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
Lars Boggild, CFA
Portfolio Manager, Realize Fund I
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
Manager, Operations
Tarini Sharma
Portfolio Administrator
Investment Research, Assessment, Engagement and Reporting
Ammara Shirazi, MBA
Head, Private Investment Research
Pierre-Laurent Macridis, MSc
Senior Associate, Private Investment Research
Skye Noh
Junior Associate, Private Investment Research
Ryan Clancy, CPA, MPPAL
Head, Impact Management
Kate Gatto, MEd
Manager, Impact Management
Sohailia Saywack, MGA, MA
Senior Associate, Impact Management
Alexa Nguyen
Associate, Impact Management
Johny Maung, MBA
Manager, Community Investing and Market Building
Sila Basturk Agiroglu, MES, MSc
Senior Associate, Impact Reporting
Sahil Arora
Associate, Research
Company Operations
Ben Rabinovitch, MBA
Head, Relationship Management
Ragen Mangal, CPA, CGA
Head, Finance, Operations and Compliance
Estelle Taylor
Head, Reporting and Communications
Interns
As part of our commitment to supporting a diverse, strong impact investing sector, we regularly host interns in the summer. This program is part of the Good & Well internship program.
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
Ted Larkin
- Over 40 years’ experience at senior levels in international finance, investment and sustainability
- Former Managing Director, Onex Corporation, where he led the development of the group’s ESG/Sustainability program
- Former Managing Director, UBS Investment Bank in Toronto and London
- Volunteer instructor with Ontario Track3 Adaptive Sports Association
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. Over his career, he has worked directly with some of Canada’s most successful and well known families and philanthropists.
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 is responsible for leading the team and managing 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 an Investment Committee member for Prospera International Network of Women’s Funds and Coralus’ Venture.Fund. She is a former board member of the Responsible Investment Association.
“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.”
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
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
Head, Relationship Management
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: Advisory Committee Chair, YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka
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
“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 and client reporting, 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.”
Sahil Arora
Research Associate
Sahil supports the private investment research team through due diligence research, deal screening, and managing relationships with product issuers. In addition, he supports Rally operations team in building effective systems for business development, fundraising and personnel management.
Impact has been the central focus of Sahil’s career, previously working with Canadian and international social enterprises, development organizations and nonprofits including the World University Service of Canada, Agova and JDRF.
Credentials: Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management (Development Studies), Carleton University
Impact Outside Work: Operations Coordinator, 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
Manager of Operations
Monika oversees portfolio operations for the Custom Impact Portfolios, Realize Fund I and the Rally Funds. She joined Rally in 2023, bringing seven years of experience in the Canadian wealth management industry. With a diverse background in various operational roles, she is dedicated to developing and refining operational processes for client success.
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, MES, MSc
Senior Associate, Impact Reporting
Sila helps our research teams and our clients to understand the impact of individual investment products and full portfolios, through varied impact measurement, management and reporting tasks. She plays a key role in the continual enhancement of our impact measurement and management methodology.
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: Master in Environmental Studies (MES), York University; MSc in Energy Technologies and Management, Sabanci University; BA in Management, Bogazici University
Impact Outside Work:
- Common Approach to Impact Measurement, Member of the Board of Directors
- Canada Forum for Impact Investment and Development (CAFIID), Membership Engagement Committee and IMM Committee Member
“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, CPA, MPPAL
Head, Impact Management
As Head of Impact Management, Ryan leads the integration of social and environmental performance into our decision-making. He drives the development of impact frameworks to advance our leadership in impact measurement and management within the impact investing space.
With over 15 years of experience working across business, finance, government and nonprofits, Ryan has a deep understanding of how to align investment strategies with measurable positive outcomes. His expertise as a CPA and policy evaluator enables him to ensure that impact is measured with the same rigor as financial performance.
Ryan anchors thought leadership on impact, sustainability and ESG, helping organizations leverage their impact to drive long-term value.
Credentials: Chartered Professional Accountant; Master’s Degree in Public Policy, Administration, and Law (with a formal focus on policy and program evaluation), York University.
“We must elevate social and environmental impact to the same level of importance as financial performance if we are to create meaningful, sustainable change.”
Lars Boggild, CFA
Portfolio Manager, Realize Fund I
Lars is the Portfolio Manager for Realize Fund I, our mandate under the Social Finance Fund. Lars is responsible for private investment research, portfolio construction and strategy and portfolio management across this private market fund.
Lars brings over 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
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.”
Ragen Mangal, CPA, CGA
Head, Finance, Operations and Compliance
Ragen plays a key role at Rally, responsible for ensuring strong finance, operations and compliance policies and procedures. Ragen joined Rally in 2023 with 25 years of experience in the investment management industry, having overseen all aspects of corporate finance and reporting. He has extensive experience managing regulated investment firms’ operations, projects and compliance functions.
Credentials: Chartered Professional Accountant, Certified General Accountant, Honours BCom, Laurentian University
Skye Noh
Junior Associate, Private Investment Research
Skye helps the private investment research team to source deal flow, conduct due diligence, manage relationships with product issuers and support client engagements. Prior to joining Rally, Skye completed internships within the social innovation and finance space, most notably at InBC Investment Corp.
Credentials: BBA – Sustainable Business (joint major with concentrations in finance and operations), Simon Fraser University
Impact outside work: Young Board Director, Fora’s Rise on Boards Cohort
Alexa Nguyen
Associate, Impact Management
Alexa liaises with key stakeholders and helps implement capacity-building programs to support social finance intermediaries and social purpose organizations (SPOs) in their impact measurement and management practices. In addition, she supports the continual evolvement of our impact measurement and management methodology.
Prior to joining Rally, Alexa led the Benchmarking Service at MaRS Discovery District, providing ventures with peer-based performance insights to support data-driven decision-making. As a volunteer with Propel Impact, Alexa has supported many SPOs and social entrepreneurs with market research and impact measurement.
Credentials: BCom – Finance and Sustainability & Social Impact, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia
Impact outside work: Project Advisor, Propel Impact – pro bono consulting for SPOs across Canada
Johny Maung, MBA
Manager, Community Investing and Market Building
Johny manages the community investing strategy for Realize Fund I, our mandate under the Social Finance Fund. By building community partnerships and investments he is supporting the development of Canada’s social purpose sector and social finance market.
Over the last 12 years, Johny has worked in emerging economies on topics such as sustainable finance, economic development and climate change adaption and mitigation. Most recently, Johny worked as an investment associate for Grand Challenges Canada and as a senior associate at Convergence Blended Finance.
Credentials: MBA, INSEAD; Master of Development Studies, University of Melbourne; BBA, University of Dhaka
Sohailia Saywack, MGA, MA
Senior Associate, Impact Management
Sohailia bolsters our impact measurement and management capacity-building activities across the social finance sector by co-designing and delivering programs catered to the needs of social finance intermediaries and social purpose organizations. Prior to joining Rally in 2024, Sohailia was an Oversight Analyst for Morningstar Sustainalytics’ ESG Risk Ratings. She also brings experience supporting Canadian and international organizations with gender-lens investing, social impact planning and evaluations and climate change adaption and mitigation efforts.
Credentials: Master of Global Affairs (Specialization in Global Development), University of Toronto; Master of Arts – Sociology, Western University
Impact outside Work: Director of Economy Zero Group, consultant at Openly Inc, designing an ESG certificate program for George Brown College
I’m excited to be a part of Rally’s efforts to build capacity around impact measurement and management in the social finance sector. By enhancing these skills, organizations can feel empowered to more accurately assess how they are driving meaningful change for people and the planet and ensure capital is allocated to make a difference where it matters most.
Kate Gatto, MEd
Manager, Impact Management
Kate is dedicated to advancing the practice of impact management and measurement (IMM) among social finance intermediaries and social purpose organizations as part of our market-building work for the Social Finance Fund (SFF). She is leading partnerships and designing a comprehensive IMM program that is responsive and relevant to the variety of contexts across the Canadian impact investing market.
Kate has deep experience in the social purpose sector, including more than a decade designing, delivering and measuring social purpose programming across a variety of social issues. Prior to joining Rally, Kate was part of the ESG & Corporate Citizenship team at RBC, stewarding community investments for social impact with purpose-driven organizations across Canada and leading a suite of scholarships for equity-deserving youth.
- Credentials: Master of Education (specialization in the social and cultural contexts of education), Brock University
Tarini Sharma
Portfolio Administrator
Tarini supports our portfolio operations, working closely with key stakeholders to build resilient processes and deliver impactful results. She joined Rally in 2024, coming from the Spring Collective as an Investment Associate. Before making the transition to impact investing full time, Tarini was a buyer for large Canadian retailers, leading end-to-end business growth while embedding strategies of social impact within the organization. She also has extensive experience working with nonprofit and community-based organizations.
- Credentials: BA, McGill University (financial economics and social justice theory, with a minor in French)
- Impact Outside Work: Business Development Committee Member, Canada Forum for Impact Investment and Development (CAFIID)
“My passion lies in bridging the gap between profit and purpose – we cannot have one without the other. Working at Rally allows me to be part of growing the impact investing space at all levels and building a regenerative economy that drives sustainable growth for all.”