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. Lindsay earned her M.A. in Public Administration and Policy from Carleton University. She also holds an M.A. in Economics from the University of Toronto, and a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from McGill University.

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. With a deep-rooted expertise in sustainable finance and specifically social finance, she has collaborated with various investment funds to align capital with measurable social and environmental outcomes. Through her background in Finance and Sustainable Development, Ananda bridges the gap between traditional financial analysis and impact methodology. Her work is informed by her multi-year involvement with Propel Impact, where she served as an Impact Investment Fund Manager, a Social Impact Consultant and now mentor. In these roles, she helped develop specialized financial tools designed to strengthen the sustainability of mission-driven organizations. Ananda is also an active contributor to incubators and social purpose organizations. Through her professional mandates and community leadership, 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. Over 16 years, he deployed $100 million across 45 private investments spanning venture capital, growth equity, impact funds, and SMEs in Canada, the United States, and France. 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. Eric has been actively involved in gender-lens investing, communities of practice, workshops, training, and Black-led investment initiatives.

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. Throughout his career, he has distinguished himself by planning and implementing go-to-market strategies, partnerships, and developing new business banking products. Since June 2024, Adil has joined BDC to head the new Community Banking line of business by defining and deploying initiatives to expand our reach through a network of partners by amplifying their lending and support capabilities for entrepreneurs (notably under-represented and underserved groups). He is also working on developing innovative solutions such as partnership with fintechs to fuel the microlending space in Canada. The scope of his work aims to broaden our support to underserved entrepreneurs with non-conventional business models, by strengthening our network of partners through loan fund and wraparound capabilities who in turn provide support and financing to entrepreneurs.