Despite the growing evidence that movements are fundamental for lasting social change, they are under-resourced, undervalued, and grossly underestimated. This discussion on new research from Bridgespan and the Shake the Table coalition addresses how funders can support movements to bring systemic impact.

In this conversation hosted and led by the Toronto Foundation, Andrew Chunilall and Senator Ratna Omidvar discuss some of the top trends, key areas of debate, and opportunities for progress in Canadian philanthropy in 2022.

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Biographies

Andrew Chunilall
Andrew joined Community Foundations Canada in 2013 and became CEO in 2017, following a six-year tenure as Vice-President of Finance for the London Community Foundation and his long-standing service as a finance and regulatory expert for Canada’s philanthropic milieu. Now at the head of the community foundation movement, Andrew is working closely with the Community Foundations of Canada Leadership team, Board and foundations in Canada and abroad to help the philanthropic sector transform, innovate and meet the new challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. An increasingly active public speaker, Andrew is helping raise awareness for how the philanthropic sector’s convening power, leadership and action around targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals can help Canadian communities reach their full potential.

Outside of Community Foundations of Canada, Andrew has been highly active in the nonprofit community for 15 years, serving on numerous boards including Community Living London and Art for AIDS International. In 2014, he was appointed to the Board of the Southwest Local Health Integration Network by former Minister of Health, Deb Matthews. In 2015, he was among 250 selected emerging leaders to participate in the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference. He recently joined the Board of WINGS, the global network of grantmaker associations and philanthropic support organisations.

With a background in education in economics and commerce, Andrew obtained his chartered accountant designation in 2002 and began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as a manager in the Assurance and Advisory Group.

Senator Ratna Omidvar
Ratna Omidvar is an internationally recognized voice on migration, diversity and inclusion. She came to Canada from Iran in 1981 and her own experiences of displacement, integration and citizen engagement have been the foundation of her work. In April 2016, Ms. Omidvar was appointed to the Senate of Canada as an independent senator representing Ontario. As a member of the Senate’s Independent Senators Group she holds a leadership position as the Liaison Officer. Senator Omidvar is also the Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology and served as Deputy Chair of the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector.

Senator Omidvar is a Director at the Samara Centre for Democracy, a Director at the Century Initiative, a Council Member at the World Refugee and Migration Council and Chair Emerita at the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council.

Previously at Ryerson University, Senator Omidvar was a Distinguished Visiting Professor and founded the Global Diversity Exchange, a think-and-do tank on diversity, migration and inclusion. Prior to her appointments at Ryerson, Senator Omidvar was the President of Maytree, where she played a lead role in local, national and international efforts to promote the integration of immigrants.

Senator Omidvar is co-author of Flight and Freedom: Stories of Escape to Canada (2015), an Open Book Toronto best book of 2015 and one of the Toronto Star's top five good reads from Word on the Street. She is also a contributor to The Harper Factor (2016) and co-editor of Five Good Ideas: Practical Strategies for Non-Profit Success (2011). Senator Omidvar received a Honorary Degree, Doctor of Laws, from Ryerson University in 2018 and from York University in 2012.

Full bio available here: https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/omidvar-ratna/

In their new book, Patience Marime-Ball and Ruth Shaber share a simple but often overlooked investment strategy to earning higher returns: including women as financial decision-makers within your organization or team. Here they share why they wrote the book, why it is important, and some of key findings.

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Biographies

Patience Marime-Ball
Patience has more than two decades of investment experience across capital markets – debt and equity financing, large scale infrastructure, distressed assets, as well as venture stage opportunities. She has made major contributions to the gender lens investing field, including conceptualizing and building IFC’s Banking on Women Investment Platform (current portfolio of approx. $2.7 billion); co-development of the first ever Gender Bond issued on the Uridashi market; and co-structuring alongside Goldman Sachs of a $600M debt fund ( $1.7 billion in loans to women entrepreneurs deployed to-date). She is an early stage investor with Golden Seeds and was previously Vice President with Mizuho Bank.

Patience is a member of As You Sow’s Prison Free Funds and Racial Justice Initiative Advisory Committees. She is Vice Chair of the Board at the International Center for Research on Women, as well as an Advisor to Emerging Sun, and a Venture Partner with ATP. Patience holds a JD from the Pritzker School of Law and an MBA from Kellogg at Northwestern University.


Ruth Shaber
Ruth Shaber MD is the founder and president of the Tara Health Foundation, which promotes health, well-being and opportunity for women and girls through innovative evidence-informed programs. Her philanthropic goals include advancing the field of gender lens impact investing.

She started her career as an Obstetrician and Gynecology at the Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco Medical Center in 1990. From 1997 to 2003, she served as chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology and from 2001 to 2007 she served as the director of Women’s Health for the Northern California division of Kaiser Permanente. She is also the founder of the Women’s Health Research Institute in Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California Region. Ruth was the Medical Director at the Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute (CMI) from 2007 to 2012.

She is a member of the board of directors at Jacaranda Health and on the National Medical Committee for Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Ruth received her B.A. from Yale University and her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She served her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California in San Francisco.