Tatiana Fraser

Co-founded the Girls Action Foundation

Tatiana has spent her career starting up and growing ecosystems and networks for systemic change. She co-founded the Girls Action Foundation, which became a network supporting the empowerment and leadership of girls and young women, scaling it nationally across Canada before stepping away and letting it fly. She was selected as an Ashoka Fellow for her work and recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network. A thought leader, she coined the phrase ‘Scaling Deep’ in juxtaposition to the silicon valley-esq frameworks ‘Scaling-up’ and ‘Scaling-out’.

Zakaria Abdulle

Board Chair and President at Somali Centre for Culture and Recreation

Zakaria Abdulle is a community impact policy professional dedicated to finding collaborative solutions to complex policy problems. Zak has provided impactful policy advice to senior decision-makers at the City of Toronto, the Ontario Government, and the Federal Government of Canada. Zak holds a Master of Public Administration degree in Local Governance from the University of Western Ontario. Zak is a past World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Shaper, Action Canada Fellow, and attendee of the New Canada Conference recognizing the Top 100 Youth Leaders in Canada.

Fuad Abdi

Account Manager at Dell Canada

Fuad Abdi is a senior executive with experience working in the public sector and fortune 500 companies. Fuad has led major initiatives on corporate social responsibility and accountability, system policy transformation, capital development and investment strategies, and anti-racism capacity building for organizations. Fuad has an extensive community service record and volunteers for numerous community-based organizations, providing expertise in corporate governance and finance.

Craig Wellington

Executive Director from the Black Opportunity Fund

Craig Wellington currently serves as Executive Director of Black Opportunity Fund, a Black community-led registered charitable organization whose mandate is to deploy needs-informed capital, to promote socio-economic empowerment for Canada’s Black communities. Wellington and the Black Opportunity Fund team are currently preparing to launch a $50 million Private Equity fund to invest in Black founded businesses, as well as a similar sized investment vehicle to create pathways to homeownership for Black Canadians. Wellington has held progressive leadership positions in public sector and not for profit organizations for more than 30 years. He was recently named to the 2023 list of Top 100 Canadian Professionals.

Elder Peter Schuler

Indigenous Cultural Advisor

Elder Peter Schuler Ojibwe name, Ozhibiige Nini, means “The Man Who Writes”. Elder Peter Schuler is a grandfather and Elder of the Mississaugas of the Credit and a member of the Minweyweygaan Midewin Lodge in Manitoba. An amateur writer and artist, Peter tries to pass on traditional Ojibwe teachings through storytelling, art and craft making. Since retirement from construction work he has taken these stories to elementary and high schools and works to educate the public in an effort to fight racism and to promote understanding of First Nations history and culture

Wendy Rinella

CEO from Oakville Community Foundation

Wendy Rinella comes from a family of leaders. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Rinella moved to Ontario for university and, after graduating, worked in government relations while being an active member of local organizations. Now, as the CEO of Oakville Community Foundation (OCF), Rinella encourages young girls and women to never back down. Having studied political science at the University of Waterloo and earning a Master of Arts in political studies at Queen’s University, Rinella spent ten years working for the Government of Ontario.

Claude Schryer

Board Chair at Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency (SCALE)

Claude Schryer (1959) is a franco-ontarian sound and media artist and arts administrator born and living on the unceded, unsurrendered land of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation (Ottawa). He holds a MM in composition from McGill U and was actively in involved in the acoustic ecology and electroacoustic music communities in the 80’s & 90’s. From 1999 to 2020 he held management positions at Canada Council for the Arts. In 2020 he launched the conscient podcast (balado conscient en français) about art and the ecological crisis. In 2021 he was a co-founder of the Sectoral Climate Art Leadership for the Emergency (SCALE). In 2023 he was chair of the Canadian Association for Sound Ecology. In 2024, he launched ‘a calm presence’ Substack.

Chiara Padovani

Social Worker at North York Harvest Food Bank

Chiara Padovani is a social worker and former City Councillor candidate for York South-Weston. After a narrow defeat of less than 100 votes she decided to turn her campaign office into the York South-Weston Community Hub to give the YSWTU a permanent home and continue the community organising work of her campaign where neighbours could come get direct assistance for their immediate needs and be part of changing the very systems that have failed us.

Ashley Dion

Map the System Canada

Ashley is responsible for planning, implementation and reporting on the Canadian components of the global systems mapping competition for post-secondary students from participating universities and colleges. Ashley is a Map the System Alumni and created a subsequent film project looking into the weird underbelly of charities, and how and why the system surrounding charity in Canada exists in the way it does. The documentary entitled “Liminal: is charity designed to fail?” was produced through the Apprenticing with a Problem program. When Ashley is not working or creating video projects, she enjoys reading, travelling, and volunteering with Girl Guides of Canada.

Alex Tviet

Co-Founder and CEO at Sustainable Impact Foundation

Alex Tveit is a forward-thinking leader of fostering systems change and community empowerment through his work. Guided by a commitment to practical, scalable solutions, Alex’s work is marked by a unique integration of systems thinking and community-centric approaches, addressing complex social issues with tangible impact. Through diligent work, Alex has highlighted the importance of weaving, relational networking and knowledge sharing, demonstrating how technology and AI can be pivotal tools for systemic change and inclusive social innovation.

Norman Valdez

Director of Technology and Design at CERIC

Norman Valdez, Director of Technology and Design at CERIC, blends data-driven insights with community-focused strategies to enhance social impact through technology. His leadership in digital marketing and AI has driven organizational transformation, enhancing engagement and efficiency. An advocate for responsible use of AI, Norman aims to promote equity in technology while empowering others to shape our digital future. As an Emerging Technology Fellow, he is keen to explore how philanthropy can leverage emerging technologies to ensure equitable and sustainable community outcomes.

Tobi Kamoru

Chair at the American Medical Student Association

Tobi Kamoru is a second-year medical student at VCU. Tobi is passionate about global health and dedicated to addressing healthcare disparities, particularly in underserved communities. As the Global Health Chair for AMSA, Tobi aims to spearhead initiatives that raise awareness about global health issues and mobilize students to participate in impactful projects. Tobi is focused on fostering collaboration among students to develop innovative solutions for healthcare challenges. Tobi believes that advocacy is a vital part of the medical profession and is committed to improving healthcare access and outcomes for marginalized populations.

Leasi Vanessa Lee Raymond

Deputy Director for Strategic Initiatives

Leasi Vanessa Lee Raymond, ACEP’s deputy director for strategic initiatives, is a socio-technologist passionate about data ethics and Indigenous data sovereignty. She has served as director of research operations for Abundant Intelligences, the world’s first large-scale Indigenous-led exploration into artificial intelligence applications that support Indigenous flourishing. She is co-chair for the international Arctic Data Committee where she works on data policy and data support for Arctic international research organizations and Arctic Indigenous groups.

Louise Simbandumwe

Co-Director of SEED Winnipeg

Louise Simbandumwe is Co-Director of SEED Winnipeg. She played a lead role in working with partner organizations to develop SEED’s financial empowerment programs. These programs have been replicated by other community-based organizations in Manitoba, Alberta, Ontario and BC. A former refugee, Louise is passionate about human rights and social justice. Her volunteer commitments include the Building Access to Justice for Racialized Communities Project, the Immigration Partnership Winnipeg Council and the Immigration Matters in Canada Coalition. Louise loves creating learning opportunities and has developed and taught innovative courses on financial empowerment, community economic development, and human rights advocacy at the University of Winnipeg.

Benjamin Feagin Jr

CEO AgriTech North

Benjamin Feagin Jr. is a scientific engineer, inventor, and leader in manufacturing and research, renowned for his ability to develop transformative technologies and drive their rapid commercialization at scale. With a career spanning over 16 years, he has successfully led multidisciplinary teams and projects across diverse domains, combining mechanical, electrical, and software engineering expertise to deliver innovative solutions to complex challenges. As a research engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Benjamin has been instrumental in advancing programs designed to drive consumer adoption of groundbreaking technologies that provide significant advantages to the energy sector.

Carlos Gutierrez

Chief Strategy Officer, Larta Institute

Carlos is Chief Development Officer at Larta Institute, a Los Angeles-based mission oriented nonprofit that advises & mentors emerging technology-based founders, startups, and institutions (public and private) developing solutions that Feed, Fuel, and Heal the world. Carlos and the Larta team are driven to unlock the right mix of resources, tools, and networks that effectively bring science-driven solutions into use for impact. Larta has designed and deployed national-scale commercialization and translational research programs with an applied focus that have been adopted by leading agencies (NIH, USDA, DOE, NSF, NOAA, NIST, DARPA, etc.) to support thousands of grant awardees to maximize ROI of publicly-funded R&D.

Graham Singh

CEO AgriTech North

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. Graham has studied at the University of Western Ontario, St Mellitus College (Cambridge University / Ridley Hall), the London School of Economics, Asbury Theological Seminary and the Saïd Business School at Oxford University.