Community-driven

Meet Common Approach’s Board of Directors

A central premise of Common Approach’s work is that impact measurement should be community-driven. We believe impact measurement should be influenced by the people who are most affected. This includes a commitment to building impact measurement standards that place power with social purpose organizations and those they serve rather than focusing primarily on the impact measurement needs of foundations, grantmakers and impact investors.

The Common Approach Board of Directors is the primary governing body of the nonprofit organization. The Board oversees the work of the Secretariat staff. Board members are volunteers who serve renewable three-year terms.

Board members are recruited from the social purpose and impact measurement communities and aim to be representative of those communities. The mandate of the Common Approach Board of Directors is to:

Govern the evolution of the Common Approach Standards.
Steward the establishment, promotion, and adoption of flexible standards of impact measurement in Canada.
Ensure that the Common Approach is resourced as needed to fulfill its vision.
Uphold the guiding principles and processes of Common Approach.

Learn more about Common Approach’s governance structure and guiding principles.

Meet the members of the Common Impact Board of Directors:

Béatrice Alain

Béatrice is the Executive Director of Chantier Quebec, an organization that promotes and develops the social economy in Québec. She has a background in economics and political science. Béatrice is Francophone.

Anouk Bertner

Anouk is the Director of Operations at Future of Good. She has a background in corporate sustainability reporting and social enterprise for newcomers. Anouk is based in Ottawa, Canada.

Charles Buchanan

Charles is CEO of Technology Helps, an organization that supports technology for social imapct. He is based in Western Canada.

Tamsin Chen

Tamsin is the Social Impact Manager for the International Foundation for Valuing Impacts. Tamsin is from Singapore and Australia and has worked in the U.S. and Haiti. She holds a Master of Public Policy from Duke University, and formerly directed research and methodology at nonprofit rating agencies.

Melek De-Wint

>Melek is an independent consultant, with expertise in non-profit management and impact measurement. Melek is Turkish and British and throughout her career she had the opportunity to work in and with a wide range of countries and cultures. Melek is based in Quebec City.

Dan Kershaw

Dan is Executive Director at Furniture Bank, a social and environmental enterprise-focused charity. Kershaw’s expertise lies in digital marketing, communications, and innovative, impactful collaboration models for for-profit and social purpose organizations. He is based in Ontario and Nova Scotia, Canada.

Shivam Kishor

As Senior Advisor, Digital Transformation to the United Nations Environment Program, Shivam is co-leading global efforts to advance environmental action through strategic innovation and enablement of digital technologies. He is a long-term advisor, mentor, and investor to impact-tech startups. He holds a Master’s in Sustainability from Harvard University.

Zahra Qureshi

Zahra is a consultant at Optinum, an accounting firm designed for the unique challenges faced by social enterprises and non-profits, and the founder of Social Venture Circuit, which connects social entrepreneurs across Canada. Zahra is located in southern Ontario and has a background in financial management, fundraising and social enterprise strategy.

Mike Ronchka

Mike leads social impact measurement for Sun Life Canada. His expertise is in designing and implementing measurement systems as well as ESG Reporting. Mike is based in Southern Ontario.

Kate Ruff

Kate is Executive Director of Common Approach and an Associate Professor of Accounting at the Sprott School of Business. Kate’s expertise is in impact measurement and qualitative research. She is based in Ottawa, Canada.

Bryn Sadownik

Bryn is the Senior Manager of Research and Evaluation for Vancity Community Foundation and founder of the Demonstrating Value Initiative, which supports measurement capacity in community-based organizations. Bryn is located in Vancouver and has a background in policy analysis, impact, economic modelling.

Jenelle Sobey

Jenelle is the co-founder and CEO of Riddl, an impact measurement technology platform. She has experience in building and growing technology for impact. Jenelle is based in London, UK.

Varun Srivatsan

Varun is the Advisor on Indigenous Access to Capital Policy at NRCan. He has a background in consulting, economic & financial policy, impact investing and microfinance. He is from Singapore and India, and is currently based in Ottawa, Canada.

Heather Tanaka

Heather is an Investment Principal at InBC Investment Corp., where she is responsible for sourcing and executing on investments that have positive social and environmental impacts. Heather is based in Vancouver, BC.

Mike Toye

Mike is the Executive Director of Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNET), a national association of community organizations focused on building sustainable, equitable and inclusive economies. Mike is located in rural southern Québec and has a background in policy analysis, project management, research and administration.

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Updated July 17, 2023

Published March 8, 2023

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