEs, social enterprises and entrepreneurs. She’s worked on funding initiatives in both the private and public sectors, from federal initiatives and philanthropic grant programs to supporting place-based investment funds. Sagal has championed resilient regional and local food systems, connected “food-preneurs” to global trade markets and value chains, supported community economic development programs, and incubators and accelerators. Most recently, she is supporting social impact organizations as they build their investment readiness and organizational capacity, while boosting the participation of women and gender diverse people in Canada’s growing social finance marketplace.  Sagal is a committee member on the CGSB on Responsible Business Conduct. Sagal holds a B.Soc. Sc in Statistics and Economics and M.A. in International Economics & Finance. 

With a vast experience inside Pro Mujer since 2017, Carmen is the organization's CEO. Correa previously served as Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, supervising the implementation of Pro Mujer’s social impact programs, which include expanding financial inclusion, providing health and well-being services, and offering skill-building opportunities to women across Latin America.

Vicki Saunders is an entrepreneur, award-winning mentor, advisor to the next generation of change-makers and leading advocate for entrepreneurship as a way of creating positive transformation in the world. Vicki is Founder of #radical generosity and Coralus (formerly SheEO), a global community of radically generous women supporting women-led Ventures working on the World’s To-Do List. Vicki has co-founded and run ventures in Europe, Toronto and Silicon Valley and taken a company public on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Vicki was received numerous awards for her work at Coralus including; UBS Global Visionary in 2020, YWCA Women of Distinction Award in 2020, Business Leader of the Year 2019 by the Toronto Regional Board of Trade, 2018 Startup Canada Entrepreneurship Promotion Award and was selected as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic.

As the Founder and President of the think tank Criterion Institute, Dr. Joy Anderson has spent the last two decades helping investors, social change organizations and governments to think differently about finance. She has shaped the field of gender lens investing, pioneered approaches to integrating gender-based violence data into political risk methodologies, and authored numerous influential reports on using finance as a tool for social change. She also hosts The Criterion Institute Podcast, a series of open conversations with other innovative thinkers in finance. In 2021, Criterion received a major commitment from Global Affairs Canada to develop a global system of standards for the field of gender lens investing. Running throughout the institute's work is a deep understanding of systems change and power, and a commitment to inspire and include those who don't believe they have a voice or agency in financial systems.

Smitha Das serves as the Director of Mission and Impact Investing at World Education Services (WES), a global social enterprise committed to economic and social inclusion for all. She oversees WES’ mission and impact investing portfolios, stewarding 100% of WES’ resources to be mission-aligned. Smitha is deeply committed to centering equity and justice within her work and demonstrating a trust-based investment approach.

Previously, Smitha was an impact investor at Social Finance, where she developed and executed strategic initiatives and innovative financing projects. Before Social Finance, she worked in venture philanthropy, renewable energy private equity, and government. Her passion to create meaningful social and environmental impact formed at a young age when she founded a water nonprofit at age 12.

Smitha has a MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS) and AB with Honors in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, where she co-founded the HBS Impact Investing Club and Harvard College Social Enterprise Club. She serves as a board member and advisor for Cell-Ed, JFF Ventures, New Power Labs, and the HBS Impact Investing Alumni Group.

Gaby Polanco-Sorto is an executive strategist with close to 20 years of experience working in multinational Financial Institutions across Environmental Sustainability, ESG, Community Investment and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
She has worked in various organizations, including Scotiabank, LoyaltyOne and Manulife Financial in progressively senior roles.
Currently, Gaby is the VP and Head of Purpose and Sustainability at Gore Mutual Insurance. In this capacity, Gaby is responsible for guiding Gore Mutual’s efforts and priorities to making a difference in Canadian communities. Reporting to the CEO, she is accountable for imbedding ESG into all areas of our business strategy and for leading the social impact, community, purpose, inclusion and sustainability activities across the organization. She is also active in the academic space, currently as lecturer for University of Toronto’s St. Michael’s College Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability
Graduate Diploma program. Originally from El Salvador, she is passionate about eliminating the barriers faced by immigrants and refugees. She has held various Board positions with NGOs focused on supporting immigrants and refugees in Canada. Gaby is currently a Board Member of CUSO International as well as Volunteer Toronto. She holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business.

Ka-Hay sources, evaluates, and executes on investment opportunities that align with the Fund’s sustainability and sustainable agriculture sectors and leads the development of the Fund’s impact management practice.

Prior to joining TELUS, she was the vice-president of Impact and Investments at the Lundin Foundation. She was instrumental in transforming the Foundation into a respected impact investor and strategic sustainability resource for the Lundin Group of Companies.  Ka-Hay brings 10 years of international impact investment experience investing in agriculture, financial inclusion and low-carbon solutions. Ka-Hay found her passion for impact when she worked for Engineers Without Borders and has called Ghana, Zambia and Kenya home.

Aaron Lambie is an executive leader widely recognized for his thought leadership on the structural design of Indigenous and Social Impact frameworks. He is an advocate for practical logic models that deliver utility to impact reporting. Aaron believes we have a small window of opportunity to do a better job of articulating the quality of relationships between Indigenous Community and industry to both the investment market and Indigenous leadership equally. Aaron is the President / CEO and founder of the Social Awareness Group – an Enterprise focused technology company that provides Indigenous and Social Impact reporting and aggregation tools to Industry. As a non-Indigenous person whose ancestors are from Scotland and the Czech Republic, Aaron is committed to sharing his gifts towards realizing Indigenous Prosperity — globally.  

Barbra Kingsley, Ph.D., President of Kingsley-Kleimann Group, has 25 years of experience managing high-impact communication projects to create clear, usable information. She is an information design and plain language expert with a deep understanding of how individuals, particularly vulnerable populations, use print and online information. She has led projects for multiple high-profile clients to develop information that people of all demographics can understand including the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the SNAP notices and forms for the Department of Agriculture, and the HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices for the Department of Health and Human Services. Each of these projects have produced forms and notices that are – and will be – used daily by millions of consumers and industry partners. She also works nationally and internationally to promote the use of plain language. Nationally, as Chair of the Center for Plain Language, she oversees both the Annual Federal Report Card, which rates U.S. federal agency compliance with the Plain Writing Act of 2010, and the Annual ClearMark Awards, which celebrates the best in U.S. plain language. Internationally, she is a Board Member of the International Plain Language Federation which is working towards creating ISO plain language standards.

Morgan Simon has over two decades of experience making finance a tool for social justice. In that time she has influenced over $150B and is a regularly sought out expert on impact investing. Her book, Real Impact: The New Economics of Social Change has been featured everywhere from Harvard Business School to the United Nations. She is an active investor as Founding Partner of Candide Group, a Registered Investment Advisor working with families, foundations and other investors who want to flow their money to social justice-focused companies and funds building a new economy.

James Stauch is the Director of the Institute for Community Prosperity at Mount Royal University where he has developed or co-created social innovation, leadership, and systems-focused learning programs for both undergraduates and the broader community.  The Institute hosts an array of local and regional social innovation learning programs, as well as the Canada-wide competition of the global Map the System student challenge. A former foundation executive and philanthropy and social change consultant, James also serves as the Managing Partner for the Centre for Social Impact Technology.  He is the lead author of an annual scan of trends and emerging issues, produced in partnership with Calgary Foundation, and has co-authored a wide variety of works, including on aging, artificial intelligence, accessibility, food security, nonprofit mergers, northern policy, philanthropy, social change leadership, social enterprise, and systems mapping

Sadia brings a wealth of arts, media, and not-for-profit experience to her role as CEO, Inspirit Foundation.

Before joining Inspirit, Sadia was Managing Director, ROM Canada at the Royal Ontario Museum where she focused on digital content and amplifying Indigenous narratives. Before the ROM, Sadia commissioned documentary and current affairs projects from across the country as Director, Original Program Development, CBC News and Centres. She also led Women in Film and Television-Toronto (WIFT-T), a not-for-profit that supports the training and advancement of women in the screen-based industry. 

Sadia began her career as a journalist, creating hundreds of hours of original, critically acclaimed current affairs and documentary content for Vision TV, CBC and TVO.  She has won dozens of awards for her journalism, and has been honoured for her leadership. She sits on many boards, juries, and advisory committees and is often asked to speak about media/arts, equity, gender and leadership.

Jacqueline is the VP of the Investment Program at the Equality Fund. The Equality Fund’s unique model activates investment alongside feminist philanthropy and high trust grantmaking to bring about long-term, sustainable, and powerful change.  

Prior to joining the Equality Fund, Jacqueline was a Managing Partner in Export Development Canada’s Investments group, responsible for the Inclusive Trade Investments Program (“ITIP”), a $200 million program which provides equity growth capital to companies founded or led by diverse Canadians, and to venture capital funds demonstrating a commitment to promoting diversity on both sides of the investment table.  In addition to running ITIP, she oversaw equity investments into the Sustainable Food & Ag Tech sector and was responsible for the portfolio management and operations of the group’s $3bn of committed capital in direct and fund equity investments. 

Jacqueline has also worked in M&A advisory roles with investment banks in London (Avington Financial), Montreal and Toronto (Merrill Lynch).   She has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto and obtained her MBA at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

Lorena is an Impact Officer at FinDev Canada. She assesses the development impact of investments, and supports private sector clients through advisory services, training and design of technical assistance projects on women’s economic empowerment and climate action. She helped establish and co-lead Canada’s gender-lens investing community of practice hosted by CAFIID (Canada Forum for Impact Investment of Development), and her professional background is in international development, project management, and sustainable infrastructure finance.

Alexa is co-Founder and Managing Partner of Deetken Impact, where she leads portfolio management, finance and operations. Deetken Impact is a Canadian impact asset manager focused on investments in women’s empowerment, clean energy, and impact enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean. Deetken Impact manages over US$150 million in assets across five funds with a diverse team of seasoned investment professionals based in Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and Canada, and spanning a track record of more than two decades of direct investing experience. 

Prior to joining Deetken, Alexa was an executive with African Alliance, a pan-African financial services group and an associate with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Macquarie Group in Toronto. 

Recognized as one of Vancouver’s Top Forty Under 40 by Business in Vancouver magazine, Alexa is a CFA Charterholder, a Chartered Business Valuator and holds an MA in Financial Economics from the University of Toronto.

Paula is a Senior Associate at SVX where she leads investor and venture education programming. Paula has spent the last few years deeply engaged within Canada’s social innovation ecosystem working within Ontario’s Social Enterprise Unit and the McConnell Foundation. Ask Paula about WOSEN, SVX accelerators, and dystopian fiction.

Bonnie is the Managing Director of The Social Investment Consultancy (TSIC), a global consultancy specialised in social impact measurement, impact investing and equity and inclusion strategies. TSIC has offices across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and has worked with close to 200 clients, including The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, British Council and Standard Chartered. She is a serial social entrepreneur: having founded women’s empowerment social enterprise Lensational, Diversity Forum for Inclusive Social Investment and Pathway, a new impact investment wholesaler focused on racial equity. She is also a Senior Advisor at Social Value International. 

Bonnie is Forbes Senior Contributor and has spoken in over 20 countries including two TEDx talks. She also holds strategic governance roles, including Member of the Blended Finance Investment Committee at Access – Foundation for Social Investment. She received multiple accolades for her work, named Asia21 Young Leader by Asia Society, a Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur, Young Achiever by the Asian Women of Achievement Awards, and the SDG Action Award (Storyteller).

She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Global Business Studies (with First Honours) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a Master in International Relations from the London School of Economics and a Certificate in Impact Finance Innovations Programme from Said Business School, University of Oxford. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she has also lived in Pakistan, Singapore, the United States, Denmark, Germany. She is now based in London, the United Kingdom.

Andrea Armeni is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Transform Finance, a research, education, and implementation partner that supports investors and social change actors to challenge legacy investment approaches, seed transformative investment models, and build movement power. 

A corporate lawyer by training, Andrea has spent the last decade exploring how capital can be made more just and equitable and helping activists and grassroots groups reclaim power over it. His current explorations focus on distributed governance mechanisms at the enterprise level as a fairer alternative to shareholder primacy. 

He is an adjunct associate professor at New York University, where he teaches in the masters’ program; his course on finance and social justice received the 2021 Award of Excellence from the Financial Times and the Impact Finance Faculty Consortium. He is the co-author, most recently, of “Grassroots Community Engaged Investment: Redistributing power over investment processes as the key to fostering equitable outcomes” and “Addressing Capital's Effects on Racial Justice: How investments drive injustice and what investors can do about it.”

Andrea served as an Investment Advisor to the Secretariat of the United Nations’ Joint SDG Fund, is a steering committee member of the Racial Equity Economics Finance Sustainability initiative (REEFS), and is a board member of CARE Enterprises, the impact investing arm of CARE International.

Andrea holds a B.A. in analytic philosophy from Columbia University and a Juris Doctor from the Yale Law School.

Indy Johar is focused on the strategic design of new super scale civic assets for transition - specifically at the intersection of financing, contracting and governance for deeply democratic futures.

Indy is co-founder of darkmatterlabs.org and of the RIBA award winning architecture and urban practice Architecture00 - https://www.architecture00.net, a founding director of open systems lab - https://www.opensystemslab.io (digitising planning), seeded WikiHouse (open source housing) - https://www.wikihouse.cc  and Open Desk (open source furniture company) https://www.opendesk.cc.

Indy is a non-executive international Director of the BloxHub https://bloxhub.org (Denmark Copenhagen) - the Nordic Hub for sustainable urbanization and was 2016-17 Graham Willis Visiting Professorship at Sheffield University.  He was also Studio Master at the Architectural Association - 2019-2020, UNDP Innovation Facility Advisory Board Member  2016-20 and RIBA Trustee 2017-20. He has taught & lectured at various institutions from the University of Bath, TU-Berlin; University College London, Princeton, Harvard, MIT and New School. 

Most recently, he was awarded the London Design Medal for Innovation in 2022.

Sandhya is passionate about co-creating capital solutions that break from the constraints of our current financial system as a way to shift control to and resources into communities that have been systematically excluded from meaningful investment.

As Managing Director of Community Credit Lab and CF Investments, Sandhya uses an experimental approach to stewarding and growing a portfolio of field defining, equitable lending and community-led investment programs that demonstrate solutions that shift the flow of capital towards BIPOC communities to build a more equitable financial system.

Before Common Future’s acquisition of Community Credit Lab (CCL), Sandhya was Co-Founder and served first as CCL’s Chief Investment Officer and subsequently as Executive Director. At the organization, she was responsible for leading the team to design and enable affordable and accessible place-based lending programs designed in partnership with community-rooted organizations. Prior to CCL, she was the Investment Manager at a private foundation where she led the design and implementation of both direct and indirect impact investing strategies. In her career to date, she has worked at public, private, and non-profit financial institutions including Freddie Mac, Capital One, and Coastal Enterprises, Inc. where she developed her expertise in credit analysis, portfolio risk management, and portfolio operations. She has also used her professional expertise to build out underwriting and portfolio-management systems and processes that enabled data-driven decisions at Lighter Capital, a financial technology start-up focused on small business lending.

Sandhya has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from New York University and an MBA from the University of Michigan. She is based in Seattle where she’s learned to love getting outdoors and to enjoy a good rainy day.

Carol Anne Hilton is committed to increasing the visibility and inclusion of Indigenous business and economic growth globally. With over 20 years of experience in community, business development and economic design, Carol Anne is focused on multi-generational Indigenous wealth creation. Carol Anne is now focusing her expertise, skills and strategic insights across a broad range of social, ecological and economic projects driving multi-generational impact nationally and globally.

Carol Anne Hilton is a dynamic national leader with an international MBA from the University of Hertfordshire, England. Carol Anne is of Nuu chah nulth descent from the Hesquiaht Nation on Vancouver Island. With an extensive career in business, Carol Anne is recognized for her contributions to business and economics, particularly in value creation in Indigenous economies.

Yichen is a business builder, educator, and finance professional with over a decade of experience mobilizing resources to solve hard problems and create beautiful things. She has dedicated her time and energy to helping early/growth stage entrepreneurs find product-market fit, starting a public primary school in Hayward, California, advising tech companies like Yahoo! and Snap at Goldman Sachs, teaching middle school design thinking, founding a small-batch tea company, and many other pursuits that integrate the personal and professional. Most recently, Yichen was a private equity investor in ed tech and future of work companies at a firm where she was employee #1 and created the impact strategy from scratch. 

At CED, Yichen continues to build as an educator and strategist in the role of Managing Director of Capital Strategies, helping individuals and institutions see past our current systems and self-limiting beliefs to invest in a just economy by integrating Social Movement Investing frameworks, Solidarity Economy principles, and her expertise in capital markets. 

Yichen currently lives in Oakland, California. She spent her formative years split between Shanghai, China where she was born and the multicultural and working class communities of East Los Angeles. 

Stephanie Robertson is the recently appointed Co-Chair of Social Value International (SVI), the founder and CEO of SiMPACT Strategy Group, Lead Auditor of LBG Canada, and Founder and current Board Chair of Social Value Canada. While each initiative is unique, all have a clear focus upon demonstrating the value of investment in community and society.  

Appointed Co-Chair in 2023, Stephanie has been on the Board of SVI since 2015 and is also an SVI Level 3 Practitioner and Trainer. She is a keen advocate of the social value movement’s mission to ‘change the way the world accounts for value’. Her deep passion, leadership, and years of experience are vital assets in supporting the continued growth of SVI, which has members in 60 countries. 

Stephanie has been with the social value movement since its beginning. She received her MBA from London Business School in 1999, then joined the Entrepreneurship faculty as an adjunct member. Over the next few years, she developed the first social enterprise course for London Business School and co- authored several business management case studies, winning European Entrepreneurship, Ethics, and CSR case awards in 2006 & 2007. 

Stephanie has spent the past two-plus decades working with corporations, governments, and civic agencies to understand, maximize and report on the value of impact. She is known for her love of capacity-building, for the development of systems to maximize impact, and for embedding emerging social impact management practices into ESG, Sustainability, and social value reporting.