Blended Finance Summit 2026

Heading for Change invests in solutions that advance climate, nature, biodiversity and gender equality. Sana’s career has spanned gender and climate finance, venture capital, development finance, impact investing and equity research. She is focused on leveraging capital as a tool for social change and to support deep and intersectional systemic shifts. She holds an MA in Development Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam and an iBBA in Finance & Accounting from York University’s Schulich School of Business. She sits on the Board of Criterion Institute and the Ban-Ki moon Foundation’s Cross Sector Leadership Committee, and is a Strategic Advisor to other impact organisations.

Ruth Shaber, MD, is a changemaker and innovator, moving from a 25 year career as an OBGYN and senior executive at Kaiser Permanente to empowering women across finance and healthcare. She is the founder and president of Tara Health Foundation, a philanthropic investment group that uses evidence-informed programs to promote women’s well-being and opportunities. She is also the co-founder and board chair of Rhia Ventures, a collective of foundations and investors committed to bringing new types of capital to the reproductive health field. She recently co-published a book, The XX Edge: Unlocking Higher Returns and Lower Risk, which uncovers the evidence that when women are in control of capital, both financial and social returns are stronger and organizational risks are diminished.

Kristin Richard is a proud member of the Red River Métis Nation and the Manager of the Sinew Impact Fund at EntrepreNorth. She is currently leading the creation of an Indigenous-led impact fund dedicated to supporting Indigenous entrepreneurs throughout Northern Canada. She is deeply committed to advancing economic justice and Indigenous sovereignty across Turtle Island.

With over 20 years of investment experience, Kelly has advised a wide range of clients — including private wealth, foundations, family offices, institutional investors and Indigenous trusts — on building portfolios that achieve social and environmental outcomes without compromising financial performance. She has worked in impact investing since its earliest days in Canada and has played a pivotal role in developing the market—unlocking the flow of capital from the supply side to the demand side.

Dr. Majerbi is an associate professor of finance at the Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria. Her research focuses on ESG and impact investing, climate finance, and community energy transition as a Lead Investigator of UVic’s Accelerating Community Energy Transformation (ACET) initiative. She is the founder and director of the Impact Investing Hub, a research and education center whose mission is to mobilize finance for positive impact. Dr. Majerbi has received multiple awards for her leadership in climate and sustainable finance, including the BC Cleantech Educator of the Year Award, Canada’s Clean50 Award, and the King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Aaron has spent 16 years as a national-recognized community foundation leader and regularly speaks, coaches and trains across the country on impact investing. His foundation has led the charge for mid-size foundations hoping to get started in impact investing.

Wayne is passionate about flowing capital more equitably to solve our most intractable societal problems. He is the Director of Social Finance and Impact Investing at Definity Foundation. Wayne has private, public, philanthropic, and nonprofit sector experience working on climate action and improving social wellbeing both in Canada and internationally.

Krystal is a housing advocate and fundraising strategist who pairs deep compassion with sharp financial insight. With millions raised in social impact; she blends community-centred leadership with technical skill to advance interdependent equitable housing solutions rooted in dignity, human-centred design, and justice.

As Head of Relationship Management at Rally Assets, Ben works to strengthen relationships with investors, advisors and partners from the financial services and impact investing sectors. Over the last 10 years, Ben has worked across the impact sector in social services, health and environmental organizations, with experience in fundraising, relationship management and operations. Most recently, he led the operations for Canada’s first Social Impact Bond in the healthcare sector. He is a member of the steering committee for the Nature Investment Hub.

Rudy Ruttimann is the Founding Director of FLIP Foundation for Leadership, Imagination and Place, an initiative dedicated to systems change, leadership development, and social innovation in education and the creative sector across Canada. Through research, leadership coaching, and co-created learning spaces, FLIP works to remove barriers facing young creatives and build new pathways for leadership, learning, and community transformation.

Laurel Sabur is the Research Manager for the Business & Finance Innovation research area at the University of Victoria’s Accelerating Community Energy Transitions (ACET) initiative. She supports the Impact Investing Hub, an independent division of ACET, strengthening Canada’s impact investing ecosystem and advancing community-informed innovations that foster equity and long-term impact. A connector of people, ideas, and impact capital, she thrives on building partnerships and solutions that drive meaningful change.

Urmi Sengupta is part of the MacArthur Foundation Impact Investments team, focusing on catalytic capital. She oversees impact investments in emerging markets and coordinates  field-building grantmaking to expand investor participation in impact investing and blended finance. She also serves as the Chair of the Project Advisory Board at the Catalytic Capital Consortium,  providing strategic guidance for its grantmaking focused on growing the awareness, knowledge and use of flexible patient capital that creates impact otherwise not possible and opens doors for other types of investors to join in. With development finance experience spanning more than two decades, she has worked across global regions including India, Kenya, and Colombia.

Daniel Fuentes is the Conservation Finance Strategy Advisor at Nature United, the Canadian affiliate of the largest conservation organization in the world—The Nature Conservancy. Daniel brings 15 years of professional experience in economic development, including originating and building blended finance partnerships in emerging and frontier markets in collaboration with bilateral agencies, multilaterals and development financial institutions. Most recently, Daniel was the Administrative Director of Climate Engagement Canada, an investor-led engagement mechanism to accelerate Canada’s transition to Net Zero.

Recognized by Corporate Knights as a Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leaders in Canada (2022), Leah is passionate about impact investing and enabling the growth of Canadian technology. In her current role as a Senior Associate with Wittington Ventures’ Innovation Fund, she invests in seed-stage climate and health ventures poised for global impact. Leah brings over a decade of experience supporting Canadian Climate tech startups through roles at MaRS Discovery District and Export Development Canada, helping ventures navigate their capital journeys across food and agtech, renewable energy, alternative materials, the circular economy, and more.

Lindsay brings over 25 years of experience working in international development and leading economic analysis, impact measurement, program design, and strategy. Most recently, she served as the Senior Vice President of Strategy & Impact at Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). Lindsay previously spent eight years at the Mastercard Foundation in various roles, including as Head of Impact/Director of Strategy and Learning, where she led the development of their new strategy. Lindsay has been a strong advocate for private sector growth and business solutions to poverty throughout her career.

Currently CEO of CAP Finance, a social finance fund wholesaler selected by the government of Canada to deploy this long term, $755 million initiative to accelerate the growth of Canada’s social finance market. Extensive experience in social economy,  impact investing and agroecology across North America, Africa, and Asia. Graduate from HEC Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke, and Université Laval.

Ananda is a Management Advisor at the Afro-Entrepreneur Fund, where she specializes in supporting Black entrepreneurs across Quebec to optimize their financial and operational performance. Through her background in Finance and Sustainable Development, Ananda bridges the gap between traditional financial analysis and impact methodology. As an active contributor to incubators and social purpose organizations, she is dedicated to advancing a more inclusive and resilient economy by deploying capital that works for underserved communities.

Eric In is a seasoned venture and impact investor who now provides strategic guidance to changemakers seeking to scale their impact and advance a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive world. In 2025, he founded Mapleric Positive Impact, a strategic consulting firm supporting funds, entrepreneurs, and social-purpose organizations in mobilizing capital for impact and advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. As Senior Advisor at New Power Labs, he contributes to innovative, inclusive financing solutions for underfunded and overlooked founders.

Adil is an experienced leader with over 20 years of expertise in the banking and insurance sectors, specializing in innovation, business strategy, marketing, products, and execution. Adil has joined BDC to head the new Community Banking line of business by defining and deploying initiatives to expand its reach through a network of partners by amplifying their lending and support capabilities for entrepreneurs (notably under-represented and underserved groups).

Afua Asantewaa is Executive Director of Inclusive Prosperity, a social-finance non-profit that designs blended-capital models and farmland access pathways for African Canadian and other racialized equity-deserving farmers. A sustainable farmer with over a decade in community food systems leadership at Afri-Can FoodBasket, FoodShare Toronto and Food Secure Canada, she works at the intersection of regenerative agriculture, food sovereignty, and catalytic capital to finance community-rooted agricultural enterprises.

Stephen Nairne is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Raven Indigenous Capital Partners (www.ravencapitalpartners.com), an Indigenous-led and owned venture capital firm with 150mn AUM that invests exclusively in pre-seed and seed stage Indigenous enterprises across Canada and the United States. Prior to Raven, Stephen was the Founder and Managing Partner of AHL Venture Partners, an impact investment firm headquartered in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ayesha is an Associate Director on the Market Insights team, responsible for managing Convergence’s data and research activities, including leading the CC Facility Learning Hub, a joint partnership between Convergence and Climate Policy Initiative (CPI). As Associate Director, Ayesha oversees Convergence’s thought leadership portfolio, including advisory reports, fee-for-service projects, and annual State of Blended Finance reports.

Anik Islam is a Senior Research Associate at Smart Prosperity Institute. He leads policy research and data analysis work on sustainable finance, net-zero industrial transitions and clean technology development to help Canada meet its climate objectives and achieve economic prosperity. Prior to SPI, he worked at an international consulting firm based in Dhaka, Bangladesh and provided macro level and business case solutions in renewable energy market development, natural resource pricing and management, infrastructure/structured financing, public private partnerships and sustainable development goal implementation.

Elena Yugai is Executive Director of the Table of Impact Investment Practitioners (TIIP), a national community of practice advancing Canada’s impact investing ecosystem. She works at the intersection of capital, policy, and system-building to strengthen impact-first fund managers and expand the impact marketplace.

Pranay Samson leads the innovative finance work at Plan International Canada, and its new social enterprise, PlanCatalyst. He has previously worked alongside investors, financial institutions, governments and civil society organizations in social finance, including the Criterion Institute and IIX. He is a Director on the Board of the Criterion Institute, and is the co-Chair of the IFWG at Cooperation Canada.