Ebenezer Arthur

Ebenezer Arthur is a Venture Partner at BKR Capital, where he leads ecosystem building. He has served on the Advisory Board and Selection Committee of BKR Capital since its inception.

He is also the Founder and Managing Director of Wangara Green Ventures, an impact investment company in Ghana, with catalytic capital from the World Bank, the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) and the Ghana Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF). Wangara aims to catalyse the growth of the green economy in Africa by providing green businesses with patient capital and technical assistance.

He has more than 15 years of experience in impact investing, climate finance and enterprise support, management consulting, and financial services. He co-founded Innohub, one of the leading business accelerators in Ghana, which has managed several programs for development agencies, including the Ghana Climate Venture Facility and the Ghana Tech Lab, funded by the World Bank.

Ebenezer previously worked with EY, where he provided advisory services to companies across West Africa in various industries, including the financial services, insurance, and extractive industries. He also worked in the financial services industry and started his banking career with Zenith Bank.

He has an MBA and a Certificate in Climate Change (Financial Risks and Opportunities) from Imperial College London. He also holds the Responsible Investment Professional Certification from the Responsible Investment Association of Canada and is an alumnus of the Oxford Impact Investing Program. His first degree was in Computer Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Ebenezer has attended the Small-Cap SME Mezzanine Finance Masterclass (DGGF) and the SME Ventures Fund Manager Training Program (IFC and I&P). He is a certified trainer of the ANDE Investment Manager Training program which covers climate and gender lens investing. He has trained investment managers in both East and West Africa.

Ebenezer is passionate about building impact investing ecosystems. In the pursuit of this, he served on the Fund of Funds Working Group of Impact Investing Ghana (IIGh) and the Executive Committee of the Ghana Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (GVCA). He currently serves on the Business Development Committee of the Canada Forum for Impact Investing and International Development (CAFIID).

He is a 2019 Aspen Ideas Fellow and participated in the 2023 Climate Leadership Program by the Atlantic Council.

Dennis Zaidi

Specializing in integration of ESG and RI in private equity, venture capital and alternative / private markets investments.

Sean Sirois

Demeter Advisors provides consulting services to capital markets participants such as institutional asset managers and asset owners, corporations and other fiduciaries. Consulting services are offered on questions of Governance, Sustainable Investment, Impact Investment and Capital Origination supporting Innovation and Disruptor activities in the sustainable investment field. Demeter also helps to improve communication strategies and presentation materials in order to better connect with clients and stakeholders.

Dr. Philip Ng

Philip has over 30 years of experience in direct investments and private equity fund investments in China and North Asia. He is passionate about leveraging data and new technologies to build sustainable businesses. In addition, he strives to make a positive impact on society. He volunteers for zero carbon and circular economy projects and promotes STEM/STEAM education in his free time.

Karim Harji

Karim Harji brings over a decade of international experience in impact measurement and impact investing. He is the Managing Director at Evalysis, an impact measurement advisory firm, and Programme Director of the Oxford Impact Measurement Programme at the Said Business School, University of Oxford. He was previously on the Board of the Responsible Investment Association.

Karim works with impact investors to describe, evaluate, and improve their social impact. He was the Co-Chair of the Impact Measurement Task Force convened by the Government of Ontario, a Member of the Impact Measurement Working Group of the G8 Social Impact Investment Task Force, and an Advisor to the Rockefeller Foundation on social impact measurement.

Karim was previously a co-founder and Director at Purpose Capital (now Rally Assets), where he established and led its Impact Investment Advisory practice. He has authored widely-cited reports on impact investing, including “State of the Nation: Impact Investing in Canada” and “Accelerating Impact: Achievements, Challenges and What’s Next in Building the Impact Investing Industry”.

Marie-Josee Privyk, CFA, RIPC, IFRS FSA Credential

FinComm provides companies with ESG reporting information and advisory services that meet their specific needs and circumstances so that they can take action with clarity and confidence. With FinComm, companies produce comparable and reliable ESG disclosures that meet investors’ and other stakeholders’ information needs. They reduce their risk of greenwashing and improve their reputation by better aligning their words with their actions.

Profile:
I have built a career in capital markets – from sell-side analyst and head of research to director of investor relations and sustainable development for a publicly listed company, to ESG and sustainability reporting consultant and ESG data management practitioner – which uniquely positions me at the nexus of companies and investors.

Hugessen

Hugessen Consulting helps Boards make the right decisions on executive compensation and its governance, within an environment of heightened complexity and scrutiny. We enable boards to make independent decisions to: Align pay with corporate strategy and business plans; review compensation policies, pay levels, and plan design; evaluate CEO pay and performance and goal-setting; and conduct independent assessments of corporate performance.

Coro Strandberg

Coro Strandberg is a thought leader and advisor on embedding sustainability into the marketplace. She specializes in corporate sustainability, sustainability governance, social finance, banking and insurance and socially responsible investment. She has 25-years experience in this work from her days as director and Chair of Vancity Credit Union, which created the first SRI fund in Canada shortly before Coro joined the Board. She was a founding trustee of Ethical Funds Inc., Canada’s most comprehensive family of socially responsible mutual funds.

Clients hire Coro for advice on sustainable and impact investment strategies and social finance and social insurance business models. Community Foundations of Canada, for example, hired Coro to help them launch their responsible investment education and engagement program for community foundations. She authored much of the original Canadian research on impact investing, socially responsible investment, and sustainability governance which she posts on her website along with her other social finance publications.

Coro was a member of Canada’s National Advisory Board to the Social Impact Investment Taskforce established by the G8. Currently she is an advisory panel member to the Office of the Auditor General’s Sustainable Development Commissioner and on the board of BC Lotteries Corporation.

Coro was recognized as the top CSR consultant by Canada’s Clean50 in 2015 for her impact.