Jacqueline is the VP of the Investment Program at the Equality Fund. The Equality Fund’s unique model activates investment alongside feminist philanthropy and high trust grantmaking to bring about long-term, sustainable, and powerful change.  

Prior to joining the Equality Fund, Jacqueline was a Managing Partner in Export Development Canada’s Investments group, responsible for the Inclusive Trade Investments Program (“ITIP”), a $200 million program which provides equity growth capital to companies founded or led by diverse Canadians, and to venture capital funds demonstrating a commitment to promoting diversity on both sides of the investment table.  In addition to running ITIP, she oversaw equity investments into the Sustainable Food & Ag Tech sector and was responsible for the portfolio management and operations of the group’s $3bn of committed capital in direct and fund equity investments. 

Jacqueline has also worked in M&A advisory roles with investment banks in London (Avington Financial), Montreal and Toronto (Merrill Lynch).   She has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto and obtained her MBA at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

Alexa is co-Founder and Managing Partner of Deetken Impact, where she leads portfolio management, finance and operations. Deetken Impact is a Canadian impact asset manager focused on investments in women’s empowerment, clean energy, and impact enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean. Deetken Impact manages over US$150 million in assets across five funds with a diverse team of seasoned investment professionals based in Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and Canada, and spanning a track record of more than two decades of direct investing experience. 

Prior to joining Deetken, Alexa was an executive with African Alliance, a pan-African financial services group and an associate with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Macquarie Group in Toronto. 

Recognized as one of Vancouver’s Top Forty Under 40 by Business in Vancouver magazine, Alexa is a CFA Charterholder, a Chartered Business Valuator and holds an MA in Financial Economics from the University of Toronto.

Follow Alexa on Twitter at @lexablain or connect on LinkedIn.

Paula is a Senior Associate at SVX where she leads investor and venture education programming. Paula has spent the last few years deeply engaged within Canada’s social innovation ecosystem working within Ontario’s Social Enterprise Unit and the McConnell Foundation. Ask Paula about WOSEN, SVX accelerators, and dystopian fiction.

Lorena is an Impact Officer at FinDev Canada. She assesses the development impact of investments, and supports private sector clients through advisory services, training and design of technical assistance projects on women’s economic empowerment and climate action. She helped establish and co-lead Canada’s gender-lens investing community of practice hosted by CAFIID (Canada Forum for Impact Investment of Development), and her professional background is in international development, project management, and sustainable infrastructure finance.