Smitha Das serves as the Director of Mission and Impact Investing at World Education Services (WES), a global social enterprise committed to economic and social inclusion for all. She oversees WES’ mission and impact investing portfolios, stewarding 100% of WES’ resources to be mission-aligned. Smitha is deeply committed to centering equity and justice within her work and demonstrating a trust-based investment approach. 

Previously, Smitha was an impact investor at Social Finance, where she developed and executed strategic initiatives and innovative financing projects. Before Social Finance, she worked in venture philanthropy, renewable energy private equity, and government. Her passion to create meaningful social and environmental impact formed at a young age when she founded a water nonprofit at age 12. 

Smitha has a MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS) and AB with Honors in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, where she co-founded the HBS Impact Investing Club and Harvard College Social Enterprise Club. She serves as a board member and advisor for Cell-Ed, JFF Ventures, New Power Labs, and the HBS Impact Investing Alumni Group. 

Gaby Polanco-Sorto is an executive strategist with close to 20 years of  experience working in multinational Financial Institutions across Environmental  Sustainability, ESG, Community Investment and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion  (DEI). 

She has worked in various organizations, including Scotiabank, LoyaltyOne and  Manulife Financial in progressively senior roles.  

Currently, Gaby is the VP and Head of Purpose and Sustainability at Gore  Mutual Insurance. In this capacity, Gaby is responsible for guiding Gore  Mutual’s efforts and priorities to making a difference in Canadian communities.  

Reporting to the CEO, she is accountable for imbedding ESG into all areas of our  business strategy and for leading the social impact, community, purpose,  inclusion and sustainability activities across the organization.  

She is also active in the academic space, currently as lecturer for University of  Toronto’s St. Michael’s College Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability  Graduate Diploma program.  

Originally from El Salvador, she is passionate about eliminating the barriers faced  by immigrants and refugees. She has held various Board positions with NGOs focused on supporting immigrants and refugees in Canada. Gaby is currently a  Board Member of CUSO International as well as Volunteer Toronto.

Ka-Hay sources, evaluates, and executes on investment opportunities that align with the Fund’s sustainability and sustainable agriculture sectors and leads the development of the Fund’s impact management practice. 

Prior to joining TELUS, she was the vice-president of Impact and Investments at the Lundin Foundation. She was instrumental in transforming the Foundation into a respected impact investor and strategic sustainability resource for the Lundin Group of Companies.  Ka-Hay brings 10 years of international impact investment experience investing in agriculture, financial inclusion and low-carbon solutions. Ka-Hay found her passion for impact when she worked for Engineers Without Borders and has called Ghana, Zambia and Kenya home.

Aaron Lambie is an executive leader widely recognized for his thought leadership on the structural design of Indigenous and Social Impact frameworks. He is an advocate for practical logic models that deliver utility to impact reporting. Aaron believes we have a small window of opportunity to do a better job of articulating the quality of relationships between Indigenous Community and industry to both the investment market and Indigenous leadership equally. Aaron is the President / CEO and founder of the Social Awareness Group – an Enterprise focused technology company that provides Indigenous and Social Impact reporting and aggregation tools to Industry. As a non-Indigenous person whose ancestors are from Scotland and the Czech Republic, Aaron is committed to sharing his gifts towards realizing Indigenous Prosperity — globally. 

Sharlene Gandhi is the editorial fellow on digital transformations at Future of Good. She reports on the growing intersections between technology, data and social purpose work across Canada. Some of her recent published work includes a profile of a non-profit that built a cybersecurity policy around the needs of its frontline staff, and a data story on how the Universal Broadband Fund was distributed between private companies, municipalities, Indigenous governments, non-profits, and co-operatives.