Meet Our Speakers

Vu Le

Founder, NonprofitAF

Vu Le (“voo lay”) is a writer, speaker, vegan, Pisces, and the former Executive Director of RVC, a nonprofit in Seattle that promotes social justice by developing leaders of colour, strengthening organizations led by communities of color, and fostering collaboration between diverse communities. Vu’s passion to make the world better, combined with a low score on the Law School Admission Test, drove him into the field of nonprofit work, where he learned that we should take the work seriously, but not ourselves. There’s tons of humour in the nonprofit world, and someone needs to document it. Known for his no-BS approach, irreverent sense of humour, and love of unicorns, Vu has been featured in dozens, if not hundreds, of his own blog posts at NonprofitAF.com.

Zita Cobb

Founder and CEO, Shorefast

Zita Cobb is an eighth-generation Fogo Islander, Founder and CEO of Shorefast, and Innkeeper of the Fogo Island Inn. A registered Canadian charity, Shorefast uses business-minded means to help secure economic and cultural resilience for Fogo Island, Newfoundland: a centuries-old settler fishing community off Newfoundland’s northeast coast. Zita graduated high school on Fogo Island before leaving home to study business in Ottawa. Following a subsequent successful career in high-tech, Zita returned to Fogo Island to help grow another leg on the Island’s struggling economy to complement its ever-important fishery.

Shorefast’s notable achievements to date comprise a holistic set of charitable initiatives, including the world-class artist-in-residence program Fogo Island Arts (fogoislandarts.ca), and three innovative social businesses whose operating surpluses are returned to Shorefast for reinvestment in further community development work. Shorefast has pioneered the innovative practice economic nutrition labelling for its social businesses, transparently demonstrating “where the money goes.”
Zita has been a Member of the Order of Canada since 2016 and was a 2020 inductee to Canada’s Business Hall of Fame. She holds honourary doctorates from McGill University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, the University of Ottawa, and Carleton University. She is an active CEO and volunteers her full time and energy for Shorefast’s work on Fogo Island.

Edgar Villanueva

Principal of Decolonizing Wealth Project and Liberated Capital

Edgar Villanueva is an award-winning author, activist and expert on issues of race, wealth, and philanthropy. Villanueva is the Principal of Decolonizing Wealth Project and Liberated Capital and author of the bestselling book Decolonizing Wealth (2018, 2021). He advises a range of organizations including national and global philanthropies, Fortune 500 companies, and entertainment on social impact strategies to advance racial equity from within and through their investment strategies. Villanueva holds a BSPH and MHA from the Gillings Global School of Public Health at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe and resides in New York City.

Mark Beckles

VP Social Impact and Innovation, RBC

With over 25 years’ experience in financial services, Mark has executive leadership experiences in banking, insurance, risk management and non-profit leadership. Mark is Vice President, Social Impact & Innovation at RBC. In this capacity, he has overall responsibility for RBC Future Launch, a $500 million, ten-year initiative to help prepare Canadian youth for the future of work. Mark was previously Head, RBC Insurance Advice Centre, responsible for leading over 500 licensed insurance advisors who provide insurance advice and solutions to 750,000 RBC Insurance clients across Canada and served as Regional Vice President, Retail Banking at RBC with market responsibility for North Mississauga and Scarborough He currently serves on the Board of Directors of William Osler Health System, and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. In 2011, Mark received the City of Toronto Bob Marley Award for his commitment to diversity and City Building. He was also recognized for his work in support of the Canadian Sickle Cell Network. In 2012 he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal for community volunteerism. In 2015, Mark received the Harry Jerome Award for Professional Excellence. In 2016 Mark received the Barbados 50 Independence honors for community service and in 2017, Mark was awarded the African Canadian Achievement Award for Leadership and Management. Mark holds an MBA in International Business from the University of Bradford and has completed executive programs with Richard Ivey School of Business. Mark is currently completing the Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.D) at Rotman School Of Business.

Lisa Villeneuve

Co-Founder, Openly

Lisa Villeneuve is a trusted social impact strategist with 20+ years of experience helping changemakers to navigate complexity and transform human systems. Lisa’s human-centered, collaborative approach builds trusting relationships through meaningful dialogue, shared learning and purposeful planning. As a consultant and coach for social purpose organizations and networks, she facilitates strategy design, learning, organizational development and system leadership. Lisa is known for her ability to illuminate strengths, listen deeply and bring strategies to life.

Donna Forde

MA, PCC, BCACC

For over two decades Donna has worked with senior executives and developed a proven track record of helping individuals, couples and teams achieve transformational change. She creates an environment with leaders where together they can deeply explore complex questions, engage in candid conversations and reveal core truths which leads to purposeful action. She brings a rich background in leadership theory, systemic change and organizational development expertise to her work as a coach and mentor.

Donna is a certified executive, leadership and relationship systems coach. Her work integrates somatic coaching, systems thinking, conscious leadership and developmental psychology; bringing the mind, body, heart and soul into coherent alignment. Donna’s multifaceted approach to coaching is a distillation of thousands of hours of experience with leaders and teams across the globe. Her coaching clients include a diverse roster of senior leaders from a wide range of industries.

Cindy Karugia

Young Director, Care Canada, Girls on Boards

Cindy loves to serve her community and always advocates for the importance of diverse view points. She works in the finance industry and entered the financial world with the aim to address the ills of social stratification typically magnified by age, race, and gender. Cindy’s volunteerism spans gender equality, multiculturalism, and inclusive leadership. She is very passionate about challenging the status quo and looks to develop more leadership spaces for Black women.

Bailey Greenspon

Director of Programs and Global Engagement, Girls20

Bailey is the Director of Programs and Global Engagement at G(irls)20. She has served in progressive leadership roles overseeing programming and global engagement and in 2020 served as the acting co-CEO. She is a global advocate for young women’s economic participation and is advancing intersectional, gender-based policies through the G20’s Women’s Engagement Group as the Canadian delegate, as a former advisor to the Department for Women and Gender Equality’s (WAGE) GBA+ Forum, at Canada’s G7 Youth Engagement Group. Bailey is inclusive and collaborative, values which underpinned her previous role at the Samara Centre working in political communications. She is a Founding Advisor to Progress Toronto and for the Institute for Canadian Citizenship’s 6 Degrees, and is most likely found cycling through Toronto ravines.

Syrus Marcus Ware

Assistant Professor, McMaster University and Black Lives Matter Toronto

Syrus is an Assistant Professor at the School of the Arts, McMaster University. He is a Vanier scholar, visual artist, activist, curator and educator. Syrus uses drawing, installation and performance to explore social justice frameworks and black activist culture, and he’s shown widely in galleries and festivals across Canada. He is a core-team member of Black Lives Matter – Toronto, a part of the Performance Disability Art Collective, and an ABD PhD candidate at York University in the Faculty of Environmental Studies. His on-going curatorial work includes That’s So Gay (Gladstone Hotel, 2016-2019) and BlacknessYes!/Blockorama.  He is the co-editor or the best-selling Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada (URP, 2020)

Rhonda Reichert

Executive Assistant, Community Foundation of Northwestern Alberta

Rhonda Reichert works for the Community Foundation of Northwestern Alberta. Her formal role is Executive Assistant but Rhonda’s work also focuses on the granting activities and processes of the Foundation. Rhonda is no stranger to building community. As a volunteer she has participated in many important roles to support her hometown of Grande Prairie, Alberta, through local schools other groups across our region. Acting as a 4-H Leader, School Mom Volunteer, Treasurer, Secretary, and Chair for different organizations has helped position Rhonda as a knowledgeable support to our local agencies. Her Foundation is working on bringing the organization towards a more trust- based philanthropy approach. Over Rhonda’s past three years with CFNWAB, she has been instrumental with connecting grantees to funding, assisting them in learning the online portal, and acting a resource for information and support. Community is important to Rhonda and is a part of why she loves her job at the Foundation. She believes that when you have good tools to help you with your job, it gives you time to be able to do great work with the “boots on the ground” people in your communities who really need you.

Jessica Barrie

Operations and Community Engagement Manager, Guelph Community Foundation

Jessica Barrie is the Operations and Community Engagement Manager for
Guelph Community Foundation.

Passion, enthusiasm, determination, bordering on stubbornness, and care for her community describe Jessica well. Jessica gained her community engagement experience from her previous employer in the Co-operative movement in Alberta where she led their corporate community investment program.

Jessica’s organizational skills come from her years of project management, event and marketing experience and her volunteer work supporting the Guelph YMCA/YWCA.

When she’s not supporting the community, you can find her outside gardening with her three kids or exploring Guelph on cross-country skis with her husband.

Sue Lawther

Chair, Whistler Foundation

Sue is a retired development consultant and certified Six Sigma Black Belt. A long time Whistler resident, Sue and her husband Les, are the past owner/operators of Whistler Exclusive Properties, Haven Property Management and Dunhill Real Estate Research.

Andrew Johnson

Institutional Portfolio Manager, Mawer Investment Management

Andrew Johnson is an institutional portfolio manager at Mawer Investment Management Ltd., which means he works directly with some of the largest and most well-established companies, organizations, and charitable foundations that have chosen Mawer to be their partner in managing their assets. He values the opportunity to work with executives as well as board and committee members to ensure they have a full understanding of how their capital is being invested to help achieve their objectives.

Chúk Odenigbo

Founding Director and Director of Ancestral Services, Future Ancestors

Proudly Franco-Albertan, Chúk’s passion lies in the interactions between culture, health and the environment. Outside of this work with Future Ancestors Services, he is the cofounder of The Poison and The Apple and is completing his PhD in Medical Geography after completing a masters degree from the School of Public Health at the University of Montréal. Chúk is your typical urbanite, in love with technology and fashion, all the while retaining a connection with nature and integrating green and blue spaces into his everyday. His vision is to reconnect humanity with nature in a way that accommodates modernity, sparking that green revolution without decimation of the present.

Greg Wilkinson

Principal, Earnscliffe and Chair, Toronto Foundation Board

Greg is a Principal and Board Chair of the Earnscliffe Strategy Group, one of Canada’s most prominent strategic communications, opinion research and public affairs firms. He previously worked in marketing, logistics, communications, and government relations roles in a variety of locations in the U.S. and Canada over a thirty-year career in the manufacturing, transportation and resource sectors. Greg chairs the Board of Toronto Foundation. His previous board experience ranges from a large U.S. science centre to a struggling prairie theatre company and from major trade associations to a small-town water authority.

Dr. Nelson L. Colón

President and CEO of Puerto Rico Community Foundation

Dr. Nelson I. Colon is the President and CEO of the Puerto Rico Community Foundation. He has been at the Foundation since 1988. He is the leader and spokesperson of the Multi-sector Movement for a World Class Education in Puerto Rico. Dr. Colon’s past accomplishments include: leading the first international meeting of community foundations in Bellagio, Italy, in 1995 and first International Philanthropy Conference in 1997 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He directed and founded the Justice and Peace Caribbean Project and directed the Hispanic Office of Planning and Evaluation in Boston. His writings have been published in international magazines at Harvard’s “La Revista” University and local newspapers. Dr. Colon is the Chairman of the Board of Hispanics in Philanthropy. In 2014, Dr. Colon was awarded the Martin Luther King Award, from the organization COSSMA for his commitment to supporting our communities; and participated in the “White House Convening on Community Foundations” in Washington DC. In 2016 Dr. Colón received the Patiño Moore Legacy Award, given by Marguerite Casey Foundation in partnership with the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) and Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP). Dr. Colon has an MA in Cultural Anthropology from the State University of New York and a Doctorate in Education from Harvard University.

Under his leadership, the Foundation launched several initiatives aimed at building equity and racial justice in communities. After Hurricane María, the PRCF centered its strategy on building community capital to accelerate equitable access to social and economic resources. Through the intersection of SDG’s and community asset building the Foundation seeks to increase community capital from the ground up. Dr. Colón is a leading partner in the design and implementation of community-based strategies to reach the goal of zero COVID-19 deaths among the elderly in 15 communities in PR.

A former college professor Dr. Colón has taught at major universities in Puerto Rico and lectured in five continents. He has served in several boards including Community Foundation Leads and the Puerto Rico’s Civil Rights Commission.

He holds a BA in Sociology from UPR; MA in Cultural Anthropology from SUNY Binghamton; and a Doctorate in Education from Harvard University.

Nick Deychakiwsky

Senior Program Officer, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

Nick Deychakiwsky is a senior program officer working in two Civil Society program areas: Enhancing Community Philanthropy and Strengthening Civic Space. In late 1990, Deychakiwsky moved to Ukraine, where he worked in various roles supporting democratic and economic reform before joining the Mott Foundation in 2000. Working in the Foundation’s former Prague office, he was responsible for grantmaking in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova until late 2006. He subsequently managed U.S. and global nonprofit/philanthropic sector infrastructure and community philanthropy grantmaking. Since 2016, Deychakiwsky has served as a board member for the United Philanthropy Forum.

Deychakiwsky earned a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University and worked for Mobil Oil as a supply analyst before returning to school to study music and obtain a master’s degree in choral conducting. He is an avid fan of his hometown Cleveland sports teams and enjoys arranging Ukrainian folk music, playing the bandura, reading science fiction and bike riding.

Vanessa Dolishny

Director of Communications, London Community Foundation

An award winning communicator, Vanessa oversees LCF’s communications and marketing strategy and is the lead on its Vital Signs program. Passionate about social justice and equity, she is Co-chair of LCF’s Racial Equity Working Group. A graduate of Western University, Vanessa holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Psychology, a Master’s degree in Sociology, and a Diploma in Public Relations.

Dr. Larry McGill

Founder and Principal of Ambit 360 Consulting

Larry McGill, Ph.D., founder and principal of Ambit 360 Consulting (Princeton, NJ), is a sociologist with more than 30 years of multiple-method research experience in the philanthropic, academic, and commercial sectors. Previously, he was VP of research at Candid (formerly Foundation Center) from 2007 to 2020. He has also held research positions at Princeton University, The Freedom Forum, and NBC News.

Brianna Aspinall

Co-Founder, Carbon Conversations TO

In 2017 Brianna started the journey of bringing Carbon Conversations to Toronto. This has led to many conversations about climate change with friends, family members, and colleagues met with positive responses and many learning opportunities. Brianna has facilitated numerous conversations at community meetings and training sessions. Most recently she has focused on engaging in conversation regarding climate change and helping individuals explore their own emotions, values, and motives to act on climate change.

Nicole McVan

Vice President, Philanthropy & Marketing, United Way Greater Toronto

Nicole McVan is a strategic non-profit leader with 20 years of experience in Canada and abroad. Their experience spans many areas including corporate philanthropy, individual and community-based giving, volunteer development, national event management, and alumni giving. As a white, able-bodied, transgender & non-binary person, Nicole uses an anti-oppressive lens in building philanthropy and marketing plans to work with and for communities. Nicole regularly speaks and writes on the topic of equity, privilege, and power dynamics for fundraising publications and at conferences and learning events.

Tanya Hannah Rumble

Director of Development, Faculty of Arts, Ryerson University

Tanya is a racialized settler of multi-ethnic origins living in Tkaronto. She is a fundraising leader who has raised millions for some of Canada’s largest charities including Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society, McMaster University and now Ryerson University. As a racialized philanthropy professional Tanya is honoured to share her influence and insights with students, emerging professionals and peers in the sector. Tanya regularly writes articles on the topics of inclusion, equity, and access; and power, privilege and fundraising for industry publications and speaks to professional audiences at learning events regularly.

Victoria Grant

Teme-Augama Anishnabeg Kway, Maang Indoden, (Deep Water Woman, Loon Clan)

Victoria has been a builder of community for most of her life. She loves to engage with and learn from people. The Indigenous Peoples Resilience Fund has created the opportunity for her to work with her Indigenous brothers and sisters from across Canada to create an organization that is built on their teachings and supported by the philanthropic community. This is a dream come true.

Wanda Brascoupé

Bear Clan, Kanien'keha, Skarù rę', Anishinabeg and Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg member

During her former career as a high-tech business owner, Wanda was fortunate to experience philanthropy differently and cultivate a passion in this sector. It gave her a place to share her skills as an inquisitive self-starter with a track record of creating long-term allies and client satisfaction through Indigenous knowledge, business acumen, innovative approaches, effective communication and decades of translating between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

Narinder Dhami

Marigold Capital and New Power Labs

Narinder, a Canada Top 40 Under 40 2019 honouree, is the Managing Partner of Marigold Capital, a gender and social equity lens impact investment fund and the Executive Lead of New Power Labs, a platform to accelerate access of capital for those communities and groups often excluded.

Helima Croft

Managing Director and Global Head of Commodity Strategy at RBC Capital Markets

Helima is a Managing Director and the Head of Global Commodity Strategy and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Research at RBC Capital Markets. She specializes in geopolitics and energy, leading a team of commodity strategists that cover energy, metals and cross-commodity investor activity. Helima is a member of the National Petroleum Council, a select group of individuals who advise, inform and make recommendations to the Secretary of Energy with respect to any matter relating to oil and natural gas. She also is a CNBC contributor, a member of the channel’s exclusive family of experts, is on the Board of Directors for the Atlantic Council, is a member of the Trilateral Commission, and is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Helima joined RBC Capital Markets from Barclays, where she was a Managing Director and Head of North American Commodities Research. Prior to that, she worked in Lehman’s Business Intelligence group, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Central Intelligence Agency, where she focused on geopolitics and commodities. Helima has received many industry accolades throughout her career and received her PhD in economic history from Princeton in 2001.

Margaret Childe

Head of ESG in Canada, Manulife Investment Management

Margaret is Head of ESG Research and Integration, Canada. Margaret is responsible for working collaboratively and proactively with Manulife Investment Management’s Canada-based investment teams on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) integration, identifying and managing ESG risks and opportunities for Canadian portfolios. She also works on global ESG integration projects and methodologies for ESG product development and represents Manulife IM’s ESG capabilities among the local investment community. Prior to joining the firm, Margaret was a senior manager of ESG advisory services at Sustainalytics, where she helped asset owners and investment managers in Canada and the United States develop and implement sustainable and responsible investment strategies, including ESG integration and impact investing solutions. Before that, she managed RBC Capital Market’s collateral management desk and was an associate on the global equity-linked products desk. Earlier in her career, Margaret worked for Save the Children and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

Rudi Wallace

Vice-President, Grants & Community Initiatives, Hamilton Community Foundation

Rudi Wallace – As Vice-President, Grants & Community Initiatives, Rudi leads our work in developing, implementing and evaluating our community leadership strategies, grant programs and collaborative community partnerships. Prior to joining Hamilton Community Foundation, Rudi worked with the Victoria Foundation as the Grants Manager, where he led a number of key strategic initiatives including developing and designing new models for granting, and serving as the Indigenous partnership and granting lead. He has in-depth experience in stakeholder convening and facilitation, and has worked with numerous organizations and local government to address a wide range of community issues. Prior to joining the Victoria Foundation, Rudi held senior leadership positions in organizations addressing food security. He is committed to economic, racial, social and environmental justice, and has strong interest in social purpose real estate and social enterprise development. Additionally, Rudi is committed to collaborative community partnerships to address issues of poverty, inequity, the opioid crisis and climate change.

Aatif Baskanderi

CEO of The Northpine Foundation

Aatif Baskanderi is currently the CEO of The Northpine Foundation, which is a new foundation focused on investing to unlock opportunities for Canada’s marginalized and underserved communities. He is the Co-Founder of Salaam B’y, a social enterprise built with his wife and health equity advocate, Dr. Nazia Sharfuddin, focused on anti-racism education based on a documentary film about his life growing up as a brown 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. He is also a Fellow with the Energy Futures Lab and a Member of the Next 30 Possibility Panel. Other recent notable awards include the Memorial University Alumni Tribute Horizon Award and inaugural GlobalNL Community Champion Award. Prior to his current role, Aatif was the Executive Director of Startup Edmonton, the city’s early stage tech entrepreneur incubator. His previous work has spanned from designing smartphones at Blackberry, researching olive farmers in Palestine, malaria prevention education in Sierra Leone, leading Engineers Without Borders chapters around Canada, developing international science policy and diplomacy with the British High Commission, and leading innovation at a multinational electric utility company. Aatif’s education includes a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and Master of Technology Management degrees at Memorial University, and a Master of Social Policy & Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Karel Mayrand

CEO, Fondation du Grand Montreal

Karel Mayrand was Director General, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, of the David Suzuki Foundation from 2008 to 2020, and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project for Canada. He is also Vice-President of the Société du Parc Jean-Drapeau. Over the years, he has advised several governments, as well as agencies of the United Nations, in the area of sustainable development. He is the author of Une voix pour la Terre, published in 2012 and co-author of Demain, le Québec, published by Éditions La Presse in 2018.

Jesse Wente

Canada Council for the Arts

Jesse Wente is an Anishinaabe writer, broadcaster, speaker and arts leader. Born and raised in Toronto, his family hails from Chicago and the Serpent River First Nation. Jesse is best known for his 24 years as a columnist for CBC Radio’s Metro Morning, and he spent 11 years with the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)—the last seven as the director of film programmes at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

An outspoken advocate for Indigenous rights and First Nations, Métis and Inuit art, he has spoken at the International Forum of Indigenous Peoples, Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the Canadian Arts Summit and numerous universities and colleges.

In 2017, Jesse Wente was named the inaugural recipient of the Reelworld Film Festival’s Reel Activist Award. He was named the first Executive Director of the Indigenous Screen Office in February 2018, and received the Association of Ontario Health Centres Media Award for 2018. He has served on the boards of directors of the Toronto Arts Council, the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Festival, the Native Earth Performing Arts, and the Canada Council for the Arts, where he currently serves as Chair of the Board.

Liban Abokor

Executive Director of Youth LEAPS

Jennifer Allain

Product Marketing Manager, Foundant

Jennifer Allain, Product Marketing Manager at Foundant, focuses on the unique needs of community foundations throughout the philanthropic sector. Through this focus, Jennifer seeks to help maximize the impact of philanthropy by supporting community foundations in their work as conveners and community catalysts. Jennifer has been actively involved in philanthropy for a long time. In her prior role as the Marketing Director of a community bank, she led the creation and management of the bank’s corporate foundation. She has also served as a working member on several nonprofit Boards of Directors and as a volunteer for many organizations.

Jennifer DeBues

Executive Director, Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough

Jennifer DeBues has degrees from three Canadian universities and brings thirty years of experience to her role as Co-Executive Director at the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough.  She started her career as a grant coordinator at the Metcalf Foundation, and took subsequent career detours through factories, libraries, bookstores and schools before finding a home for her passion at the Community Foundation.

Jason Bates

VP, Grants and Community Initiatives, Calgary Foundation

Emma Cruddas

(she/her), Program Manager, Community Foundation of Nova Scotia

With a dedicated past in volunteerism, not-for-profit work, research, and activism, Emma has been part of the community foundation movement since April of 2019. As Program Manager, Emma coordinates scholarships, awards, and donor affairs, builds relationships with local qualified donees, and facilitates federal funding programs including the ECSF, IRP, and HCI. She holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from Dalhousie University and is passionate about human rights, reconciliation, immigration, community development, and education.

Dave Wilkin

from 10K Coffees

Dave Wilkin is an award-winning serial entrepreneur and globally recognized thought leader on how technology is changing the future of work. Dave is a guest columnist on careers for the Globe and Mail and has been covered in FastCo, Forbes, American Banker and is an award-winning public speaker. Dave co-founded TenThousandCoffees.com (10kCoffees) – the world’s leading informal development platform innovating all learning outside of the classroom like mentoring, networking and more. Their technology is relied upon by industry leading clients like RBC, J&J, McKesson, Nike, Pepsico & AIG as well as social impact networks like Ascend, ALPFA, Out Leadership and over 100 colleges and universities to help youth and underrepresented communities prepare for the future of work. He is a University of Waterloo Faculty of Science Young Alumni of the Year, Top 30 Under 30 Entrepreneur, and active advisory member to many entrepreneurship and LGBT+ organizations.

Catherine Pennington

BA HSD, CPC, CC, Métis Nation, Community & Indigenous Engagement, Enbridge

A Metis woman from northern Saskatchewan, Catherine is passionate about improving employment, health and education outcomes for Indigenous and northern residents, particularly for women and children.  A former social worker with extensive experience in family services, community wellness, counselling and social development, Catherine remains driven to ensure social and economic prosperity are extended to all communities through partnerships and inclusion.  Catherine leads Community & Indigenous Engagement for Eastern Canada, NWT / Athabasca Region and BC at Westcoast Energy, Enbridge Pipelines Inc.  A certified professional coach and counsellor, Catherine also operates Momentum Counselling and Coaching Services, her practice in which she specializes in narrative therapy and solution focused coaching.

Committed to community development Catherine is a Vice Chair for the YMCA of Northern BC, Vice Chair for the Prince George Community Foundation, Co-Chairs the recently formed National Indigenous Peoples Response Fund and is the BC Chair of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Leadership Dialogue Program Advisory Council for 2021.

Anna Willats

Founding Member, Groundswell Fund (Toronto)

Anna Willats (she/her) has been a Toronto-based social justice activist, organizer and educator for over 30 years. She has worked on a wide variety of community development and engagement initiatives. Anna has extensive experience in governance and management of non-profit groups, campaigns and funds – including as a member of Groundswell since its inception in 2013. She is committed to working collectively in a variety of ways for meaningful and progressive socio-economic and political change from the ground up!

Andrew Valentine

Partner at Miller Thomson, Toronto

Andrew Valentine’s charities and non-profit law practice focuses on providing advice to
organizations on issues including gift planning, incorporation and registration, ongoing
compliance matters, and audits. Andrew also deals extensively with non-profit corporate
governance and corporate structuring issues, advising on corporate restructuring, directors’
duties and liabilities, governance best practices, bylaws and policies, and membership disputes.

Andrew has expertise in social enterprise, and has worked with clients to develop innovative
structures to unlock new revenue and find new ways of pursuing their mission. Andrew also
advises on social finance and mission-investing for charities and foundations. Andrew played a key role on the Miller Thomson team that worked on the first federally funded social impact bond with a large national charity.

Andrew has been involved in several litigation matters involving charity law issues, including at the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.
Andrew has authored and co-authored a number of articles about charity and non-profit law and speaks regularly on these topics. Andrew worked extensively on the charities law text, Charities Taxation, Policy and Practice. Andrew is a member of the Ontario Bar Association Charity and Not-for-Profit Section Executive, and has participated in government consultations regarding non-profit issues.

Andrew Hoffman

Vice President & Portfolio Manager - Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel

Andrew Hoffman provides discretionary investment management for foundations, Indigenous communities, and private clients at Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel, a national, independent investment firm. Together with his partners at the firm, Andrew manages over $1.5 billion for more than 35 Indigenous communities and organizations across Canada.

A graduate of the University of Western Ontario with a degree in Economics and Wilfrid Laurier University with a diploma in Business Administration, Andrew joined Leith Wheeler in 2007 after 14 years with TD Bank. Andrew is a member of CFA Society Vancouver and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. He is also personally involved with several boards in the not-for-profit community and is a partner of NATOA (National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association).

Allie Urbanski

Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo, on behalf of the Great Lakes Funders Collaboration

Kelly Sannes

Director, Governance and Executive Office

Kelly believes in the power of bringing people and communities together as catalysts for change through thoughtful dialogue and good governance.

Before joining CFC, Kelly led CARE Canada’s Governance Operations practice where she supported their leadership team and Board in Canada and the governance of CARE operations in Kenya and Indonesia.

Kelly’s worked in Canada’s charitable and non-profit sector on initiatives supporting gender equality, international development and humanitarian assistance, diversity, equity and inclusion in governance, and environmental social enterprise.

Kelly holds a Masters of Arts in Legal Studies from Carleton University and is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors.

In her spare time, you can find her engaged in a DIY reno project or enjoying her time outside.

Michèle Bridger

Manager, Strategic Initiatives

Michèle brings a range of experiences to CFC from economic development, social enterprise, granting, sustainable agriculture, and program design.

Michèle holds a BA from Carleton University in Environmental Studies with a minor in Law, and a Masters in Local Economic Development from the University of Waterloo’s School of Environment, Enterprise and Development.

As Manager of the Investment Readiness Program, Michèle is focused on leading the Investment Readiness Program for Community Foundations of Canada, while working alongside the many other IRP Partners to grow capacity in the social enterprise sector.

Growing her own veg and traveling are Michèles current passions, with camping, hiking with her dog (The Littlest Hobo), making things, and reading by the fire in close competition.

Alison Sidney

Director, Strategic Initiatives

Alison is a dynamic personality who’s passionate about sustainable development and its connection to community. As Manager of Strategic Initiatives, Alison is particularly focused on leading Vital Signs, a national initiative designed to measure the impact of community foundations across the country.

She draws on a wealth of past experience, including time spent at Elections Canada supporting field staff in every electoral district across the country during the 42nd General Election, as well as leading campaign outreach and raising awareness for the Toronto-based charity Environmental Defence. Alison has also worked with Ecology Ottawa as its Council Watch Coordinator, monitoring decisions made by municipal government and analyzing the impact of those decisions on local communities.

With a taste for travel, Alison spends her free time outdoors looking for new adventures and nature to explore.

Julie Price

MakeWay, on behalf of the Northern Manitoba Food, Culture and Community Collaborative

Wendy Cooper

Co-CEO, Dragonfly Ventures

Wendy Cooper serves as the Co-CEO of Dragonfly Ventures where she works in partnership with Dragonfly’s founder and the rest of the team to advance solutions for a clean, healthy planet and equitable society. Wendy has worked in the charitable and philanthropic sector for nearly two decades. She was the first Executive Director of a community land conservation organization for 8 years, working closely with the board, community members, and partners to support the organization’s growth and development as a leading regional land trust. Wendy then joined MakeWay, where she provided philanthropic advisory services for individuals, family foundations, and corporations and helped to create several provincial and national collaboratives, bringing together multiple funders and doers to support areas such as Indigenous youth leadership, freshwater health, and toxic elimination. In 2018, Wendy began exploring an expanded set of financial and organizing tools to address the inequities affecting the health of people and planet, leading to her participation in the Just Economy Institute. Soon after the completion of that fellowship she joined Dragonfly Ventures where she provides operational leadership including managing financial commitments across the spectrum of grants to investments, building reciprocal relationships, and co-managing the team.

Tracy Cullen

Manager of Strategic Initiatives, Victoria Foundation

Tracy studied Nutrition and Education at Rutgers University and Teachers College, Columbia University, developing a love for food security and working with young people. After settling in Victoria, she worked for Island Health as a Public Health Dietitian designing and implementing asset based community-development programs to support the health of children, youth and families. For the past 10 years, Tracy has been the Executive Director of the Horner Foundation, a family foundation with a focus on youth development. 

Tasha Lackman

Vice President of Philanthropy and Community, Fondation of Greater Montreal

Tasha pivoted her career in 2017 when she became the Associate Director of Strategic
Initiatives at McGill University until joining the FGM team in 2019. Prior to
this, Tasha worked at a leading Canadian law firm for 12 years, with a focus on
commercial real estate, and was ranked among Montreal’s Top 20 real estate lawyers.
Over the years, Tasha has been involved in a number of non-profit organizations,
including Oxfam-Québec, the Girls Action Foundation, the YMCAs of Quebec, the
Montreal Real Estate Foundation for Kids and the McGill University Health Centre
Foundation. Until her appointment as Vice President of Philanthropy and Community at
the FGM, she served on the FGM Board and Community Engagement Committee for
over two years.  

Suzanne Veenstra

Community Fund and Foundation Associate, Niagara Community Foundation