Impact Investing
Summer School
August 20-27, 2026
Ready to turn your passion for change into action? Join our third Summer School on Impact Investing, an intensive 8-day training program designed for forward-thinking graduate and undergraduate students from all disciplines. This immersive UNITAR-accredited certificate program will equip you with cutting-edge tools in sustainable finance and impact investing, empowering you with the skills needed to mobilize capital for the net zero transition. With a focus on community energy transformation and climate solutions, you’ll gain the knowledge and networks needed to lead the future of impact investing.
What you’ll gain
- Essential skills for the future of finance: Build a solid foundation in impact investing and sustainable finance. Learn how capital can be leveraged to drive innovation in clean energy, climate solutions, and the transition to a net-zero economy.
- A powerful network: Join a vibrant community of peers, practitioners, and thought leaders. Develop meaningful connections with professionals, mentors, and changemakers who are shaping the future of finance and sustainability.
- Career-defining experience: Enhance your resume with specialized, future-focused expertise. Whether you’re pursuing a career in finance, policy, entrepreneurship, or sustainability, this program will set you apart in a rapidly evolving job market.
Accreditation:
About the program
Duration
August 20-27, 2026
Delivery Method
Mix of lectures, industry panels, & team work
Commitment
8 days in-person+ 8h online prep
Cost
Free for approved applicants
What you’ll learn
- Core principles of impact investing: Understand how to design investment strategies that generate both financial returns and measurable positive impact. Explore how impact capital can address urgent global and local challenges—such as climate change, community energy transitions, and sustainable innovation.
- Navigating the climate solutions landscape: Gain insights into the range of climate-focused investment opportunities across British Columbia and Canada, including early-stage impact ventures, Indigenous and community-led energy projects, and other mission-driven initiatives shaping the net-zero transition.
- Hands-on due diligence: Learn how to assess investment opportunities through both financial and impact lenses. Develop hands-on skills in conducting due diligence and crafting compelling investment memos and pitches—using a real-world case study of a local company currently raising capital.
Included
Victoria Forum Reception & Socials
Daily Breakfasts/Lunches + Opening Dinner
Site Visits & Innovation Hub Tours
Propel Impact Community Event
Who can participate?
Open to all students enrolled in Canadian universities:
- Undergraduate or graduate programs
- Any discipline welcome
- Background in business helpful but not required
- Passionate about making a positive impact
Full participation required to earn certificate:
- Attend a one hour online orientation prior to the Summer School week
- Complete pre-school readings
- Attend all in-person lectures from August 20-27, 2026
- Participate in the Impact Investing Challenge with your team
Program highlights
- In-depth lectures: Learn from leading experts about the latest trends, strategies, and tools in impact investing, with a special emphasis on clean technology and clean energy.
- Industry speakers: Gain insights from industry leaders who are at the forefront of the clean tech revolution. Understand the challenges and opportunities in the field directly from those making a difference.
- Site visits: Experience firsthand the innovative cleantech startups in Victoria and community clean energy projects that are driving change. See the practical applications of what you learn in the classroom.
- National and global perspectives: A very special opportunity to meet and mingle with Canadian federal government officials, Indigenous leaders, policy makers, senior experts and knowledge holders at the Victoria Forum.
- Impact investing challenge: Work in teams to analyze and decide whether to invest in real cleantech startups. This hands-on challenge will help you apply your knowledge and skills to real-world investment decisions balancing financial returns with social and environmental impact.
Course partners & supporters:
Course Modules
Pre-Learning
Online Modules on Propel Impact learning platform:
- Investment Products and Fund Models
- Financial Modelling for Early-Stage Impact Ventures
Foundations of Impact Investing & Impact Measurement
- Big picture context: Overview of major global sustainable development challenges and why finance matters (role of the financial system in mobilizing capital, managing risk, shaping incentives, and influencing real-economy outcomes).
- Shared language & where impact investing fits: Key terms clarified (e.g., ESG, impact, single vs double materiality, outcomes, additionality) and impact investing positioned within the broader sustainable finance landscape.
- Frameworks & rules of the game: Overview of major ESG/impact frameworks, standards, regulatory/disclosure trends, taxonomies, globally and in Canada.
- Private markets overview: Key actors, types of instruments, and major asset classes.
- Core principles of impact investing & IMM: Deep dive into core principles of impact investing, building competency in Impact Measurement & Management (IMM), emphasis on credible approaches to “measuring what matters”
- Kick off the Impact Investing Challenge: Propel Impact process walkthrough on how to create an investment memo (financial + impact lens); live startup pitch + founder Q&A.
Foundations of Impact Investing & Impact Measurement (day 2)
- Beyond Impact: Understanding system-level challenges and opportunities to scale impact
- Understanding Practitioner case study and panel discussion: Live case study of an institutional investor, from policy design to due diligence; Real-world capital deployment challenges and opportunities, looking at past, present and future for impact investors with interactive Q&A.
- Deep Dive into IMM: A closer look at IMM frameworks; Case study on integrating Impact and ESG as complementary lenses for investment decisions .
- Venture capital for impact: VC fundamentals for impact—how deals are assessed and structured through a risk/return/impact lens.
- Scaling cleantech through VC (Canada focus): Cleantech scaling bottlenecks and emerging VC opportunities in Canada.
Green Instruments, Community Finance & Outcomes
- Green, Social, and Sustainability-Linked Bonds: Overview of GSSS bonds (green, social, sustainability, sustainability-linked) and how they mobilize capital for climate and energy solutions.
- Community Bonds: Community bonds in practice and aligning capital with community priorities and accountability.
- Outcomes-based Finance: Overview of outcomes-based finance, including community-defined outcomes contracts in Indigenous contexts
- Crowdfunding for Impact: Introduction to crowdlending as an investment model with live cases of deals integrating both impact and financial returns considerations.
- Experiential learning on community energy transitions: “Megawatts and Marbles” team game to surface real transition trade-offs and decision constraints.
- Dedicated group work: time for teams to work on the Impact Investing Challenge.
Re-imagining Finance for Well-being, Community & Reconciliation
- The Global Financial System at a Crossroads: From Polycrisis to Well-Being Economics: Senator Galvez keynote to summer school, outlining the call for action with wider societal and Indigenous economic leadership perspectives.
- ACET Research Spotlight: Community Energy Finance Navigator and Canadian SMEs & the Energy Transition
- Panel & Small Group Discussion: The Landscape of Community Finance in Canada: Moderated discussion with practitioners followed by small group discussion with each speaker to explore specific topics of interests to students.
- Truth and Reconciliation on the Global Stage: Inspiring Panel + networking with practitioners, policymakers, academics, and thought leaders from Canada and globally, hosted by Victoria Forum.
- Applied integration for the challenge: Dedicated Impact Investing Challenge work time to consolidate insights into an investable thesis.
Unlocking Capital for Climate, Communities and Inclusive Prosperity
- Exploring the Landscape of Impact Funds in Canada: Interactive session in collaboration with SVX, teams explore funds listed at the Impact Index with the mandate of allocating $5M to up to 3 Canadian Impact Funds.
- Practitioner insight (climate tech & VC): Fireside chat on climate tech investing/venture capital, plus a clean energy startup journey spotlight.
- Sessions attended by students within the Victoria Forum include:
- Creating the Conditions for Future Economies: Public Collaboration, Finance, and a Renewed Role for Philanthropy
- Islamic Finance for Community Impact: Expanding Access, Innovation, Inclusion, and Wellbeing in Canada
- Systems Approaches to Homelessness and Housing – Financing Solutions
- Building Trust, Accelerating Climate Action: How Government, Academia and Communities Can Deliver Together
- A Municipal Infrastructure Bank for Canada: From Concept to Action
- Reception at Hatley Castle: Students network with industry leaders, policymakers, Indigenous leaders, academics, thought leaders and community organizations, from Canada and globally.
From Policy to Place: Financing Resilience and Regenerative Futures
- Fireside Chat: Ryan Turnbull, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. MP Turnbull is recognized for his leadership on landmark initiatives such as the Social Finance Fund, Employee Ownership Trusts, mandatory climate disclosures and sustainable finance taxonomy.
- Sessions attended by students within the Victoria Forum include:
- Mainstreeting Economic Resilience
- Regeneration and the Circular Economy
- Universities as Agents of Change in a Climate-Changed Canada
- Shorenet: Connecting Communities from Shore to Shore to Shore
- Blended Finance: Catalyzing Capital for Impact and Communities
- What Will it Take to Regenerate Cascadia? Bioregional Financing Facilities as Part Of The Critical Infrastructure
- Growing Canada’s Nature Finance Ecosystem
- Capital for Whose Future?
Powering the Blue Economy: Ocean Innovation and Clean Energy
- Opportunities in Marine Renewables: Introduction to marine renewables.
- Field trip to Ocean Networks Canada including a research spot light on negative emissions technologies, to connect investing to ocean-based innovation and nature-aligned climate solutions.
- Community Energy Transformation & Indigenous Reconciliation: Hands on workshop with ACET Special Advisor, Indigenous, to better understand reconciliation and reflect on how to integrate reconciliation objectives in all investment decisions.
- Dedicated group work: time for teams to finalize their presentations for the Impact Investment Challenge.
From Learning to Practice: Pitch Presentations
- Investment Pitches; operationalizing the full curriculum: Teams presented their investment pitches to an expert judging panel (focusing on impact thesis, financial rationale, and execution considerations).
- Closing Fireside + Farewell lunch + Certificate distribution.
- Group Reflection Circle: students shared their reflections on the entire program and how they intend to integrate the learning in future career paths. Reinforce cohort learning and connections as part of the program’s impact pathway.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to be part of a transformative learning experience.
Apply now and take the first step towards a career in impact investing and climate solutions!
Lead Instructor
Dr. Basma Majerbi
Associate Professor,
Gustavson School of Business
Director, Impact Investing Hub
Bio
Dr. Basma Majerbi is an associate professor of finance at Gustavson School of Business. In her role as Director of the Impact Investing Hub and Lead Investigator with ACET, Basma engages in collaborative research with industry and community partners on topics ranging from climate-related financial risks and opportunities, ESG and impact investing, and financing community energy transitions. She is a recipient of multiple awards including Excellence in Research Award, Excellence in Innovation Award, IAB Community Engagement Award, BC Cleantech-Educator of Year Award, Canada Clean50 Award and most recently received the King Charles III Conoration Award.
Dr. Majerbi is also Vice Chair of the steering committee of the Canadian Sustainable Finance Network (CSFN), and a member of the Research Advisory Council of the Institute for Sustainable Finance, and is co-founder and co-chair of the International Workshop on Financial System Architecture and Stability (IWFSAS). She serves on the Board of Directors of the South Island Prosperity Partnership, and is Chair of the Advisory Board of the COAST Center for Ocean Applied Sustainable technologies among other community engagements.
Co-instructor & Challenge Lead
Keshiv Kaushal
Director of Impact Investing
Propel Impact
Bio
Keshiv Kaushal (he/him) is the Director of Impact Investing at Propel Impact. Keshiv is a graduate of Queen’s University with a BComm. (Hons.) in Finance. He has held various roles in impact investing and community economic development over the last 5 years as a consultant as well as at SVX and the County of Lennox & Addington. Keshiv also co-founded the Kingston Propel Impact Fund and has been engaged in multiple community capital initiatives in Eastern Ontario. Keshiv has worked across the impact investing ecosystem, evaluating social enterprise loans and venture investments, working with organizations to design funds and build strategies, consulting directly with impact-driven ventures, running investment readiness programming for social enterprises, and raising capital for funds and impact investment products (like Manitoba’s first SIB focused on Indigenous youth in the justice system). Keshiv has successfully passed his Level I CFA exam and holds his CSC and SASB FSA credentials.
Facilitators
Bio
Keshiv Kaushal (he/him) is the Director of Impact Investing at Propel Impact. Keshiv is a graduate of Queen’s University with a BComm. (Hons.) in Finance. He has held various roles in impact investing and community economic development over the last 5 years as a consultant as well as at SVX and the County of Lennox & Addington. Keshiv also co-founded the Kingston Propel Impact Fund and has been engaged in multiple community capital initiatives in Eastern Ontario. Keshiv has worked across the impact investing ecosystem, evaluating social enterprise loans and venture investments, working with organizations to design funds and build strategies, consulting directly with impact-driven ventures, running investment readiness programming for social enterprises, and raising capital for funds and impact investment products (like Manitoba’s first SIB focused on Indigenous youth in the justice system). Keshiv has successfully passed his Level I CFA exam and holds his CSC and SASB FSA credentials.
Laurel Sabur
Research Manager
Impact Investing Hub, ACET
Lorna Pelly
Knowledge Mobilization Lead
Impact Investing Hub, ACET
Cheralyn Chok
Executive Director
Propel Impact
Bio
Laurel has 11 years of experience in community development and impact investing. Her interdisciplinary career includes strategy development, impact measurement frameworks, and conducting due diligence on non-profits, social impact ventures, and impact fund managers—across both grant and investment capital. Her work has supported the mobilization of capital on behalf of the Edmonton municipal government, as well as impact investors. Laurel’s experience spans Jamaica, Canada, Ghana, and Kenya.
She previously served as a Faculty Member of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Training Institute and as a Leadership Council Member for RESOLVE, a natural resource mediation and conflict resolution NGO. She currently serves on the board of the Scale Institute and the board of Black Canadian Women in Action (BCW).
Laurel holds a Community Economic Development Certificate, a Social Return on Investment Certificate, and an Intercultural Awareness Certificate. She also earned an MSc in Applied Mathematics and a BSc in Actuarial Science.
She is an enthusiastic speaker, avid explorer, and certified meditation teacher.
