About CAFIID
Canada Forum for Impact Investment and Development (CAFIID) is a community of individuals, organizations and investors who treat positive social and environmental impact and financial return as coexisting priorities.
CAFIID members combine many years of collaboration and engagement with a track record of innovation in structuring and funding impact investment products, designing and delivering technical assistance, and promoting sustainable investment ecosystems in emerging and frontier economies.
Mission
To strengthen Canada’s contribution to global impact investing by connecting, sharing knowledge and advocating in Canada and internationally
Vision
A more equitable and sustainable world through global impact investing.
2024 - 2026 Strategic Priorities
Education and Thought Leadership
Through its knowledge products, CAFIID helps raise the profile and awareness of impact investment and contributes to the continuous improvement of both its members and the ecosystem as a whole.
By driving its thought leadership CAFIID contributes to the ongoing evolution of best impact investment practices and their understanding across all practitioners and observers, in Canada and beyond.
CAFIID uses a variety of channels and tools to disseminate valuable data and information that contribute to creating a better understanding of impact investment and of its target markets.
Convening and Connecting
Directly or in partnership, CAFIID creates opportunities for members to meet, learn from each other, engage in concrete business collaboration, thereby contributing to greater cohesiveness and effectiveness of the sector.
Field-Building
CAFIID leverages its international network and expertise to contribute to the strengthening of the impact investment sector in Canada.
CAFIID enhances the profile of Canada as a global player, builds two-way bridges between Canada and international markets and helps identify business opportunities.
CAFIID contributes its expertise, network and firsthand experience to the development of a favourable, enabling environment for impact investment in Canada and beyond.
Team and Governance
Board of Directors
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Member: MEDA
Lindsay Wallace currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Strategy & Impact at MEDA. Over the past two decades, Lindsay has spearheaded impact measurement, program design, and strategic initiatives across a variety of organizations. Prior to joining MEDA, Lindsay led strategic consulting assignments for the Gates Foundation, the Toronto Centre and the Millenium Challenge Corporation. Lindsay previously spent eight years at the Mastercard Foundation, where she assumed multiple roles, including as Head of Impact, Director of Strategy and Learning. In these capacities, she led the conception of their new strategy, championing private sector growth and business-driven solutions to alleviate poverty. Lindsay’s career has been characterized by her steadfast advocacy for translating intricate concepts into accessible thought leadership, catering to diverse audiences. Lindsay’s academic background includes an M.A. in Public Administration and Policy from Carleton University, along with an M.A. in Economics specializing in Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto. She also holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from McGill University.
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Member: Sarona Asset Management
Patrick leads Sarona’s business development efforts, including Investor Relations, Marketing and Fundraising. Over the last twelve years, Patrick has served many aspects of the business, most notably as Director in our private equity practice. He has engaged with the impact investing community since joining the company and has represented Sarona at both a community and global level, from speaking and mentoring at local universities to meeting with heads of state at the United Nations. Today, he serves as a Vice-Chair on the Board of the Canada Forum for Impact Investment and Development. Patrick started his career in private equity as an analyst with Munich Private Equity Partners. He holds an honours degree in business administration from Brock University, a BSc in general management from EBS University, and is a CFA® charter holder.
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Member: Individual Member
Sabina Bharwani is a seasoned finance professional and board director committed to building an equitable and sustainable world through supporting women leaders and underrepresented communities in Canada.
She is an independent consultant and impact investor in Canada and is passionate about investing in early stage impact ventures with a gender and diversity lens. Her key investment sectors are Agriculture, Climate and Sustainability, Education, Healthcare and Financial Services.
In her last role she worked in impact investing with International Development Enterprises (iDE) managing a global portfolio of investments in Agriculture, WASH and Financial Inclusion. She also worked with Kiva in the impact investment team for Africa.
Sabina serves as the Treasurer on the board of the Canadian Forum for Impact Investment and Development (CAFIID). She is also a board member and FAR (Finance, Audit, Risk) committee member at the Equality Fund.
Prior to her board service career, Sabina held leadership positions at Sara Global Consulting, Kiva, Barclays Investment Bank, HSBC, and KPMG LLP, specialising in risk management, investment banking, financial consulting and impact investing.
Sabina holds a Master of Business Administration(MBA) from the Brisbane Graduate school of Business in Australia. She is a Certified Financial Planner(CFP), Financial Risk Manager (FRM) and certified in Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR).
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Member: Supivaa Advisory Group
Carolyn Burns brings over a decade of experience in impact investing, with a growing specialization in gender lens investing (GLI). She has worked extensively across global growth markets, with a strong focus on sub-Saharan Africa—including Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, and South Africa—as well as North Africa, particularly Egypt.
Carolyn excels in advising on the analysis, processes, structures, and cultural adaptations required for investment opportunities to intentionally drive positive gender and development outcomes. She is highly skilled in curriculum design, training delivery, research, and the development of practical resources such as toolkits, guidebooks, standards of practice, and certification modules.
She enjoys working in monitoring, evaluation, and learning roles, and has led numerous initiatives in project management and program delivery. Her core areas of expertise include blended finance, systems change, and cross-cultural management.
Carolyn has supported a range of asset managers—including Sarona Asset Management, Grand Challenges Canada, Brightlight, Acumen, Red Hat Impact, and the Africa Guarantee Fund—on impact modeling, measurement, and reporting, as well as on investment thesis development and technical assistance strategies. On the asset owner side, she has advised Mennonite Economic Development Associates and the Equality Fund. She also supported a programmatic partner, Red Hat Impact, with a market feasibility study for a locally led, gender-focused trade finance investment vehicle in the Indo-Pacific region.
Carolyn serves on the board of the Canadian Forum for Impact Investment and Development (CAFIID), is a leader within its GLI Community of Practice, and is a Steering Group member for Women in Social Finance. She has co-created and co-facilitated four major GLI convenings: Financing the Reduction of Gender-Based Violence (Online), Feminist Financial Imagination (Online), Gender in Finance Forum (Tanzania), and CAFIID Connects Nairobi: Trends in Gender Lens Investing. Previously, she served on the Investment Committee of the Charities Aid Foundation’s Venturesome program, which supported Black women entrepreneurs with access to finance and technical assistance.
Robert Cheberiak | Director
DID
Marie-Claude Bourgie | Director
Individual Member
Michel Brutti | Director
Clear Skies Investment
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Member: ImpactAND
Geoff Moore has over 30 years of experience in the global asset management industry and has held senior institutional sales, client service, and consultant relations roles throughout his career, the majority of which has been spent with the asset management divisions of the Bank of Ireland, Deutsche Bank, GE, and State Street. He has had a variety of leadership roles including as a member of the Executive Committee for the Americas with DB Advisors; a member of the Leadership Council with GE Canada representing the asset management division, and as a member of the Global ESG Working Group while at SSGA. Impactᴬᴺᴰ Inc. is his second entrepreneurial venture in the space, and this has led to a deep appreciation and respect for all those who embark on entrepreneurial journeys.
Geoff has been active in and passionate about the impact investing space and other approaches to sustainable investing for well over a decade and was interviewed in Forbes on "The Potential of Impact Investing" in 2011. He founded a speaker series and community initiative called EYE4IMPACT to promote impact investing and social entrepreneurship and has twice participated as a delegate at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship.
A transformative experience through a volunteer placement in Togo, West Africa with Crossroads International while he was still a student led to a lifelong interest in international development. He is now particularly passionate about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how institutional investors can meet their investment objectives while contributing towards positive solutions.
Geoff is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Canada Forum for Impact Investment and Development (CAFIID). He serves on the board and the Investment and Risk Committee of the Inter-Generational Fund at Concordia University. He is also a board member of Tennis for All Uganda. At the beginning of 2025 he launched the Pinned2Purpose Initiative, focused on helping remove the stigma around mental health conditions and giving people a hand up on their healing journeys.
Shiemaa Ahmed | Director
Individual Member
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Melek De-Wint is an independent impact measurement and management (IMM) consultant based in Québec City, working with social purpose organizations internationally. With over 20 years of leadership roles in non-profit management within the youth development sector, she has strategic acumen and hands-on experience across diverse management areas, notably monitoring, evaluation, and impact measurement. At The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, she built an impact measurement framework to demonstrate the impact of their youth development program worldwide. At Digital Moment, she drove impact initiatives for digital education accessibility in Canada, leading the development of theories of change and an impact measurement framework. Since 2020, she’s provided impact measurement coaching via the Innoweave initiative of McConnell Foundation (now hosted by MakeWay), benefiting Canadian non-profits. She’s actively engaged in impactful board roles, including on the Board of Directors for Canada Forum for Impact Investment and Development (CAFIID), Common Approach to Impact Measurement and Türkiye's Etkiyap impact investing platform. She is the Chair of CAFIID's Thought Leadership Committee and an active member of the IMM Community of Practice. Melek is a trained Social Return on Investment (SROI) Practitioner, an accredited SDG Impact Standards trainer and an alumna of the Oxford Impact Measurement Programme and the Oxford Impact Investing Programme. Melek holds an MSc in Social Psychology from the University of Surrey in the UK and a BSc in Business Administration from the Middle East Technical University in Türkiye.
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Katharine is the Director of Project Origination and Development at Taking Root, where she leads the development of nature-based projects across Latin America. Taking Root specializes in leveraging carbon markets to restore native forests in partnership with small and medium landowners, using innovative technology to monitor impact and ensure long-term sustainability.
With nearly 20 years of experience in food systems and agricultural development, Katharine brings extensive field expertise, particularly from her work in Colombia. Now based in Canada, she supports reforestation and agroforestry initiatives across Latin America. Prior to joining Taking Root, she led international programs at the Pakka Foundation, where she supported sustainable agroforestry projects across Colombia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Georgia. She previously spent ten years in agricultural finance with Farm Credit Canada.
Katharine holds a Master's in International Development and Economics, and a certificate in Food Sustainability from the European Institute of Innovation and Sustainability. Her expertise includes market system development, ESG integration, project management, strategic planning, and stakeholder engagement.
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Member: FinDev Canada
Sumaiya Sajjad is Director of Technical Assistance at FinDev Canada. She is responsible for the development and roll-out of the Facility’s strategy and portfolio. The Facility aims to strengthen private sector entities, including clients, and lead market-level initiatives, across FinDev Canada’s priority development impact goals, sectors, and regions of focus.
Supporting staff
Aysha Dawood - Coordinator
David Loba - Accountant
Membership Engagement Commitee (MEC)
Create programs and services that meet and advance the needs of members and CAFIID
Team
Naomi Gichungu | Chair
Sila Agiroglu
Abdelçamad Mahamat
Alicia Maitland
Katie Turner
Marleen Ter Mors
Business Development Commitee (BDC)
Increasing and diversifying revenue sources
Team
Patrick Hergt | Co-Chair
Stéphanie Émond | Co-Chair
Ebenezer Arthur
Marie-Claude Bourgie
Michel Brutti
Robert Cheberiak
Alan Lo
Tarini Sharma
Jason Sukhram
Katharine Vander Laan
Lindsay Wallace
Thought Leadership Committee (TLC)
Creating opportunities to exchange best practices and strategies and act as a collective voice
Team
Melek De-Wint | Chair
Sheimaa Ahmed
Ladin Akkaymak
Andrea Kilibarda
Kristina Kuznetsova
Lauren Iuliani
Hacer Onur
Sumaiya Sajjad
Christoph Shultz
Hao Tien
Steering Committee
Carolyn Burns - Supivaa
Carolina Robino - IDRC
Emily Boost - Kore Global
Katie Turner - Independent
Kazi Ishrat Jahan - Independent
Pulkit Aggrwal - Grand Challenges Canada
Steering Committee
Alyna Wyatt - Independent
Emiko Savic - Social Capital Partners
Geoff Moore - ImpactAND
Jason Sukhram - Independent
Joanne Norris – Independent
Sarah Nielsen - Relativ Impact
Steve Williams – MEDA
Steering Committee
Andrea Kilibarda - Climate Finance Advisors
Christoph Schultz - Independent
Dan Chacko - Clear Skies Investment Management
Hira Mumtaz - Independent
Nicole DeMarsh - Independent
Omoneka Oyier - MEDA
Sabina Bharwani - Independent
2025 CAFIID Interns:
Cynthia Kutir - Climate Finance Community of Practice
Kiana Mirshahi - Business Development Committee
Mallorie Bronfman-Thomas - Gender Lens Investing Community of Practice
Mariapaz Pajares - Membership Engagement Committee
Natalia Gutierrez - Climate Finance Community of Practice
Nur Rahma Citra Madani - Gender Lens Investing Community of Practice
Roopal Dahiya - Business Development Committee
Sayantani Mukherjee - Gender Lens Investing Community of Practice
Board Members and Members of CAFIID Committees are committed to observing and promoting the highest standards of ethical conduct in the performance of their responsibilities on the Committees.
Board and Committee Members pledge to accept the CAFIID Code of Ethics as a minimum guideline for ethical conduct.
History
The Canada Forum for Impact Investment and Development (CAFIID) was established by MEDA in the summer of 2014. CAFIID rapidly gained support of industry stakeholders – including senior representatives of impact investment funds, non-governmental organizations, foundations, family offices, consulting firms, research institutions and businesses – who wished to offer a collective voice in support of transformative development finance mechanisms.
Early activities involved regular meetings at events such as the Social Finance Forum (SFF), hosting of public forums, development of marketing materials, awareness raising and advocacy with the government of Canada, and growth of the network itself.
In 2016, with momentum building and the support of network members, members decided to formalize the association by setting up a steering committee and working groups and move to the next stage of its development. CAFIID became a registered Canadian non-profit organization in August 2017 and elected its first board in September 2017.