Members of the Social Innovation Advisory Council

Mike Toye lives in the traditional territory of the Abenaki and Wabanaki Confederacy in south-central Québec. He is Executive Director of the Canadian Community Economic Development Network. It is a national association of innovative community organizations and individuals who are building more inclusive, sustainable and democratic local economies.

His previous experience includes:

• consulting on community economic development and the social economy in 2 worker co-operatives he co-founded
• author of numerous articles and reports
• co-editor of the book Community Economic Development: Building for Social Change
• lecturer and researcher
• Policy Analyst for the Library of Parliament

Lauren Sears is a Principal at DLM Consulting, an advisory firm supporting the cultivation of thriving communities, primarily working with organizations undergoing bold transformation. She is a Founding Partner of Placemaking 4G. It is a social enterprise that supports socially-conscious recruiting and invests 60% of its profits back into its mission.

She is also currently a collaborator with Imaginal Ventures, a women-led advisory firm. This firm delivers the Scale-Up program focused on supporting female-identifying founders to scale their climate or health innovation businesses. She is the former Managing Director at Common Good Solutions (CGS), a launch pad for social enterprises and incubator for social innovation start-ups.

Lauren has worked with global sector leaders to create an agenda for change centred around the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. With CGS, she facilitated discussions at national and international conferences with themes centered around rural issues, racial equity, gender equity, and community enterprise strategies.

Lauren has an educational background in psychology, business, and organizational behaviour.

With a successful university athletic career and 13 years of coaching high-performance sport, she has an inherent motivation to develop people and teams.

Lauren is now pursuing her formal mediation designation.

Jane Bisbee is the Executive Director of the Social Enterprise Fund (SEF), an organization that invests in Alberta’s social enterprises and social entrepreneurs. In just over a decade, she has built SEF’s portfolio to more than 90 projects across many sectors, with more than $90 million invested.

A special focus of Jane’s career has been the creation of non-traditional finance for small businesses, in particular the cultural industries. This includes working with organizations such as:

• the Association of Canadian Publishers
• the Prairie Publishers Group
• the Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association
• the Government of Alberta

She is the former president of the Edmonton International Film Festival and has served on many boards including:

• the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra
• the Canada Give the Gift of Literacy Foundation
• the Alberta Foundation for the Literary Arts

Jane currently serves on the board of the national Table for Impact Investment Practitioners. She is co-chair of Alberta SEED, a social finance ecosystem capacity builder. She is also a fellow of the BALLE/RSF Financial Community Foundation Circle, which explores new ways for foundations to invest in their communities.

Roselyne Mavungu is the Executive Director of the Centre pour la prévention de la radicalisation menant à la violence. This organization aims to prevent hate-motivated acts through education, mobilization and support. With more than 10 years of experience in managing community support organizations, Roselyne has held many positions, including:

• Executive Director of Compagnie F – Entrepreneurship for Women
• President and CEO of the MicroEntreprendre network
• Senior Advisor in Development and Management with the organization Oxfam-Québec

She has also been involved in the governance of various organizations in Québec’s social economy, such as:

• Chantier de l’économie sociale
• Cap Finance
• Territoires innovants en économie sociales et solidaire
• Femmessor (now Evol)
• Conseil des Montréalaises

Roselyn was a member of the Government of Canada’s Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy Co-Creation Steering Group. She is actively involved in local economic development. She is particularly interested in issues related to diversity and inclusion, the status of women, and women's access to financial resources and leadership.

Katie Miller brings immersive knowledge of the social impact sector with over 10 years experience working across Canada and internationally. From leading a social enterprise to fostering the conditions for them to grow, her passion to ‘do good better’ has led to roles working across public, private and not for profit including:

• Chair of Impact Hub Global and Managing Director of Impact Hub Ottawa. The Impact Hub is a locally rooted and globally connected network of co-working and incubation spaces. It is one of the world’s largest entrepreneurial communities for impact
• Head of Digital Programs at Future of Good. She helped to curate learning events for thousands of impact-focused professionals to navigate the trends and transformations in social impact
• Senior Portfolio Manager at RADIUS, supporting clients in delivering projects around community engagement, organizational development, and problem-solving using inclusive design approaches

Currently, Katie is the Head of Ignite, a fund dedicated to transforming the lives of young people from underserved backgrounds. She also serves as the Treasurer on the Board of Directors for Water Rangers, a social enterprise empowering communities in protecting waterways.

Ajmal Sataar is the Founder of Small Economy Works. This organization provides culturally informed entrepreneurial and leadership training in rural, remote and Northern Canada. A key component of this organization is the Inspire program. It provides new innovation and community leadership opportunities for young people and educators in the Yukon, North West Territories and Nunavut.

His vision is that entrepreneurship and social innovation can be utilized to:

• to engage youth
• create positive impact, and
• solve many of the world’s complex problems

Ajmal has supported the establishment of social enterprises that have targeted:

• at-risk youth
• marginalized immigrant women
• individuals with a mental illness
• high school students
• homeless people
• food insecurity
• Indigenous youth

Ajmal has knowledge of remote, northern and Indigenous contexts. He established a 3-year social innovation and social enterprise curriculum that is being used by a Nunavik school board.

Ajmal is also the former Co-Chair of the Government of Canada’s Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy Co-Creation Steering Group.