Great Bear Rainforest, BC – Photo by TJ Watt
Who we are
The Impact Investing Hub (the Hub) is an initiative of the Gustavson School of Business, in collaboration with the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic), and supported by multiple units at the University of Victoria, including Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS), UVic Treasury, and multiple other departments. Launched in early 2021 with seed funding from the UVic Impact Fund, the Hub responds to the urgent call to action to align financial flows with the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our team of multidisciplinary researchers, educators, students and community leaders shares a passion for making a positive difference locally and globally through our work.
”Hats-off to our most recent impact fund recipients! These innovative initiatives will make a significant impact across our university community, and confirm my initial impressions of the breadth of talent and expertise we have at UVic.
Kevin Hall, UVic PresidentFebruary 2, 2021
Our principles
We care
We care about people, places and the planet. We promote equity, diversity, inclusion and reconciliation in all we do.
We dare
We’re not afraid to experiment, take risks and explore new topics and pathways to make a positive impact.
We act
We support local action and convene stakeholders to encourage dialogue and remove barriers to action.
We collaborate
We foster meaningful collaborations and build partnerships to co-create innovative solutions.
Our core team
Dr. Basma Majerbi is an associate professor of finance at Gustavson School of Business, a Fellow of the Center for Social and Sustainable Innovation (CSSI) and a member of the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic) at University of Victoria. In her role as leader of the Impact Investing Hub, Basma engages in collaborative research with industry and community partners on topics ranging from climate-related financial risks and opportunities, ESG and impact investing, climate finance policies 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, and BC Cleantech-Educator of Year Award.
Dr. Majerbi also consults for the International Monetary Fund’s Institute for Capacity Development where she contributes to training of government officials in developing countries. She is a member of the steering committee of the Canadian Sustainable Finance Network (CSFN), 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, the Impact Investment Committee of the Victoria Foundation, and the Impact Investing Working Group at the University of Victoria.
Lorna has worked with climate-focused non-profits and organizations for over two decades, turning strategy into projects and campaigns that drive real impact. Her experience generally involves supporting teams in moving from big-picture visions to clear, well-run operations and communication. Lorna enjoys building and maintaining healthy networks and collaborations, providing the support needed to help people work together effectively.
Lorna specializes in translating complex climate information into stories that connect communities and networks through storytelling and facilitation. She loves talking to people about their work and finding creative and engaging ways to share their knowledge. Outside of work, Lorna likes to spend time with her family and dog outdoors, in the mountains and on the ocean.
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.
Sam is passionate about leveraging data science to drive the transition to a net-zero energy future. After earning her Master’s in Data Analytics for Business from the University of Lisbon and her Bachelor’s in Commerce from the Gustavson School of Business, Sam has applied her expertise at UVic’s Impact Investing Hub, where she helped develop the Hub's online platform and is now focused on creating a community energy finance dashboard under the Hub and UVic's Accelerating Community Energy Transitions (ACET) initiative.
Her research examines the economic and energy impacts of wildfire smoke on solar power generation, with several papers on the topic set for publication. Sam's work seeks to illuminate how environmental hazards, such as wildfire smoke, disrupt energy infrastructure and influence renewable energy production. In her work, Sam is particularly passionate about using data analysis tools to generate insights that empower communities to finance and manage sustainable energy projects, while also supporting the decision-making processes of impact investors to drive long-term, sustainable change.
Outside of work, Sam spends time hiking, skiing, and surfing. Her travel experiences and love for the outdoors have deepened her appreciation for global sustainability issues and fueled her passion for environmental change.
Joanna contributes to our training program on ESG and Impact management for SMEs.
Corporate Sustainability Strategist and Founder of Ideas for Impact, a B-Corp certified sustainability consulting form based in Victoria. Joanna is also an Excecutive in Residence with the Coast Capital Innovation Centre, University of Victoria, serves as the Chair of Scale Institute for Social Finance and Social Enterprise Solutions. She previously acted as Executive Director of League of Innovators and Managing Director Centre for Social Innovation and Impact Investing at UBC.
Over the past 17 years, Joanna's passion and experience have closely danced at the intersection of social purpose, sustainability, and growth through business. Through her work with leaders, businesses, institutions, and changemakers, Joanna and the businesses she supports have created massive waves through their startups, projects, programs, and products for impact. From building acceleration programs to support the growth of emerging impact startups to working with leading founders to support their growth strategies to engaging diverse communities to build ecosystems that work to create impact - Joanna is dedicated to working with others to help them grow their change-making ideas.
Corporate Sustainability Strategist and Founder of Ideas for Impact, a B-Corp certified sustainability consulting form based in Victoria. Joanna is also an Excecutive in Residence with the Coast Capital Innovation Centre, University of Victoria, serves as the Chair of Scale Institute for Social Finance and Social Enterprise Solutions. She previously acted as Executive Director of League of Innovators and Managing Director Centre for Social Innovation and Impact Investing at UBC.
Over the past 17 years, Joanna's passion and experience have closely danced at the intersection of social purpose, sustainability, and growth through business. Through her work with leaders, businesses, institutions, and changemakers, Joanna and the businesses she supports have created massive waves through their startups, projects, programs, and products for impact. From building acceleration programs to support the growth of emerging impact startups to working with leading founders to support their growth strategies to engaging diverse communities to build ecosystems that work to create impact - Joanna is dedicated to working with others to help them grow their change-making ideas.
Moah is an energy justice practitioner and researcher who specializes in the intersection of equity, transformative impact investing, and energy systems. As a Senior Research Associate at ACET, she focuses on transformative impact investing and the role of equity, justice, and community-centered approaches in achieving this. Her work also explores how emerging business models can be designed to center these values within the energy transition. Moah brings a deep technical foundation to this work, holding a PhD in Physics with a focus on biofuel combustion.
Her career as a consultant and entrepreneur has been defined by bridging high-level policy with lived experience. She has led diverse initiatives, from designing a culturally grounded, Indigenous-led energy advisor program to analyzing restorative justice frameworks within the U.S. energy system. Moah is particularly interested in systems transformation - specifically how technology, policy, and personal values can be integrated to move beyond siloed decision-making and unlock deeper systemic change.
Ismael completed his PhD in Management at Memorial University in 2024. His doctoral research focused on corporate non-market strategies, environmental sustainability, and the interplay between enterprises and institutional environments.
He is currently a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Basma Majerbi and Dr. Natalie Slawinski on an ACET project examining the role of community-based enterprises in energy transitions, with a focus on rural, remote, and Indigenous communities across Canada. His work has been recognized with a number of awards and has appeared in peer-reviewed outlets, including the Journal of International Management.
He is currently a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Basma Majerbi and Dr. Natalie Slawinski on an ACET project examining the role of community-based enterprises in energy transitions, with a focus on rural, remote, and Indigenous communities across Canada. His work has been recognized with a number of awards and has appeared in peer-reviewed outlets, including the Journal of International Management.
Area of expertise: Corporate non-market strategies, community-based enterprises, social enterprises, community energy transitions, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA)
Jason has spent over a decade working at the intersection of finance, partnerships, programming for global environmental and social impact. Having served as a researcher, project officer, fund manager, and diplomat, he thrives at cross-sector collaboration and resource mobilization for initiatives that are locally-led and driven by participatory learning. He focuses on bridging Canadian and international financing, knowledge, and institutions to address global challenges.
Originally from Northern BC, Jason’s career has spanned several continents, starting with foundational roles in Mozambique, Malawi, and Cambodia. Building on this, he served as a Canadian diplomat in Myanmar and a program officer at Global Affairs Canada, where he led the scale-up of blended finance for global climate and nature initiatives. Away from the office, Jason recharges by summiting remote peaks, immersing himself in unfamiliar cultures, and pursuing fluency in new languages.
Stephen Huddart is currently Adjunct professor at Gustavson School of Business and acts as a Special Advisor to the Hub and the Victoria Forum to advance key strategic initiatives. He is past President and CEO of the McConnell Foundation. He joined the McConnell Foundation in Montreal in 2003 and served as CEO from 2011 to 2020. During this time, the foundation developed social finance partnerships with Indigenous organizations, governments, financial and academic institutions, and civil society. He serves on the advisory boards of several organizations working on societal transition, including the Transition Accelerator, the Observer Media Group, the International WELL Building Institute, and the YMCA of Quebec Alternative Suspension social impact bond. Stephen advises several Canadian, European and US foundations and government agencies. He is a founding member of the Transition Innovation Group hosted by Community Foundations of Canada.
Mohammadhossein Lashkaripour is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Accelerating Community Energy Transformation (ACET) initiative and the Impact Investing Hub. He earned his PhD in Finance from the University of Calgary in 2025, following his MSc and BSc in Industrial Engineering from Sharif University of Technology. His research lies at the intersection of environmental sustainability and financial markets, with additional interests in fintech and cryptocurrencies. His work has appeared in leading academic journals, including Energy Economics, as well as in practitioner-oriented outlets such as the LSE Business Review.
Alongside his research, Mohammadhossein has presented at major international conferences and institutions, contributing to ongoing discussions on sustainable investing and digital asset markets. He has served as an ad hoc reviewer for several respected academic journals and has taught courses in derivatives, earning outstanding student evaluations. His academic record is further distinguished by several prestigious scholarships.
Christy aims to attract capital towards climate projects that center on reducing inequality. With a background in private markets, and institutional investing in real assets and infrastructure she has also sat on corporate and non-profit boards as a director. With an intimate knowledge of the private markets, its governance systems, strengths and weaknesses, she loves the challenge of translating this knowledge both ways to communities’, NGO’s and governments utilizing common themes across different languages.
She loves connecting with people one on one to understand, learn from and solve tough problems that require threading the needle between the need for sustainability and markets at scale. On her free time, Christy likes to play folk tunes and pop songs on her fiddle and enjoys a good dinner party with her family, friends and golden retriever.
Jeff is focused on mobilizing capital toward systems and businesses that deliver financial returns alongside measurable environmental and community outcomes. He works at the intersection of finance and project development, structuring community energy and climate infrastructure as scalable investment opportunities. His work centers on bridging the gap between project development and investable assets to enable community-driven climate solutions.
Jeff brings over a decade of experience building and scaling ventures across clean technology, agriculture, and circular economy systems. As a co-founder and business development leader, he has raised capital and built ventures that turn technical innovation into investable, revenue-generating businesses. With a M.Eng. in Industrial Ecology, he brings a systems-level perspective to designing financial solutions that expand access to capital for community-led projects and accelerate the scale of locally driven climate solutions. Jeff spends his personal time close to the land and water, sailing open coastlines, chasing snow in the mountains, and wandering forest trails.
Tricia is an award-winning Indigenous entrepreneur, facilitator, speaker, consultant, and a proud member of Halalt (Xeláltxw) Nation on Vancouver Island. As the founder and Creative Director at Salish Eye Productions (2014), her mission has been to create positive change for Indigenous People and build cross-cultural relationships through photo, video, design, and communications. Since graduating from the MBA in Sustainable Innovation program in 2022, Tricia has launched a sister company called Tumuxw Communications.
As the voice of Tumuxw, she uses her business experience, cultural awareness, and willingness to listen and lead in order to create a better life for the next generation. Tricia has been called on by a broad range of services, from Indigenous Health organizations to First Nations Energy and Mining Council, to consult and collaborate in planning and partnering with government ministries and industry groups. In this way, she is contributing her skills to support Reconciliation and the Declaration of Rights for Indigenous People Act. As a mother of two children, Tricia strives to support her community and strengthen culture and language while living and working on Halalt territory near Chemainus BC.
As the voice of Tumuxw, she uses her business experience, cultural awareness, and willingness to listen and lead in order to create a better life for the next generation. Tricia has been called on by a broad range of services, from Indigenous Health organizations to First Nations Energy and Mining Council, to consult and collaborate in planning and partnering with government ministries and industry groups. In this way, she is contributing her skills to support Reconciliation and the Declaration of Rights for Indigenous People Act. As a mother of two children, Tricia strives to support her community and strengthen culture and language while living and working on Halalt territory near Chemainus BC.
Dr. Kirsten Wright is a Post-Doctoral Fellow with The Impact Investing Hub. Her work focuses on how blended and impact finance can mobilize different forms of capital toward complex social and environmental challenges, particularly where conventional financing approaches fall short.
Her research spans blended finance, economic and financial resilience, housing, community investment, and regenerative and transition finance. She is particularly interested in the design of financial architectures that bring together public, private, philanthropic, and community capital, and in understanding what role each form of capital can play in enabling projects and systems to move from experimentation to scale.
Kirsten is also Managing Director of the Canadian Network for Complex Systems, where she works across academic, government, philanthropic, industry, and community networks to apply complex systems approaches to major societal transitions.
Research affiliates
Dr. Qianqian Du is an Associate Professor of Finance at the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria. Her research focuses on venture capital, financial analysts, and corporate governance. Her research on venture capital explores how investment networks are formed and evolve among venture capital firms. She also examines the role of government in venture financing based on a comprehensive international data of early ventures. For her research on equity analysts, she shows how sharing the same cultural backgrounds affects forecasting performance and whether extreme analyst opinions have any real impacts on the financial market. Her research also extends to understand the success of CEOs and corporate governance. Dr. Du will bring her expertise in venture financing, private equity, and corporate governance to support the Hub’s research on financing and governance issues faced by early stage ventures.
Dr. Adel Guitouni is an award-winning associate professor of management sciences, operations research and decision support systems at the Gustavson School of Business. His PhD and master-level students benefit from his multi-disciplinary approach to teaching and professional activities, which includes his work with the Canadian government where he directed large scientific teams involved with major events and strategic initiatives such as the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and G8/G20 summits, and a variety of projects with the Canadian Forces.
Through his research Adel's goal is to help improve the decision-making process at the individual and corporate level. Through his entrepreneurship and leadership project work, he hopes to empower youth and leaders by giving them the tools to change their world.
Since 2011, on behalf of the business school, Adel has actively engaged in several educational activities that support the democratic transition and socio-economic development in the MENA region (i.e., Tunisia and Libya) from providing coaching sessions to senior government officials to obtaining grant funding to develop the country’s leadership capacity. In 2014 in partnership with Tunisian higher education institutions, he established a not-for-profit non-governmental organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship development and innovation.
Dr Rizeanu is an Assistant Professor of International Finance at Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria. His research interests primarily focus on corporate governance mechanisms, designed to prevent extraction, tunnelling, derivation of large private fortunes at the expense of the providers of finance, often expropriated through pyramidal structures, political corruption and other firm or system embedded structures. He brings expertise on various facets of governance, by analyzing the structure of a firm’s ownership, the quality of the external audit, firm’s cash flow, managerial strategy, taxation strategy, country institutional strength, and its impact on firm’s valuation and debt management. His work has been published in the Contemporary Accounting Research, International Journal of Economics and Finance and Journal of Management and Governance.
Dr. Katya Rhodes is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Administration and member of the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems at the University of Victoria. Dr. Rhodes investigates the topics of low-carbon economy transitions and climate policy design using survey tools, energy-economy models, media and content analysis. In 2019-2022, she served as a President of the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics organizing a national 2021 conference on post-pandemic recoveries. Prior to joining the academia, Dr. Rhodes worked in the British Columbia (BC) Climate Action Secretariat where she led greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions modelling and economic analyses for the provincial CleanBC plan. Dr. Rhodes' professional experiences also include the development of clean technology and green jobs databases at the Vancouver Economic Commission, analysis of the provincial policy for the Cumulative Effects Framework in the BC Government, and the investigation of public and stakeholder perceptions of BC’s carbon tax at the Pembina Institute.
Dr. Paul Schure is a Professor of Economics at the University of Victoria. His research interests include Entrepreneurial Finance, Financial Intermediation, and European Economics and Governance. Paul brings his expertise on angel and venture capital investing in BC and Canada to support the Hub’s research on improving access to finance for impact ventures. In a 2021 publication in the Journal of Financial Economics, Paul and his co-authors show that, for the startup ecosystem in British Columbia, Canada, angel and venture capital funding appear to represent “distinct funding paths” that do not mix very often. This would call into question some public policies that are based on the conventional wisdom that angel funding is a steppingstone towards obtaining venture capital. Paul has also been active in terms of managing projects, organizing academic conferences, and applying his knowledge outside academia. He has twice been the main author of the annual report on angel investing activity by the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO). He has also served on the Boards of two not-for profit organizations and a startup company.
Dr. Xu is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Victoria. Her research interests include financial market microstructure theory and empirics, market stability, and financial innovation. Her research also examines how informative assets prices are across different markets such as stock market, futures market, option market and cryptocurrency market. In her recent work, she has showed how to construct an environmentally friendly portfolio with cryptocurrencies. She's currently co-supervising a PhD student with Dr. Majerbi exploring strategies to create an SDG-aligned portfolio in public markets and other sustainable finance topics. Her work has been published in the Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Financial Research, and Journal of Empirical Finance.
Current graduate students
Lorin has held senior roles in both the public and private sector, including the energy, environment, and construction sectors. He has public policy, government relations, and entrepreneurship experience. One of his proudest professional achievements is leading the project team that developed and implemented a large-scale capacity building initiative across a 65,000-member public service organization. He is currently completing his PhD at Gustavson School of Business where he also completed his MBA in Sustainable Innovation. Lorin also hold a Master of Arts in Political Science from University of Toronto and a BA in Political Science and Philosophy from Queen's University. He has travelled widely and volunteered in several developing countries, giving him a deep appreciation for the interaction between social and environmental impacts.
Niloofar Gilani is a Ph.D. candidate at the Gustavson School of Business, specializing in supply chain resilience in the context of climate variability, co-supervised by Dr. Adel Guitouni and Dr. Basma Majerbi. Her academic pursuits are centered around sustainability, optimization, and machine learning. Proficient in programming languages, optimization software, and reinforcement learning, Niloofar has a robust foundation in data structures and algorithms, essential for processing and analyzing extensive datasets. Her research training and extensive knowledge in logistics management, machine learning, optimization, risk mitigation, and GIS, equip her to support the Hub's research in ESG topics related to the sustainability and resilience of supply chains.
Niloofar holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Industrial Engineering, with expertise in efficient production planning and sustainable distribution of service-oriented goods. Additionally, she has co-supervised several Mitacs Globalink Research interns and contributed as a teaching and research assistant in various graduate and undergraduate courses, covering topics such as sustainable global management, statistics, numerical analysis, and systems design.
Niloofar holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Industrial Engineering, with expertise in efficient production planning and sustainable distribution of service-oriented goods. Additionally, she has co-supervised several Mitacs Globalink Research interns and contributed as a teaching and research assistant in various graduate and undergraduate courses, covering topics such as sustainable global management, statistics, numerical analysis, and systems design.
Pável Soriano Hernández is a PhD student in the Department of Geography with an interest in improving the financing of renewable projects to accelerate the energy transition at the regional/community scale. He completed his MSc studies in Energy, Society and Sustainability at the University of Edinburgh where he conducted research on Energy Poverty. Prior to starting his PhD program, Pavel worked at the South Pole consultancy as a Sustainable Finance Analyst. In this role, Pavel collaborated in calculating the global emissions of the US financial sector using the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) standard methodology; calculating the emissions associated with investment portfolios of different banks and financial institutions and providing them with TCFD advisory, among other activities.
Pavel's doctoral research on community energy transitions is conducted under the co-supervision of Dr. Majerbi and Dr. David Atkins from the Department of Geography.
Pavel's doctoral research on community energy transitions is conducted under the co-supervision of Dr. Majerbi and Dr. David Atkins from the Department of Geography.
Amin Kouhbor is a PhD student in Economics at the University of Victoria. He also holds a Master of Engineering from the University of Victoria with a focus on data analysis. His academic background combines financial economics, econometrics, and data science, and he is currently working on household-level cleantech adoption. His broader research interests include clean energy, sustainable innovation, and quantitative economic analysis. He previously served as an Assistant Professor of Economics in Iran, and has published in applied economic research.
As a PhD student in Economics, Mengxia’s research focuses on sustainable finance, seeking to understand the ways in which the financial sector can contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS). Specifically, Mengxia’s work aims to evaluate the risk and return characteristics of various SDG-aligned portfolios.
Her thesis research is conducted under the co-supervision of Dr. Basma Majerbi and Dr. Ke Xu from the Separtment of Economics.
Her thesis research is conducted under the co-supervision of Dr. Basma Majerbi and Dr. Ke Xu from the Separtment of Economics.
Win Sern is a PhD student in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Victoria (UVIC), specializing in the philosophy of central banking and ESG finance. His doctoral studies are supported by the UVIC Fellowship and Kutzschan Graduate Scholarship in Philosophy. His research is multidisciplinary in nature, encompassing economic ethics, public policy, and finance. Win Sern is particularly passionate about exploring the pivotal role of central banks in addressing socioeconomic inequalities through innovative financial inclusion and development initiatives.
Win Sern has a decade of professional experience at the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia). He most recently held the position of Head of the Strategic Planning and Delivery Unit at the Nerve Centre, located at the LINK and BNM Offices. In that role, he integrated regional policy insights from ground-level surveillance and implementation across social development areas such as social finance, microfinance, and agent banking.
Earlier in his career, Win Sern served as an Audit Manager, where he focused on evaluating the governance of monetary policy formulation and the management of Malaysia’s international reserves. His journey in central banking began as a bank supervisor, where he was responsible for overseeing the financial soundness of four global banks operating in Malaysia. His areas of expertise include treasury and liquidity risk management, market and credit risk stress testing, IFRS 9 implementation, and financial market conduct.
Win Sern has represented Bank Negara Malaysia in numerous policy forums and taskforces, including the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Taskforce (SME Service Development Taskforce), as well as global policy roundtables hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of Japan.
He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA), a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and a Chartered Member of The Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia (CMIIA). He also holds an MSc in Philosophy and Public Policy (with Distinction) and a BSc in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), both awarded under full scholarships from Bank Negara Malaysia.
Advisory board
Jonathan Arnold is the Clean Growth Research Lead at the Canadian Climate Institute. With a Master’s in public policy, Jonathan's research expertise cuts across a range of environmental and economic policy issues, including the global low-carbon energy transition, sustainable taxonomies, climate risk and finance, air pollution, and municipal water and waste. Jonathan was a lead author on the 2022 Taxonomy Roadmap Report published by the Sustainable Finance Action Council, and has led several other research publications on how Canada can secure its long-term prosperity and competitiveness in the global low-carbon transition. His previous roles include Senior Research Associate with Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission and Economist with Environment Canada.
Wyle Baoween works with executives, senior leaders and their teams to build diverse and inclusive organizations. He is the CEO and Senior Facilitator at HRx, a Canadian consulting firm providing data analytics to address inequality in our communities and workplaces.
Wyle has been recognized as one of Canada’s thought leaders in equity, diversity and inclusion for the solutions he has developed and re-engineered, including technology for assessing unconscious bias, the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Culture Change Curve, and data analytics for EDI.
In his role at HRx, Wyle has worked with some of Canada’s largest employers and HRx has been recognized as one of Vancouver’s ‘Companies to Watch’. Wyle also appears regularly in media outlets including Forbes, CBC and the Vancouver Sun.
Prior to HRx, he worked for 15+ years in consulting and project management, specializing in process improvement, technology and strategies for change management. He worked in the marine, transportation and construction industries with local and international clients.
Wyle holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, a Masters of Business Administration (MBA), a certificate in Executive Leadership, and is a certified Change Management and Project Management Professional (PMP).
Wyle is President of the Yemeni Canadian Society, Board Member at MOSAIC, Vice Chair of the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and an Ambassador for the University of Victoria’s Business School where he was recognized as one of the University’s 25 Alumni to Watch.
Wyle speaks regularly on the topics of equity, diversity and inclusion, unconscious bias, data analytics and organizational change.
George Patrick Richard Benson is the Senior Manager of Economic Transformation at the Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC), the City of Vancouver's economic development agency, as well as a member of the BC Climate Solutions Council. He works to support businesses and workers in meeting the goal of reducing local emissions by 50% by 2030, while building greater, more inclusive prosperity for all.
George has worked in urban policy, climate action, and community-building for over a decade, with diverse experience in infrastructure planning, climate policy development, building codes and equipment standards, program design, workforce development, and sustainable finance. He led the development of Vancouver’s Zero Emissions Economic Transition Action Plan and now oversees its implementation. He has also served on the boards of both the American and Canadian planning associations, as well as representing youth and climate action at the global level in numerous fora.
When not working, George is a committed mountaineer, writer, and book-collector. (He’s working on becoming a better book-reader, too).
Roy is the Executive Director of the Natural Assets Initiative, a national not-for profit. His professional focus is the role of nature based solutions and natural assets in risk management, meeting net zero and biodiversity targets and delivering sustainable infrastructure services.
During the 1990s, Roy served as a political advisor to Canada’s environment minister. He then worked for the United Nations for almost a decade. This included the World Health Organization, United Nations Environment Programme and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. During his time with the UN, he was based in Geneva, Switzerland, and later in Kigali, Rwanda, where he was UNEP’s Environment Programme Coordinator. Roy also served as Director of Sustainability for the City of Victoria between 2011-2013.
Stephanie is the Director of Strategic Policy at the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. Over the last 30 years she has worked on circular economy, sustainable communities, climate and carbon pricing policies with leading climate change and environmental non-governmental organizations, research institutes, and expert panels, including the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Municipal Natural Assets Initiative, the Smart Prosperity Institute, and the Pembina Institute. She was the first woman appointed as National President of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, is past Chair of the Galiano Conservancy Association, and is currently a Coordinating Lead Author for the North American Biodiversity and Climate Change Assessment.
Stephanie has advised political leaders at every order of Canadian jurisdiction, and held the 2022/23 Kinross Chair in Environmental Governance at the University of Guelph. She has a Clean50 Lifetime Achievement award and shares a Harkin Conservation Award.
Cheralyn Chok (she/her) is the Executive Director and co-founder of Propel Impact, a national nonprofit offering skills training and career readiness to youth aspiring to work in impact investing and impact consulting. Since the inception of Propel Impact in 2019, she has led the organization to train 500+ youth across Canada and provide investment and technical assistance to 200+ social enterprises, non-profits, and charities. Social and environmental impact have always been core to her work; Cheralyn brings entrepreneurial experience from founding and operating a zero-waste necktie company for seven years (Miley Cyrus bought one in 2015!) and was an early employee at social ventures ChopValue and Awake Labs. She holds a BCom from the University of British Columbia and was named a BCBusiness Top 30 Under 30 in 2022.
Jennifer Coulson is responsible for leading all ESG strategies and programs at BCI. This includes advancing BCI’s ESG approach in line with the fast-changing landscape, and its support for the global goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. With $233.0 billion of gross managed assets as of March 31, 2023, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) is the provider of investment management services for British Columbia’s public sector and one of the largest asset managers in Canada.
Working in the financial services industry for more than 20 years, Jennifer most recently served as Senior Managing Director, ESG in public markets at BCI. Since joining in 2012, she has built a world-class public markets ESG team focused on active ownership and led BCI’s public markets efforts related to ESG integration, direct and collaborative engagement, policy advocacy, and proxy voting.
Jennifer holds a degree in environment and resource management from Western University and a masters in environmental studies from York University. She has received the corporate director designation (ICD.D) from the Institute of Corporate Directors; chairs the 30% Club Canada investor group; serves on the Government of Canada’s Sustainable Finance Action Council; sits on the investment advisory committee for the University of Victoria Student Investment Fund; and is a board member for the SDI Asset Owner Platform. Jennifer has been recognized as one of British Columbia’s most influential women in finance by BC Business Magazine.
Jill is a forward-thinking business leader with a drive to create an inclusive innovation ecosystem. As CEO of InBC, she is responsible for a provincial crown corporation with a $500M strategic investment fund. The fund has a triple bottom line mandate to invest with an inclusive lens to realize environmental, social and financial returns.
Jill has held multiple leadership positions in organizations supporting entrepreneurs, and building new and inclusive models. Her strengths include finance, strategic planning, business development, community engagement, team building, marketing as well as development of strategic partnerships and programs. She is an active mentor and community member, serving on several Boards and as Co-Chair of We for She. Jill is honoured to have been recognized by the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion as a Community Champion, by Business in Vancouver as an Influential Woman in Business and by WXN as a Top 100 most powerful women in Canada.
Jonathan leads Vancity’s External Relations and Impact Strategy division, which oversees key strategies to help Vancity grow its impact and its business.
This includes Vancity’s commitments to climate action, including the credit union's ongoing work to reach Net Zero across all financed emissions by 2040. It also includes work to advance the credit union's Indigenous banking strategy, and its work around improving the financial health and resilience of its members. The division takes a systemic and integrated approach to this work, and includes the departments of Impact Strategy, Marketing and Product Development, Strategic Communications, and Government and Stakeholder Relations.
Gareth Gransaull is the Co-Executive Director of Re_Generation, Canada’s largest think tank run by the next generation of leaders working to build a regenerative economy. At Re_Generation, Gareth leads initiatives to engage key decision-makers in transforming the private sector for the sustainable and just transitions. Gareth is formerly a climate policy researcher with the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems at the University of Victoria. He has experience in the cleantech and non-profit sectors, and graduated from Western University with a degree in business and international relations.
Carol Anne Hilton, MBA is the CEO and founder of the Indigenomics Institute and the Global Center of Indigenomics. Carol Anne is a dynamic national Indigenous business leader, author, speaker and senior adviser with an international Masters Degree in Business Management (MBA) from the University of Hertfordshire, England. Carol Anne is of Nuu chah nulth descent from the Hesquiaht Nation on Vancouver Island.
Carol Anne is an international award winning, best selling author of ‘Indigenomics- Taking A Seat at the Economic Table’ and is also an adjunct professor at Royal Roads University’s School of Business.
Carol Anne is an international award winning, best selling author of ‘Indigenomics- Taking A Seat at the Economic Table’ and is also an adjunct professor at Royal Roads University’s School of Business.
Carol Anne was the only Indigenous person appointed to the Canadian Economic Growth Council as a senior advisor to the federal Finance Minister in 2016. Carol Anne most recently served on the BC Emerging Economy Taskforce, and the BC Indigenous Business and Investment Council. Carol Anne currently serves as a Director on the McGill University Institute for the Study of Canada, MITACS Research and the BC Digital Supercluster.
Carol Anne’s work has been most recently recognized with the inaugural Nation Builder Award from the National Angel Capital Organization in 2022, the BC Achievement Foundation’s Award of Distinction in Indigenous Business as well as the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business’s national Award of Excellence in Aboriginal Relations.
With over 30 years experience, Keith is a serial entrepreneur and impact leader. Keith co-leads Spring, a Vancouver based organization that exists to change the world. To date, Springhas supported entrepreneurs in over 60 cities across 5 continents while its impact programs have helped over 1,500 entrepreneurs, 1,000+ businesses, 250 investors, and has created the Spring Investing Collective - Canada's largest early stage impact investing network.
Jeanette is an experienced CEO and entrepreneur with broad experience in technology, business development, marketing, and operations. As the CEO of Foresight, Jeanette is leading rapid growth, transforming a regional organization into Canada’s cleantech ecosystem accelerator. Since 2018, under her leadership, Foresight has expanded accelerator programs from one province to four, built a vibrant Innovation Challenge program, and launched a sectoral approach to accelerator cleantech innovation. Jeanette is a frequent speaker, media guest, and advisor to industry and government.
Prior to joining Foresight, Jeanette was founding CEO of Light-Based Technologies, which she built into a thriving enterprise before a successful exit. As President of The Brag Company, she oversaw the complete restructuring of the business and sale of the company in just two years. As an Executive in Residence with Foresight, Jeanette advised more than 20 companies in several markets including bio-energy, electric vehicles, smart buildings, water tech, robotics and wind. An energetic leader with a rare ability to create and execute on a vision, Jeanette is applying her talents to help position Canada as a global leader in the cleantech sector.
Paul Lacerte, OBC is a Founding Managing Partner and the Chief Impact Officer for Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, the first Indigenous owned financial intermediary in Canada. Paul and his daughter Raven also co-founded the Moose Hide Campaign, a national grassroots movement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous men and boys working to end violence against women and children. Paul is a member of the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation Band which is part of the Carrier speaking People in northern BC. He is a traditional cultural practitioner and loves to spend time in his home Carrier territory, learning, hunting, and gathering. He is a former foster parent, an adoptive parent, the former Vice-Chair of the Vancouver Foundation, the former Board Chair for Reconciliation Canada, and a former representative to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. He was awarded the Order of British Columbia in 2014. He is also a practicing magician and a sub-average hockey player.
Michael is Adjunct professor at Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria. With over 20 years of experience in ESG finance, sustainability, and impact investing, Michael is a senior advisor and thought leader to funds, companies, investors and governments around the world. He is the immediate past Chairman of the UK Sustainable Investment & Finance Association, a consortium of leading institutional investors with AUM of over £10 trillion, and sits on the advisory boards for funds in the EU, US, Canada and Asia. Michael is also the former CEO of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the largest sustainability standard setting organization in the world. Previously, Michael has also served as vice chair of the Natural Capital Coalition and CEO of Carbonetworks. Throughout his career, Michael has worked with the White House, the UN, the World Economic Forum, and many other organizations in his mission to improve the state of the world through sustainable finance.
Ruth Mojeed Ramirez is the Chief Equity Officer of The Inclusion Project and curator of Employment Equity Co-Lab. She combines extensive research, lived experience and innovative insights to managing systemic change, fostering dialogue and engagement on solutions design and action on complex and intersectional issues of decolonization, Accessibility, Racial Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (AREDI+). She is host of the Open Canada podcast which focuses on putting people at the heart of global affairs and exploring how Canada’s democracy should engage in today’s world.
She is a director on the national board of the Canadian International Council where she leads efforts on inclusive policy development; director on the Board of Governors at Camosun College, and the Board of Excellence Canada. She is Dialogue Associate at Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue. She also serves in many advisory roles, including the advisory on Diversity and Intersectionality with the Canadian Armed Forces; Vancouver Foundation’s Community and Granting Initiatives Committee; and Toronto Metropolitan University’s CERC Migration Stakeholder Advisory Board, among others.
She is a director on the national board of the Canadian International Council where she leads efforts on inclusive policy development; director on the Board of Governors at Camosun College, and the Board of Excellence Canada. She is Dialogue Associate at Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue. She also serves in many advisory roles, including the advisory on Diversity and Intersectionality with the Canadian Armed Forces; Vancouver Foundation’s Community and Granting Initiatives Committee; and Toronto Metropolitan University’s CERC Migration Stakeholder Advisory Board, among others.
Richard Muller is a Senior Advisor to SVX (an impact investing advisory firm) and Peer Group Leader of Impact United, a network of high-net-worth individual investors, family offices and foundations across Canada that seek social and environmental return with their capital, alongside financial return. Prior to 2021, for five years Richard held various executive positions with Toniic, a global membership community comprised of active impact investors from more than 25 countries. In his last role as Chief Collaboration Officer, he oversaw all business development, partnership and sponsorship activities, as part of the senior management team.
Richard also operates a private equity and management consulting firm focused on mission-based organizations and social enterprises. Prior to founding his current company, Richard held a number of senior management positions for over ten years across North America with Young & Rubicam (Y&R), a leading global advertising and communications firm. He began his stint with Y&R after he and a group of partners sold their database marketing company to the agency in 1999. Before that, Richard had also successfully started and managed a marketing research company, serving the needs of community-based financial institutions across Canada.
An MBA graduate from the University of Western Ontario and a BA graduate from the University of British Columbia, Richard has been interested and involved throughout his career in increasing the amount of both individual and institutional capital committed to impact investing. He helped launch Ethical Funds across the Canadian credit union system to provide members with a socially-responsible investment alternative to conventional mutual funds. He has also worked directly with portfolio companies funded by the VanCity Community Foundation operated by VanCity Savings Credit Union, one of the largest community-based financial institutions in the world.
Richard also operates a private equity and management consulting firm focused on mission-based organizations and social enterprises. Prior to founding his current company, Richard held a number of senior management positions for over ten years across North America with Young & Rubicam (Y&R), a leading global advertising and communications firm. He began his stint with Y&R after he and a group of partners sold their database marketing company to the agency in 1999. Before that, Richard had also successfully started and managed a marketing research company, serving the needs of community-based financial institutions across Canada.
An MBA graduate from the University of Western Ontario and a BA graduate from the University of British Columbia, Richard has been interested and involved throughout his career in increasing the amount of both individual and institutional capital committed to impact investing. He helped launch Ethical Funds across the Canadian credit union system to provide members with a socially-responsible investment alternative to conventional mutual funds. He has also worked directly with portfolio companies funded by the VanCity Community Foundation operated by VanCity Savings Credit Union, one of the largest community-based financial institutions in the world.
Julie has always advocated for environmental justice and environmental preservation. She focuses on shifting investment capital for equitable climate action. Having previously managed a portfolio of impact investments, Julie believes that investments should advance positive social and environmental outcomes. Julie completed a Bachelor of Commerce at McGill University. She volunteers with various community and youth-led environmental groups and advises on strategies for impact investing. Julie has won national and global awards for her work integrating environmental justice into sustainable finance. As a child, she was known to run across the room to shut off a neglected running faucet. Julie loves learning new things.
Merran Smith is President of New Economy Canada, bringing decades of award-winning leadership uniting industry, government, and civil society partners to solve society’s most pressing social and ecological challenges. She is national thought leader in advancing Canada’s clean, zero carbon economy.
Since establishing Clean Energy Canada in 2010, Merran has been at the forefront of public policy discourse and solution building for Canada to win in the global energy transition. Earlier, her leadership in the landmark Great Bear Rainforest agreement led to the protection of BC’s coastal rainforest ecosystems and set a new standard for collaboration between Indigenous and Crown governments, and across sectors.
Merran has served as co-chair of BC’s Climate Solutions Council which informed the province’s first comprehensive climate plan, CleanBC, and co-chair of Natural Resources Canada’s Generation Energy Council. She represents Canada on the C3E International Ambassador Corps and is a Fellow at Simon Fraser University.
Merran has received numerous leadership distinctions, including being named to Vancouver Magazine’s 2020 Power 50 List, winning the 2019 SFU President’s Social Media Newsmaker Award, Clean Energy BC’s 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award, the Vancouver Board of Trade’s 2016 Wendy McDonald Community Catalyst award, and the Clean 16 award in 2014 for leadership in clean capitalism.
Since establishing Clean Energy Canada in 2010, Merran has been at the forefront of public policy discourse and solution building for Canada to win in the global energy transition. Earlier, her leadership in the landmark Great Bear Rainforest agreement led to the protection of BC’s coastal rainforest ecosystems and set a new standard for collaboration between Indigenous and Crown governments, and across sectors.
Merran has served as co-chair of BC’s Climate Solutions Council which informed the province’s first comprehensive climate plan, CleanBC, and co-chair of Natural Resources Canada’s Generation Energy Council. She represents Canada on the C3E International Ambassador Corps and is a Fellow at Simon Fraser University.
Merran has received numerous leadership distinctions, including being named to Vancouver Magazine’s 2020 Power 50 List, winning the 2019 SFU President’s Social Media Newsmaker Award, Clean Energy BC’s 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award, the Vancouver Board of Trade’s 2016 Wendy McDonald Community Catalyst award, and the Clean 16 award in 2014 for leadership in clean capitalism.
Prior to becoming the inaugural Executive Director of the Dhillon Centre in 2016, Christie Stephenson spent more than 15 years at leading socially responsible and impact investing firms, and previously worked in politics, government and the non-profit sector. Christie is currently a member of the Climate Governance Experts Network of the Canadian Climate Law Initiative, the Metro Vancouver Zero Emissions Innovation Centre’s investment committee, the British Columbia Securities Commission Corporate Finance Stakeholder Forum, and the International Impact and Sustainable Finance Faculty Consortium.
She is a regular print, radio and TV media commentator and a frequent speaker to industry and public audiences on topics related to governance, business ethics and responsible investing, and teaches environmental, social and governance investing. She was a 2019 Clean50 Honouree for Sustainability Education & Thought Leadership and the Dhillon Centre has been recognized three times by the BC Business “Business of Good Award” for Thought Leadership. She has served as a judge for both Governance Professionals of Canada’s Excellence in Governance Awards and the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada’s Corporate Reporting Awards and delivered training through Directors College, Governance Professionals of Canada, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada and UBC Sauder Executive Education.
Christie also has more than two decades of diverse director experience, having served on the boards of a national charity, numerous non-profit organizations, several academic governance bodies, a union local, cooperatives with both business-to-consumer and business-to-business operating models, a multi-employer pension plan, a reporting issuer and one of Canada’s domestic systemically important financial institutions (D-SIFI), and private companies from start-up stage to large mature entities.
Juvarya Veltkamp is Senior Advisor with C40 Cities’ Green Ports Forum, where she brings together leading global ports and cities with a goal of cutting emissions in half before 2030.
Juvarya has extensive experience working at the intersection of cities, industry, and climate action. She has helped local governments shape effective green building policies, and she was responsible for delivering Vancouver’s green economy strategy which helped the city double the number of green jobs within a decade.
As a values-driven leader, Juvarya is a board director and has served on the board of Vancity Credit Union. She brings extensive expertise in local economic development and climate risk and governance, and she holds the esteemed Global Competent Boards (GCB.D) ESG (environment, social, governance) designation, as well as the Global Association of Risk Professional’s certificate in Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR).
A skilled economic strategist and convenor, Juvarya is passionate about bringing people together to orchestrate change for a cleaner, more resilient world that works for people and planet.
Dr. Andrew J. Weaver is a Professor in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria. He was also the Canada Research Chair in Climate Modelling and Analysis until he was elected as a BC Green Party MLA in the 2013 BC Provincial Election representing the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head. In 2015 Dr. Weaver assumed leadership of the BC Green Party, leading them to an historic election result in the 2017 provincial election with three elected MLAs holding the balance of power in an NDP minority government. He returned to UVic after completing two terms as an MLA.
He was a Lead Author in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th scientific assessments. He was the Chief Editor of the Journal of Climate from 2005-2009.
For his work developing British Columbia’s CleanBC economic plan collaboratively with the BC NDP, he and the Minister of Environment, George Heyman, received 2020 Clean 16 and Clean 50 awards for outstanding contributions to sustainable development and clean capitalism in Canada.
