Wednesday, November 26th 2025

Jean-Marc Mangin

President & CEO of Philanthropic Foundations

Jean-Marc has been President & CEO of Philanthropic Foundations Canada since 2019. He currently sits on the Government of Canada’s Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector, the Advisory Council for Carleton University’s Master of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (MPNL) program, and the management committee of PhiLab, the Canadian Philanthropy Partnership Research Network. Prior to PFC, Jean-Marc led a renewal process of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the largest national organization of Canadian researchers and scholars as its Executive Director.

SFWF25 - Opening Address - 9:00am EST

Systems Thinking & Sustainable Finance Panel -10am EST (Virtual)

Indra Sarju is a Senior Analyst at SecondMuse Capital, an impact and innovation company that invests in businesses and real estate. Sarju works on the Future Economy Lab team, which focuses on issues like gender and racial equality, climate change, and education.

Indra Sarju

SecondMuse Capital

Maryam Mohiuddin Ahmed

Founding Director of the Social Innovation Lab PHD in Sustainability Management

Maryam is a former human rights lawyer, serial social entrepreneur and social innovation evangelist. Her work and research centers ‘dialogues of wisdoms’ and explorations around alternate ways of knowing, doing and being to decolonize systems change. Maryam believes in enabling innovators to trigger transformative change in themselves and their communities, and through that process co-create more equitable, regenerative systems. Maryam previously co-founded the Social Innovation Lab, a social innovation ecosystem builder in South Asia and Daftarkhwan, a series of co-working spaces in Pakistan, alongside starting a number of impact focused initiatives over the last decade.

Kristin Richard MBA,

Impact Fund Manager EntrepreNorth

Kristin is currently the Impact Fund Manager at EntrepreNorth, where she focuses on reimagining how capital is offered to entrepreneurs in ways that resonate with Indigenous worldviews, values, and ways of life. Her work is deeply rooted in upholding good relationships, ensuring community responsibility, practicing land respect, and promoting economic reciprocity.

Wayne Miranda

Wayne is working towards building a community-led, place-based fund to flow capital to underserved communities in Toronto. Wayne was previously the Founder and CEO of Growth Mosaic, a ‘Best for the World’ B Corporation in West Africa putting to work US$26+ million across 140+ impact ventures in 3 countries, now exited to community under Mirepa Capital. Wayne has experience in social innovation and social finance from the nonprofit, social enterprise, philanthropic, public policy-making, and private sectors.

Director, Social Finance and Impact Investing at Definity Foundation

Mr. Dipo Alli is the executive director of the Black Business Ventures Association (BBVA), a non-profit that works to Discover, educate and mentor Black entrepreneurs. The BBVA serves as a bridge between the Black community and the technology ecosystem by connecting talents Black founders and entrepreneurs to tech and business curriculum, coaching and community, thereby increasing diversity in the tech and innovation ecosystem and positively influencing economic growth and development. The BBVA offers ideation and accelerator programming to provide support to both existing and aspiring Black entrepreneurs.

Founder of the Black Business Ventures Association

Dipo Alli

Following the Canadian fall economic statement of 2018, Jillisa started her journey in the Social Finance and Social Innovation sectors through her work as the Director of Community Engagement at Social Economy Through Social Inclusion (SETSI). Jillisa’s ecosystem mobilization work raised awareness within the community about the Investment Readiness Program (IRP) and the Social Finance Fund (SFF). Through her work at SETSI Jillisa expanded her skills through the development and facilitation of capacity-building sessions, mentorship incubators, community consultations, roundtables, focus groups and anti-racism training.

Jillisa Brown-Appiah

CEO of Funding Impact

Jess Tomlin

CEO of Equality Fund

Jess Tomlin is a social entrepreneur who has unleashed more than a $1 billion in new funding for human rights movements across the course of her career, working with politicians, leading philanthropists, business leaders and activists across the globe. As CEO of the Equality Fund, she has helped build a global fund that supports feminist movements at the frontlines of driving social change in over 100 countries. She has worked across Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Jess was a 2020 Women of Influence and the 2017 Stevie Awards Innovative Woman of the Year.

SFWF25 - Virtual Fireside Chat With Jess Tomlin at 11:15 am EST

Upkar Arora

CEO Of Rally Assets

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.

SFWF25 - Virtual Fireside Chat With Upkar Arora at 2:00pm EST

Aatif Baskanderi

Chief Executive Officer, The Northpine Foundation

Aatif Baskanderi is the CEO of The Northpine Foundation, one of the largest private philanthropy foundations in Canada funding to unlock opportunities for Canada’s most underinvested and underserved communities. He is the Co-Founder of Salaam B’y, an anti-racism education initiative built with his wife and health equity physician advocate, Dr. Nazia Sharfuddin, based on a documentary film about his life growing up as a Muslim Newfoundlander. The film has toured internationally, including with the United Nations, screened at over 20 film festivals, won multiple awards and Aatif’s interfaith efforts were recognized by Queen Elizabeth II by being the third Canadian to be awarded Her Majesty The Queen’s Commonwealth Points of Light Award.

SFWF25 - Virtual Fireside Chat With Aatif Baskanderi at 3:30pm EST

Thursday, November 27th 2025

Conferences in Canada Dialogue & Deliberation Panel at 9am EST (Virtual)

Brad Offman is a management consultancy specializing in corporate-charitable partnerships and philanthropic advisory services. He is the former Senior Vice President, Strategic Philanthropy at Mackenzie Investments, former President of the Mackenzie Investments Charitable Foundation and Managing Director of the Mackenzie Charitable Giving Fund. Prior to joining Mackenzie, Brad served as Vice President, Development at the Toronto Community Foundation.

Brad Offman

Ryan O’Neil Knight

Anouk Bertner

Anouk has worked in social enterprises, non-profits, and sustainability for the past 15 years. She loves to tackle complex problems with system thinking to tease out new win-win solutions. Anouk is currently the Executive Director of EcoEquitable, a female-centric organisation that works primarily with vulnerable and visible minority women. EcoEquitable is the recipient of the United Way’s 2018 Community Builder of Year Award in Poverty to Possibility and the 2019 Best Performance in Social Entrepreneurship by the Best of Ottawa Business Awards.

Ryan has built multiple businesses over the last 10 years and spends a great deal of his time leading and mentoring young entrepreneurs. After starting Detailing Knights, a mobile waterless car cleaning company, Ryan was able to launch his first youth entrepreneurship program called Knighthood Academy. Knighthood Academy was designed to help underestimated youth in the community develop their leadership skills through an entrepreneurship bootcamp.

Founder and Managing Partner of Spire Philanthropy

Executive Director of Future of Good

Executive Director Of ACBN

Amanuel Melles

Louise Adongo

Louise Adongo is a bold and grounded leader with 15+ years' experience in systems change, policy, evaluation, strategic planning and governance. She is founder of Caprivian Strip Inc (CSI) and a co-steward with the Transition. She brings care and intention to uncovering the roots of tangled problems; enabling shifts to greater resilience, sustainability and impact. She believes that co-creating more nimble, transparent and creative institutional spaces is key to the reinvention that we have learned through our most recent pandemic that we all need.

Amanuel melles (aman) is the Executive Director of the Network for Advancement of Black Communities (NABC) at York University and Principal of Aman Consulting. He brings more than 25 years of senior management experience and expertise in settlement and immigration, community health, community development, community peacebuilding, funding and philanthropy. aman held various senior roles with OCASI, Lawrence Heights Community Health Centre, Family Service Toronto and United Way Toronto (UWT).

Principal Consultant at Caprivian Strip INC

Executive Director of the Network for Advancement of Black Communities (NABC)

André Vashist

Director Of Learning, Philanthropic Foundations Canada

I am a facilitator of multi-stakeholder and complex collaborations that support an inclusive, sustainable and resilient community through work with Pillar Nonprofit Network as the Director of Social Innovation. We are learning how to support initiatives that facilitate adaptive and meaningful collaborations between government, academic, business, finance and nonprofit sectors, such as: Women of Ontario Social Enterprise Network, Libro Social Enterprise Incubator, VERGE Capital, Impact Consulting and CityStudio London.

Community Impact Bonds Panel at 11:00am EST (Virtual)

Amma Lartey

CEO of Impact Investing Ghana

Amma is CEO of Impact Investing Ghana an initiative to mobilize $1billion in funds for impact investing in Ghana and West Africa. She is co-founder and board chair of Social Enterprise Ghana (SE Ghana), the association for organizations in the social enterprise sector in Ghana. Social Enterprises are businesses that are set up to solve a social or environmental problem. SE Ghana supports its members to grow their businesses, works to increase funding for social enterprises, advocates for policy and action by government and other stakeholders and conducts research to inform policy and action. She is a board member and led the Africa region of Reach for Change - a Venture Philanthropist that runs accelerators, incubators and hubs for social enterprises in key growth markets including Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia Rwanda, Tanzania, DRC and Chad.

SFWF25 - Community Impact Bonds Panel at 11:00am EST

Suzanne Faiza

Knowledge Lead at Tapestry Community Capital

Suzanne Faiza is an urban planner and community finance practitioner and researcher based in Montreal, Canada. As Knowledge Lead at Tapestry Community Capital, she builds practical tools and insights to strengthen community-driven finance models, such as community bonds. Suzanne works to create partnerships that empower local organizations to achieve their goals and unlock new opportunities for investment and growth. Previously, Suzanne served as the Project Coordinator for Fairbnb Coop Canada and supported grassroots efforts through Coming Together Vancouver, a mutual aid initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is committed to fostering innovative, results-oriented solutions that promote sustainable economic development and community self-reliance.

SFWF25 - Community Impact Bonds Panel at 11:00am EST

Catalytic Capital in Canada Panel at 2:00pm EST (Virtual)

Wendy Cooper

Graham Singh

Graham is Relèven’s founder and CEO. For the past 20 years, he has specialized in working with closed churches, including as a Priest in the Anglican Church in England and Canada. He is a regular speaker and author in areas of urbanism, social finance, heritage, adaptive re-use of churches and social purpose real estate.

Experience in mission-aligned investing, philanthropy, non-profit organizational growth and development, relationship management, and collaboration. My past work has focused on a number of areas including land conservation, Indigenous youth leadership, freshwater health, climate resilience, local sustainable food systems, and toxic elimination.

CEO of Relevan

Drangon Fly Ventures

Adam Spence

CEO, Co-Founder and Director of Social Venture Connexion (SVX)

Adam Spence is the CEO, Co-Founder and Director of Social Venture Connexion (SVX). Adam helped startup VERGE Capital, the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing, B Lab Canada, the MaRS Catalyst Fund (now Amplify Capital), and the School for Social Entrepreneurs – Ontario. He was Executive Director of the Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB) and he led a number of higher education and training organizations. Adam has spoken to audiences across the country on issues related to education, poverty, and impact investing and he has been featured in numerous media outlets, including CNN, TVO, CTV, CBC Television and Radio, BNN, Forbes, GlobalTV, the Toronto Star, the Financial Post, and the Globe & Mail

Credit Unions, Philanthropy & Social Impact in Canada Panel at 3:30pm EST (Virtual)

Genesa Greening

Susan Henry

Susan Henry has over 25 years’ experience working with underserved, underrepresented individuals and communities. Her passion and dedication focus on the foundation of “Financial Inclusion for all”. Susan was instrumental in leading the launch of Alterna Savings’ award-winning Community Microfinance Program and the Community Loan Funds Partnership Programs. Since its inception in 2000, over $9.9 million in loans have been disbursed, directly improving the economic participation of underserved communities and groups such as BIPOC, new and racialized Canadians, women, and others who face barriers to financing.

Genesa is an unapologetic feminist and social justice advocate at her core. She has committed her 25-year career as a leader in the non-profit sector to catalyzing community change, sparking innovation, and developing deep and lasting relationships that will see our communities transformed. As the CEO of the Vancity Community Foundation Genesa has been tasked to facilitate systemic change by leveraging the Foundation’s assets to address the disproportionate impacts of a lack of affordability and climate change on communities pushed into the margins.

Director of Community Impact & Financial Inclusion at Alterna Savings

CEO of the Vancity Community Foundation

Keith Taylor

Executive Director, DUCA Impact Lab

Keith Taylor is an Executive Director, DUCA Impact Lab at DUCA Financial Credit Union based in Toronto, Ontario. Keith received a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Francis Xavier University and a Master of Business Administration from York University - Schulich School of Business Founded in 1954, DUCA Financial Credit Union is a Canadian credit union that offers services such as Personal, Business and Commercial banking. DUCA is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Jay-Ann Gilfoy

CEO of Meridian Credit Union

Jay-Ann Gilfoy joined Meridian as President & CEO on January 3, 2022. She is focused on leveraging Meridian’s unique value proposition to transform the business, achieve its winning aspiration and secure its future. In collaboration with the Board and senior management, she is responsible for articulating the organization’s strategy and delivering on its purpose on helping Members and customers achieve a better life, while growing the business. Jay-Ann’s wealth of business transformation, social impact and leadership expertise has been cultivated over more than 20 years as a senior executive in a broad range of roles and experiences in the private and public sector, and co-operative financial services.

SFWF25 - Fireside Chat with Jay-Ann Gilfoy, CEO of Meridian Credit Union at 5pm EST

Friday, November 28th

Future of Philanthropy Panel at 9am EST (Virtual)

Liban Abokor

Duke Ckang

Duke Chang is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CanadaHelps, the country’s largest online platform for donating and fundraising. Duke is leading CanadaHelps’ efforts to transform how Canadians support charities, ensuring organizations of all sizes can thrive in a digital-first world. With a dedication to innovation, he is working to enhance CanadaHelps’ technologies to make charitable giving easier, faster, and more impactful, while helping charities grow their fundraising and advance their digital transformation journeys.

Liban Abokor is a non-profit executive with over 15 years of experience in developing high-impact initiatives in education, employment, healthcare, housing, and social service.  He is presently the Managing Director of Reimagine LABS, a social innovation lab that assists social and public sector organizations evolve their strategic goals into well-designed programs. He is also a co-author of the report Unfunded: Black Communities Overlooked by Canadian Philanthropy, which highlighted the inequitable funding of Black communities by Canada’s philanthropic sector.

President and Chief Executive Officer at CanadaHelps

Co-Founder of Foundation for Black Communities

Liza Arnason

Founder of ASE Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities

Liza Arnason Ba, Ma is a successful and award winning business owner, senior administrator, educator, and the founder and Chair of the Board of Directors: ASE Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities. Her, career spans over 30 years of enriched and transformative education and life experiences; delineating recognition for her distinctive expertise: including education and equity (including anti-black racism, disability rights, and accommodations); governance and policy; strategic change management; and executive coaching.

AI & Social Impact Panel at 11:00am EST (Virtual)

Lynnsey Chartrand

Tamar Huggins

Tamar Huggins is a Canadian tech entrepreneur, author, and educator, based in Toronto. She is a trailblazer for diversity, equity, and inclusion in tech education and pioneered the development of the Black tech ecosystem in Canada. Tamar is an accomplished multi-hyphenate who has made significant contributions to the field of technology. Tamar’s passion for innovation and technology became evident early as she watched her father build computers from scratch without formal computer engineering experience. Throughout her life, she has embraced challenges, pushed boundaries, and carved a path of excellence for herself.

Lynnsey works with Branches in Enrolment Services as its advisor for Indigenous initiatives, including the IMPRESS program. In this capacity, she is committed to working collaboratively to increase access and remove barriers to higher education for Indigenous students. Prior to working with Branches, Lynnsey spent six years doing policy work within the innovation sector, including on issues related to equity, diversity and inclusion within higher education. Lynnsey’s background is in Sociology, where she specialized in citizenship, nationalism and state violence. In particular, Lynnsey's research focused on the state's use of education as a tool to inculcate Indigenous and African American students into their citizenship roles.

Indigenous Projects Manager at MILA

Deepa Chaudhary

Founder of GrantOrb

Deepa works at the intersection of technology, nonprofits, and fundraising. She has navigated the entire spectrum of the grant process, from writing winning proposals to allocating grants. Having raised millions in grants from prestigious foundations, including Rockefeller, Ford, Salesforce, Filecoin, Lien Foundation, and the Government of Singapore. Previously, she worked with the Salesforce Foundation and co-founded United Way Mumbai.

CEO of Tech Spark AI

Aunnie Patton Power

Academic (Oxford, LSE), Author (Adventure Finance), Advisor (The ImPact, BEAM network, Jumo, Nyala Venture), Angel Investor (Dazzle), Founder (Impact Finance Pro)

Aunnie Patton Power is the founder of Intelligent Impact, a technology for social impact advisory firm, and a university lecturer on Innovative Finance, Impact Investing and Technology for Impact. At the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School, she holds the title Associate Fellow as well as Entrepreneur in Residence at the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. At the UCT GSB she holds the title Adjunct Faculty as well as Senior Advisor to the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She is also a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics’ Marshall Institute.

SFWF25 - Virtual Firside Chat - Friday, November 28th at 1:00pm EST

Saturday, November 29th

Outcomes Finance Panel at 9:00am EST (Virtual)

Global Impact Investing Panel at 11:00am EST (Virtual)

Philanthropic Asset Management Panel at 1:00pm EST (Virtual)

Alia Abaya

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.

CEO, Circle Community LandTrust

Crystal Thompkins

Director, Strategic Impact Crystal at Daylight Advisors

A Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® and Certified Specialist in Planned Giving with over 20 years of experience in planned giving program management, Crystal brings a depth of expertise in nonprofit and family legacy planning. Crystal most recently served as Head of Philanthropic Solutions for BNY Mellon Wealth Management leading the national strategy and thought leadership for the firm’s philanthropic businesses. Crystal was the direct manager of the planned giving business responsible for the administration and organizational support of over 100 national nonprofit planned giving programs, leveraging her extensive experience in charitable tax preparation, operations, and fiduciary services.

Entrepreneurship & Impact Investing Panel at 3:00pm EST (Virtual)

Olu Villasa

Olu Villasa is the manager of the Black Entrepreneurship Alliance, a nonprofit business incubator with the mission of amplifying and advancing the next generation of Black entrepreneurs and professionals. Olu has over ten years of professional experience in community planning and local economic development, leading several innovative projects that address economic inclusion, building community infrastructure and supporting the growth of minority-owned retail businesses.

Program Manager Of The Black Entrepreneurship Alliance (BEA)

Brad Andrews

Social Impact Investor at UCeed

Brad provides support for Innovate Calgary’s social innovation portfolio. This work includes the development and delivery of impact-focused programs for students and researchers, as well as engaging with stakeholders to help develop the local ecosystem. Brad works to support ventures at all stages of the innovation process, and challenges them towards providing real impact in the community.

Sunday , November 30th

Global Agroecology Panel at 11:00am EST (Virtual)

Sustainable Fashion Panel at 1:00pm EST (Virtual)

Affordable Housing in Canada Panel at 3:00pm EST (Virtual)

Closing Remarks - Social Value Bank Presentation at 5:00pm EST (Virtual)

Stephanie Robertson

Co-chair of Social Value International,

Stephanie Robertson is Chair of the Board of Social Value Canada and CEO of SiMPACT Strategy Group. Throughout her career, she has lead the development of methods and tools to demonstrate the value of investment in community & society. Stephanie’s social value work connects her with leadership in the private, public and social profit worlds. Recent clients include Canadian corporations, all levels of government, and many inspiring social profit and social enterprise organizations.