IMPACT INVESTMENT TEAM IN CANADA
Staff and advisorS
Senior Leadership Team
Upkar Arora, FCPA, FCA, ICD.D
Chief Executive Officer
Kelly Gauthier, MBA
President
Marc Foran, MBA, CFA
Chief Investment Officer
Portfolio Management
Serkan Altay, CFA
Portfolio Manager, Public Investments
Karolina Iaydjieva, CFA, CAIA
Portfolio Manager, Custom Impact Portfolios
Alexandra Lee, CFA, CPA, MBA
Portfolio Manager, Custom Impact Portfolios
Chelsea Longaphy, CIM
Portfolio Manager, Custom Impact Portfolios
Monika Anand
Portfolio Administrator, Custom Impact Portfolios
Research
Ammara Shirazi, MBA
Head, Private Investment Research
Pierre-Laurent Macridis
Senior Associate, Private Investment Research
Laurel Sabur, MSc
Manager, Community Investments
Laurel Dao
Associate, Public Investment Research
Sahil Arora
Associate, Research
Ryan Clancy, CPA, MPPAL
Head, Impact Management
Sila Basturk Agiroglu
Associate, Impact Reporting
Company Operations
Ben Rabinovitch, MBA
Manager, Business Development

Ragen Mangal
Head, Finance, Operations and Compliance
Estelle Taylor
Head, Reporting and Communications
Karishma Porwal
Associate
Interns
As part of our commitment to supporting a diverse, strong impact investing sector, we regularly host interns in the summer. We had three interns from May to August 2023, supporting our private investment research, public equities research and impact reporting.
Our Advisors
Our advisors augment the work of the board. This group of respected impact investing advisors and champions are committed to helping our clients get the most out of their investments.

Alexandra Baillie
- President, Good & Well
- Co-Chair of the Board of Canadian Stage
- Vice Chair of the Art Canada Institute.
- Degrees from Queen’s University, Yale University, and Harvard Business School

Bernie Li
- Partner, Antler Canada
- Co-Founder, PURE Energies (acquired by NRG Energy)
- Advisor and Investor, Flow Water
- Advisor and Investor, Vizetto
- Investment Committee Member, The Atmospheric Fund
- Past Board Member and Treasurer, Centre for Social Innovation

Bill Young
- Founder and President, Social Capital Partners
- CEO, Hamilton Computers
- Chairman and CEO, Optel Communications
- MBA, Harvard Business School
- Member of the Order of Canada

Bruce Shewfelt
- President, Acuity Sales Inc.
- Co-Founder and Senior Advisor, Clariti Strategic Advisors Inc.
- 30+ years of sales and leadership roles in the institutional asset management and financial services space
- Board Member, Covenant House Toronto (Chair, Fundraising & Development)
- Volunteer Advisor, MaRS Discovery District

Christie Stephenson
- Executive Director, Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics, UBC Sauder School of Business
- Board Member, UBC Staff Pension Plan
- Board Member, Vancity financial cooperative
- Past Manager, ESG Evaluation & Research, NEI Investments

Ken McKinnon
- Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Corporate Banking at TD Securities
- Experienced in originating, arranging and syndicating large debt transactions and project financings
- Lead on TD Securities’ Black Experience Committee
- Board Member, Fred Victor

Komal Bhasin
- Founder, Insayva Inc.
- Equity, diversity, inclusion and workplace mental health strategist, speaker, and certified coach, with a particular concentration in mental health and racial inclusion
- Over 20 years of experience in public policy, strategic planning and senior management
- Board member, Alzheimer’s Society of Ontario

Michael Sacke
- 20+ years of financial services experience, advising nonprofit organizations and charities to develop alternative funding strategies to create long-term sustainability

Nicholas Parker
- Chairman, Parker Venture Management
- Board Chairman, Drashta Ventures
- Advisory Committee Member, GRE&T Centre, Alectra
- Co-Chairman, Centre for Mindfulness Studies
- Distinguished Fellow, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

Nilofer Ahmed
- Vice President of Sales, Marketing & Insights at Motif FoodWorks, a food technology company focused on plant-based food solutions
- Past Project Leader at Boston Consulting Group
- Co-founder of Fire Ox Foods, plant-based frozen food company
- Mentor with EverQuote’s inaugural leadership development program
- Big Sister with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program

Sarah Doyle
- Chief of Staff to the Director of UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
- Past Director of Policy and Research at the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship
- Past Senior Policy Advisor, MaRS Discovery District
- Board member, The Neighbourhood Group

Upkar Arora, FCPA, FCA, ICD.D
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Compliance Officer
As CEO, Upkar is responsible for setting the overall direction, strategy and vision of Rally, and nurturing the right culture, environment and values to enable our people to flourish and deliver impact in alignment with our mission. Upkar brings sophisticated expertise in business, capital markets and finance from working with companies of all sizes, at different stages, sectors and geographies. Over the past 35 years, he has been active in investing, financing, operating and advising companies, using innovative investment structures (debt, equity and hybrid) in the public and private markets.
Upkar is an FCPA, FCA and holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Upkar serves or has served on the boards of several organizations such as Meridian Credit Union, Vancity Community Investment Bank, University of Waterloo and Metrolinx. He is a BMW Foundation Global Responsible Leader and also teaches at the University of Waterloo.

Kelly Gauthier, MBA
President
As President, Kelly runs Rally. She is responsible for Rally’s day-to-day operations and client relationships. She leads the team and manages the business to enable Rally to grow. Kelly anchors Rally’s impact thought leadership both internally and externally.
For two decades she has helped clients create impactful portfolios. She has worked with a range of asset owners to design and implement their approach to responsible and impact investing, strategically aligning their investment and portfolio strategies with positive outcomes for people and the planet. Before joining Rally in 2012, Kelly was with Mercer in the responsible investing team. Kelly is a board member of the Responsible Investment Association and an Investment Committee member for SheEO’s Venture.Fund.
“I know capital markets have the power to solve today’s toughest global challenges. We are out of time and excuses – we must do better for our planet and for ourselves.”

Marc Foran, MBA, CFA
Chief Investment Officer
Marc is responsible for Rally’s investment management services. He leads Rally’s multi-asset portfolio strategies and investments and is portfolio manager of the Rally Funds. He ensures our investment process is structured to deliver strong impact and financial performance.
With two decades of experience in the financial services industry, Marc has a diverse background in managing global funds and portfolios consisting of direct and fund investments in public equities, bonds, alternative investment strategies and assets, and private equity investments. Prior to Rally, Marc was a Senior Portfolio Manager with British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, responsible for managing the firm’s $1.5 billion Global Thematic Fund.
“I’ve seen first hand the ever-increasing need to make meaningful impact on a global scale. I joined Rally to be a part of a leading, innovative and dedicated team that can effect such change.”

Marian Carroll
Manager, Operations and Compliance
Marian ensures Rally is operating in compliance with all relevant regulations. Marian has two decades of experience in the Canadian wealth management industry. Her experience includes providing investment management and investment consulting services to private and institutional clients and acting as the Chief Compliance Officer of Portfolio Manager and Exempt Market Dealer firms. She has worked at Royal Bank of Canada and The Toronto-Dominion Bank as well as Bull Capital Management Inc. and Ernst & Young Investment Advisers Inc.
“Rally Assets is dedicated to positive change and doing the right thing. What a treat to be part of it!”

Karolina Iaydjieva, CFA, CAIA
Portfolio Manager, Custom Impact Portfolios
Karolina leads engagements with Rally’s clients, including design, implementation, measurement and management of impact investment mandates. She serves as Portfolio Manager for clients with a Custom Impact Portfolio. Karolina’s previous impact investing experience includes working on the Sustainable Investing team at Addenda Capital, a large institutional asset management firm, as well as being an investment consultant for HNW families with impact investing mandates.
Credentials: BCom Honours in Investment Management, McGill University; CFA Charterholder; CAIA Charterholder; SASB FSA credential holder
Impact Outside Work: Chapter Leader, Toronto Chapter, Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy
Karolina is on parental leave.

Chelsea Longaphy, CIM
Portfolio Manager, Custom Impact Portfolios
Chelsea leads engagements with Rally’s clients, including design, implementation, measurement and management of impact investment mandates. She serves as Portfolio Manager for clients with a Custom Impact Portfolio. Before joining Rally in 2017, Chelsea worked as a consultant to help social enterprises leverage impact investing, sold community bonds at the Centre for Social Innovation and worked in ESG investment research at Corporate Knights Capital.
Credentials: BCom, McGill University; Chartered Investment Manager (CIM); Sustainable Investment Professional Certificate (SIPC)
Impact Outside Work: Board member, Greenest City

Ben Rabinovitch, MBA
Manager, Business Development
Ben helps to grow Rally’s business by supporting the team to develop and strengthen relationships with investors, advisors and partners from the financial services and impact investing sectors. Over the last 10 years, Ben has worked across the impact sector in social services, health and environmental organizations, with experience in fundraising, relationship management and operations. Most recently, he led the operations for Canada’s first Social Impact Bond in the healthcare sector.
Credentials: MBA, Schulich School of Business, York University and BSc Conservation Biology, University of Guelph
Impact Outside Work: Board member, Cecil Community Centre; Investment Committee member, Canadian Hadassah-WIZO.
Ben is on parental leave.

Laurel Sabur, MSc
Manager, Community Investments
Laurel serves as the key anchor to community for Rally Assets to build the right partnerships required for community investing and market building. She works closely with the research and portfolio management teams to support sourcing place-based investment opportunities. Formerly, as the private investment research manager here, Laurel conducted due diligence on private equity and debt investment opportunities for various impact investors. Laurel has an interdisciplinary background, with a decade spent in financial services, corporate social responsibility and community development. She has worked with governments, nonprofits and corporations in Canada, Jamaica, Ghana and Kenya. She is also a social entrepreneur.
Credentials: MSc, Applied Mathematics (Finance), University of Western Ontario; BSc, Actuarial Science, University of West Indies; Community Economic Development Certificate, Simon Fraser University
Impact Outside Work: Laurel provides pro bono strategic support to Africa Centre, a pan-African non-profit organization in western Canada.
“Life is filled with many choices; a choice that has a win-win for our planet and all inhabitants is a choice worth making. Investing with intentional impact repairs and sustains the beauty of our planet and the conditions required to support future generations.”

Ammara Shirazi, MBA
Head, Private Investment Research
Ammara leads private investment research, including sourcing new opportunities and conducting due diligence. Prior to joining Rally, Ammara was an Investment Analyst with the Transition to Scale team at Grand Challenges Canada and was involved in all aspects of the investment process. Before making the switch to impact investing, Ammara spent five years working at Canadian financial institutions.
Credentials: MBA, Schulich School of Business, York University
Impact Outside Work: Board member, Access Community Capital Fund
“Traditional investing has not contributed to solutions that address pressing social and environmental issues. I joined Rally Assets to help asset owners and asset managers take a holistic approach to moving capital into investments that create a positive impact.”

Estelle Taylor
Head, Reporting and Communications
Estelle is responsible for our public communications, working to ensure we engage key audiences with compelling communications, and therefore grow the impact investing world as well as our place in it. She has spent almost the whole of her 25-year career strengthening values-based organizations, in the environmental, international development and social services fields.
Credentials: Bachelor of Journalism, Carleton University
Impact outside Work: Chair, Withrow Park Farmers’ Market
“My Rally teammates are demonstrating how we all can invest in alignment with our values, and so create large positive impact. I love sharing their work and communicating that message.”

Serkan Altay, CFA
Portfolio Manager, Public Investments
Serkan is a Portfolio Manager for Rally’s public investments and is responsible for investment research, strategy development, and idea generation in addition to portfolio management duties across all our public investment mandates. Serkan has 15 years of investment experience with asset management firms both overseas and in Canada, where he was an Associate Portfolio Manager at BCI. Serkan was most recently the Director of Investments for Victoria Foundation where he was responsible for managing the primary endowment portfolio and played a lead role in launching the foundation’s impact investing strategy.
Credentials: BCom Honours in Finance from Concordia University; CFA Charterholder
After having the chance to work with Rally Assets on the client side, I was impressed with the team’s investment process and commitment to furthering the impact investing ecosystem in Canada. I am excited to join a diverse group of individuals aiming to help clients use their capital to create positive social and environmental impact while generating a financial return.

Sahil Arora
Research Associate
Sahil undertakes policy and market research for various clients and Rally teams. He has experience in the Canadian impact space, working with various social enterprises and international development organizations such as the World University Service of Canada and Agova.
Credentials: Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management, Carleton University
Impact Outside Work: Board Member, Shukrana Foundation

Laurel Dao
Public Investment Research Associate
Laurel supports our investment team, researching public investments, analysing financial information and identifying investment opportunities that fit into our impact themes. Laurel’s experience includes working on emerging markets and Canadian equities mandates at BCI and Fiera Capital.
Credentials: BBA in Finance from Simon Fraser University

Monika Anand
Portfolio Administrator, Custom Impact Portfolio
Monika helps the Impact Portfolio Managers with client service and administration. She joined Rally in 2023, with seven years of experience working in the Canadian wealth management industry at a big bank as well as an independent asset management firm. Having had the opportunity to work with a diverse group of HNW retail and institutional clients in the public markets, she is excited to join the impact investing space and work with Rally’s clients.
Credentials: BSc. in Biotechnology, University of Toronto
“I joined Rally to do my part in helping expand the impact made with capital. There is a lot of learning and growth needed in this space and I am inspired to join that effort.”

Sila Basturk Agiroglu
Associate, Impact Reporting
Sila supports the impact measurement and reporting of Rally’s investments. Sila joined Rally in 2023 with five years of experience in climate finance, project finance and equity research at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and an asset management company focused on emerging markets. Sila’s previous data analysis experience includes working on national ecological footprint and biocapacity accounts.
Credentials: BA in Management, Bogazici University; MSc in Energy Technologies and Management, Sabanci University
“Being part of Rally Assets gives me a space to be a part of the solution to address the pressing global problems. I am excited to contribute to the journey of our clients and the wider impact investing ecosystem in Canada with robust impact reporting practices.”

Ryan Clancy
Head, Impact Management
Ryan provides leadership and expertise in impact measurement and management across client portfolios. As both an external and internal impact ambassador, Ryan helps drive improvements in impact measurement and management within the Canadian impact investing sector.
Over the past decade, Ryan has influenced resource allocation decisions using impact data, designed impact management frameworks for prominent organizations and co-developed impact measurement frameworks for dozens of social purpose organizations. Prior to joining Rally in 2023, Ryan served as the Associate Director of Social Finance at LIFT Impact Partners, where he helped social purpose organizations to develop social finance strategies and impact measurement frameworks.
Credentials: Chartered Professional Accountant; Master’s Degree in Public Policy, Administration, and Law (with a formal focus on policy and program evaluation), York University.
“In a world grappling with complex social, economic and environmental problems, impact measurement empowers us to invest wisely, making a real difference in the lives of people, and the health of our planet.”

Lars Boggild, CFA
Portfolio Manager, Realize Fund I
Lars is the incoming Portfolio Manager for Realize Fund I, our mandate under the Social Finance Fund. Working closely with our CIO, Lars is responsible for private investment research, portfolio construction and strategy, and will actively contribute to portfolio management across this private market strategy.
Lars brings a decade of experience to this role from both the demand and supply sides of the impact investing market. He’s built products and raised meaningful capital, and also been an investor allocating and deploying capital. Lars was most recently an Impact Investment Manager at Vancity, where he was responsible for managing a diverse portfolio of investments in Canadian impact-focused funds.
Credentials: BA Honours in Environment, Sustainability, and Society and Political Science from Dalhousie University, Graduate Diploma in Social Innovation from University of Waterloo, CFA Charterholder
“I am excited by the potential of Realize Fund I, and Rally’s work as a whole, to contribute to a vibrant Canadian sector delivering more socially just and environmentally sustainable outcomes for communities across the country.”
Alexandra Lee, CFA, CPA, MBA
Portfolio Manager, Custom Impact Portfolios
Alexandra leads engagements with Rally’s clients, including design, implementation, measurement, and management of impact investment mandates. She serves as Portfolio Manager for clients with a Custom Impact Portfolio. Alexandra brings over two decades of investing experience in private equity and leverage finance, working at leading banking and non-banking financial institutions as well as being a consultant to small and medium-sized organizations to find ways to become more impact oriented.
Credentials: Executive Education, Impact Investing Programme, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford; MBA, McMaster University; CFA Charterholder; Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant
Impact Outside Work: Financial literacy volunteer with CPA Canada; board member, The Tyndale Foundation
Karishma Porwal
Associate
Karishma Porwal is an independent contractor working with Rally on the operationalization on the Social Finance Fund. Karishma has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the Ivey School of Business and a Master’s in Sustainability Leadership from Arizona State University. Her previous roles include working as a communications specialist at the Responsible Investment Association.
Pierre-Laurent Macridis, MSc
Senior Associate, Private Investment Research
Pierre-Laurent conducts private investment research for client portfolios, including deal sourcing, due diligence and post-investment monitoring activities. In addition, he anchors Rally Asset’s presence in Québec, supporting our client engagement and sector-building efforts in the province.
Prior to joining Rally in 2023, Pierre-Laurent served as Associate Principal at Fondaction where he invested in emerging impact fund managers, supported the creation of the firm’s large-scale impact asset management company and managed its underlying portfolio of six impact funds.
Credentials: MSc – Renewable Resources, McGill University and BCom – Economics, McGill University
Impact outside work:
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- Reséau Capital – New Generation committee, VP Outreach, Diversity & inclusion, and sustainable finance
- Montreal Propel Impact Fund, founding investment committee member
“I’m thrilled to be able to support Canada’s growing impact investing sector. By helping bridge the gap between the supply and demand of impact capital when it matters most, I’ll be supporting emerging impact managers as they attempt to tackle social and environmental issues at scale.”