Victor Beausoleil

Advisory Board

M@st3rSCP

Victor Beausoleil has served historically under-represented communities in the social economy, social finance, impact investing and cooperative ecosystems for two decades. At the age of 24, he Co-Founded Redemption Reintegration Services, one of the largest youth-led youth justice agencies in Canada. In 2013, he received his first public service appointment as a member of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Council on Youth Opportunities.

He is currently the founder and Executive Director of SETSI – The Social Economy Through Social Inclusion and co-founder of the Canadian Centre for Non-Profit Digital Resistance.

He has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Atkinson Charitable Foundation, Laidlaw Foundation, the Toronto Community Housing Social Investment Fund, Toronto Community Benefits Network, The Canadian Community Economic Development Network, the Fair Finance Fund, the Table of Impact Investment Practitioners, New Power Labs, the Regional Ethno- Advisory Council for Corrections Services Canada, the Catalyst Community Finance Initiative, the Canadian Employee Ownership Coalition and the Tribe Network.

As a lecturer, he has travelled extensively throughout Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Africa to speak with community organizations, institutions and philanthropic foundations.

Victor has written thirteen books and is a husband and father of four brilliant children.


Vass Bednar

Advisory Board

M@st3rSCP

Vass Bednar is executive director of McMaster University’s Master of Public Policy program and frequently contributes to Canada’s policy ecosystem of possibility.

Vass writes a popular newsletter about technology and public policy called “regs to riches,” is a contributing columnist at The Globe and Mail and the host of their business and technology podcast, Lately. She is also senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), where she co-hosts the podcast “policy prompt.”

Finally, she is co-author of The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians with Denise Hearn.


Antoine Genest-Grégoire

Antoine Genest-Grégoire

Fellows

M@st3rSCP

Antoine Genest-Grégoire is a researcher and assistant professor of the Department of Taxation at Université de Sherbrooke. He is interested in tax policy, economic and social policy development.

Antoine is an assistant professor of the Department of Taxation at Université de Sherbrooke and a researcher at its Chaire en fiscalité et en finances publiques.

He studies the distributional effect of tax policy ,as well as how it is perceived by citizens, using surveys and administrative tax data. This includes work on partnering incentives in the Canadian tax system, tax literacy, motivational drivers of tax compliance, the simplicity of Canadian tax returns, capital gains taxation and perceptions of belonging to the middle class.

He has published in the National Tax Journal, the Canadian Tax Journal and Canadian Public Policy. His research had been abundantly covered in Canadian media and he provides regular comment on current tax policy issues in both French and English.

A recipient of both federal and Québec public funding for his research, Antoine holds a Ph.D. from Carleton University.

Antoine Genest-Grégoire

Karim Harji

Karim Harji

Fellows

M@st3rSCP

Karim Harji supports people and organizations to understand, measure and improve their social impact.  He is the Programme Director of the Oxford Impact Measurement Programme at the Said Business School, University of Oxford, and Managing Director at Evalysis.

Karim supports people and organizations to understand, measure and improve their social impact. He is the Programme Director of the Oxford Impact Measurement Programme at the Said Business School, University of Oxford, where he also teaches executive education courses in impact investing and innovative finance. He is also the Managing Director at Evalysis, an impact measurement and management advisory firm.

Karim has been involved in multi-stakeholder efforts to advance impact measurement with the G8, Government of Ontario, American Evaluation Association, Innoweave, Impact Management Project and the Rockefeller Foundation.

He was previously Co-Founder of Purpose Capital, the precursor to Rally Assets, where he led its research, advisory and field-building in impact investing, and Senior Manager at Social Capital Partners, advancing workforce development and cross-sector partnerships.

Karim holds an M.A. in Public Administration from Carleton University, and is completing his doctorate in impact measurement for impact investing at the University of Oxford.

Karim Harji

Audrey Jamal

Audrey Jamal

Fellows

M@st3rSCP

Audrey Jamal is Assistant Dean and Assistant Professor in the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph. Her research focuses on the role of community engagement in advancing local economic development.

Audrey is the Assistant Dean (Strategic Partnerships and Societal Impact) and an Assistant Professor in the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph.

Audrey is currently leading a national SSHRC-funded project that will explore strategies to scale community finance initiatives across Canada.

A community-engaged researcher, she focuses on the role of community engagement in advancing local economic development. Audrey’s research aims to build stronger, more resilient communities and explores everything from community wealth building and newcomer integration to downtown renewal and the sharing economy. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in sustainability, social entrepreneurship and nonprofit community leadership.

She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo (Urban Planning) and holds a M.A. (Conflict Analysis and Management) from Royal Roads University.

Audrey Jamal

Ryan Knight

Ryan Knight

Fellows

M@st3rSCP

Ryan Knight is an entrepreneur, impact investor and mentor. He is President and Co-Founder of the Afro-Caribbean Business Network (ACBN) and is passionate about supporting entrepreneurs from traditionally underrepresented communities.

Ryan has built multiple businesses over the last 10 years and is President and Co-Founder of the Afro-Caribbean Business Network, a non-profit organization created to help entrepreneurs of African and Caribbean heritage to start and grow businesses to become assets for future generations.

After starting a youth social enterprise called Detailing Knights, he launched Knighthood Academy, designed to help underestimated youth in the community develop leadership skills.

Board Member of the Peel Learning Foundation and the Mississauga Board of Trade, Ryan was named one of Brampton’s top 40 under 40, won the Business Excellence Award by the Brampton Board of Trade and the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

Ryan holds a B.B.A in accounting from Pilon School of Business and leads Ontario’s first Black Led Microloan Fund.

Ryan Knight

Thomas Marois

Thomas Marois

Fellows

M@st3rSCP

Thomas Marois is a Professor of Political Economy, Director of the Public Banking Project and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Public Banking at McMaster University. He is a leading scholar of public banks worldwide.

Thomas is Professor of Political Economy, Director of the Public Banking Project and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Public Banking for Sustainability, Inclusion, and Prosperity at McMaster University.

He is a leading scholar of public banks worldwide, focusing on public-public collaborations for the financing of green and just transitions.

Thomas is the author of the award-winning 2021 book, Public Banks: Decarbonisation, Definancialisation, and Democratisation with Cambridge University Press, which was awarded the 2023 Joan Robinson Prize by the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy. He sits on the Council of Europe Development Bank Award for Social Cohesion Jury and is an active member of the Finance in Common Summit Global Research Network.

Thomas holds a Ph.D. in Political Economy from York University.

Thomas Marois

Gillian Petit

Gillian Petit

Fellows

M@st3rSCP

Gillian Petit is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Economics at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on Canadian income and social supports.

Gillian is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Economics at the University of Calgary, where her research focuses on Canadian income and social supports spanning several areas including tax policy, municipal policy, poverty policy and access to justice.

She has advised expert panels, including the BC Basic Income Panel, published peer-reviewed journal articles, and co-wrote a book on basic income.

She serves as a member of the Affordability Action Council and is a regular contributor for IRPP. She works on intersectionality-informed, data-driven solutions to economic and social issues facing Canadians today.

She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Calgary and a J.D. from Queen’s University.

Gillian Petit

Dr. Ryan Meili

Dr. Ryan Meili

Fellows

M@st3rSCP

Dr. Ryan Meili is a family physician, tuberculosis consultant and former politician in Saskatoon with a focus on health equity and healthy public policy.

Ryan is a family physician and tuberculosis consultant in Saskatoon, SK, with a focus on health equity. A lifelong advocate for healthy public policy, he has practiced medicine in rural and Northern Saskatchewan, inner-city Saskatoon and Southern Africa.

In 2017, Ryan put the concept of politics as “medicine on a larger scale” into practice, running to become Member of the Legislative Assembly for Saskatoon Meewasin and serving as Leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party and Leader of the Official Opposition in Saskatchewan from 2018-2022.

He is the author of two books: A Healthy Society: How a focus on health can revive Canadian democracy and A Healthy Future: Lessons from the Frontlines of a Crisis.

He holds a degree in medicine from the University of Saskatchewan.

Dr. Ryan Meili

Biju Pappachan

Biju Pappachan

Fellows

M@st3rSCP

Biju Pappachan is Executive Director of POV, a charity that promotes diversity in the film and media industries. He is interested in policies that support economic inclusion and workforce development.

Biju is Executive Director of POV Film, a leading charity in the film and media production sector, where he leverages his extensive experience in driving systemic change to advance the organization’s mission of promoting economic inclusion. He has developed and launched innovative workforce development strategies that support BIPOC and diverse young creatives.

Biju’s expertise in forging sustainable solutions convening businesses, government and communities positions him as a key asset in the sector. His influence extends to various boards, task forces and fellowships, where he serves as a subject matter expert on strategy, equity and inclusion.

He is interested in policies and practices that empower working people and foster a more equitable economy.

Biju Pappachan