Cheralyn Chok

Cheralyn Chok (she/her) is the Executive Director and co-founder of Propel Impact.

Since the inception of Propel Impact in 2019, she has led the organization to train hundreds of young leaders across Canada, developing the programs she would have wanted to take part in years ago. Social and environmental impact have always been core to her work; Cheralyn brings entrepreneurial experience from founding and operating a zero-waste necktie company for seven years (Miley Cyrus bought one in 2015!) and was an early employee at social ventures ChopValue and Awake Labs.

Outside of Propel, Cheralyn serves on the board of the Tribe Network and as an advisory board member of the University of Victoria Impact Investing Hub. She holds a BCom from the University of British Columbia and was named a BCBusiness Top 30 Under 30 in 2022 and one of The Peak's Emerging Leaders in 2024.

Tristan Smyth

Tristan Smyth (they/them) is the Managing Director of Propel Impact and resides on unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin Territory with their spouse and dog, Grogu.

A recognized nonbinary advocate working at the intersection of DEI and ESG, Tristan previously served in executive roles with several Indigenous organizations, and, in recognition of their work, was named by Future of Good as one of Canada’s top 21 Young Impact Leaders in 2019 and Forty Under 40 by the Ottawa Business Journal in 2023.

Outside of Propel, they lead a graduate seminar on responsible and impact investing for Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration.
Beyond work, Tristan is an advisor to Boann Social Impact and the Common Approach to Impact Measurement. Additionally, they serve on the boards of directors for the Table of Impact Investment Practitioners (TIIP), Giyak Mishkawzid Shkagmikwe Corporation (GMS), and Living Wage Canada.

Keshiv Kaushal

Keshiv Kaushal (he/him) is the Director of Impact Investing at Propel Impact.

Keshiv is a graduate of Queen’s University with a BComm. (Hons.) in Finance. He has held various roles in impact investing and community economic development over the last 5 years as a consultant as well as at SVX and the County of Lennox & Addington. Keshiv also co-founded the Kingston Propel Impact Fund and has been engaged in multiple community capital initiatives in Eastern Ontario. Keshiv has worked across the impact investing ecosystem, evaluating social enterprise loans and venture investments, working with organizations to design funds and build strategies, consulting directly with impact-driven ventures, running investment readiness programming for social enterprises, and raising capital for funds and impact investment products (like Manitoba’s first SIB focused on Indigenous youth in the justice system). Keshiv has successfully passed his Level I CFA exam and holds his CSC and SASB FSA credentials.

Olivia Charlebois

Olivia Charlebois (she/her) is the Director, Impact Consulting at Propel Impact.

Olivia holds a MSc in Management, specializing in Strategy, from HEC Montréal, as well as a BA in International development & African studies from McGill University. She has held various program management, project management and consulting roles for development finance institutions, funds, foundations, social enterprises and non-profit organizations. Olivia has advised leadership teams on strategy, spearheaded transformative projects, influenced organizational direction, and successfully managed innovative development projects. Within the global impact space, she’s managed various client relationships, including TELUS Pollinator Fund, Vancity Community Investment Bank, the Houssian Foundation, the Government of Quebec, the Eastern and Southern African Trade & Development Bank (TDB) and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID). Olivia has also designed and led capacity building in impact management systems for development finance institutions in emerging economies. Olivia was named one of Future of Good's Young Leaders to Watch in 2024.

Daius Steiner

Daius Steiner (they/them) is the Program Associate at Propel Impact.

Daius participated in Propel Impact’s Summer Analyst Program, where they worked at RADIUS SFU as an Impact Analyst in 2022 and Vancity Savings Credit Union in 2023. Daius is a recent graduate of Simon Fraser University’s Sustainable Business Joint Major Program (BBA), where they were awarded the Sustainability Leader prize in 2023.

They supported the advancement of sustainability in business education by contributing the development of Simon Fraser University’s first mandatory lower-division business sustainability course, BUS 275: Business in a Sustainable Society, as a Research Assistant.

Additionally, Daius advocated for integrating sustainability into business schools across Canada as a Curriculum Change Coordinator at Re_Generation.

Mariana Martinez Rubio

Mariana Martinez Rubio (she/her) is the Manager of Programs & Advisory at Propel Impact. Her roots in Mexico and South Africa guide her work at the intersection of financial inclusion, socio-emotional well-being, and systemic change. She has served various organizations in social innovation, impact investing, and economic development to promote the participation of women, youth, and Indigenous communities.

Her work has included supporting gender-lens investing initiatives, advancing impact-driven investment strategies, and strengthening organizational design. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.) from the University of British Columbia and is a Trauma of Money-certified practitioner.

Outside of work, you will usually find her flipping through her family’s recipe books in search of her next culinary challenge. For her, food is a way to connect with her culture and build community away from home.

Caroline von Hirschberg

A female founder, impact investor, business leader, international citizen and mother, Caroline von Hirschberg (she/her) brings these multiple, complementary perspectives to co-leading Spring, a leading catalyst in Canada for early stage entrepreneurs and investors.

Spring’s vision is an equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem across Canada, in which ALL founders are supported to raise the capital they need to grow their businesses alongside their impact. Spring embeds  collaboration and inclusion in their education programs and events for entrepreneurs and investors, to catalyze capital from a diverse community of funders to purpose-driven founders from underrepresented communities.

Prior to Spring, Caroline’s experience included building an internationally acclaimed social enterprise developing renewable energy solutions for off-grid households, working for UNICEF in Laos and growing CPG brands in the UK and Ireland. As such, she brings Spring and its global community her deep understanding of the interplay between impact and profit at both a strategic and operational level, firsthand knowledge of testing and iterating both product and business model, and how to build effective partnerships for maximum impact.

Outside of Spring, Caroline is the Chair of the Propel Impact Board, mother of a threenager and training for her first Whistler GranFondo bike ride.

Bhoomika Saxena

Bhoomika Saxena (she/her) is an Associate on BlackRock’s Institutional Clients team, where she builds and manages relationships with Canadian institutional investors, including public and private pension funds, foundations, endowments, and asset managers. In her role, she navigates a wide spectrum of investment strategies—from public to private investment asset classes—and champions sustainable investment strategies where possible. Committed to delivering tailored, high-impact solutions aligned with each client’s objectives, she collaborates with some of the industry’s investment leaders, not only in Canada but globally.

Being brought up across India, Kenya, and Indonesia, Bhoomika has developed a unique perspective and deep commitment to social and environmental impact. That combined with her academic foundation with a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Data Analytics from McGill University, reinforced her focus on the intersection of finance and sustainability.
Before joining BlackRock, Bhoomika co-founded Montreal Propel Impact Fund, Quebec’s first student-led, early-stage impact investing fund. She remains actively involved in the parent nonprofit organization and now serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors for Propel Impact.

Outside of her professional commitments, Bhoomika enjoys playing badminton and exploring new culinary experiences.

Luan Tolosa

Luan Tolosa (she/her) is passionate about using her strategic mindset, entrepreneurial experience, and corporate background accumulated over the past 15 years to empower impact-driven founders, investors, and innovators to make a positive impact in the world.

As the Chief Growth Officer at Spring, she is responsible for leading growth and strategy across Spring’s business units including Spring, Spring Collective, Spring Impact Capital, and Propel Impact. Outside of Spring, Luan is an ecosystem builder, angel investor, mom, and recovering entrepreneur. Luan went through her own entrepreneurial journey as a startup founder with her first company SEWT, a made to measure women’s clothing company that she exited in 2022. She draws on her experience with later stage organizations through her time in management consulting and spent the formative years of her career working in operations within the Commercial Real Estate industry.

Luan continues to advise and consult with organizations that align with her definition of impact. She also holds a 4th Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo; she has competed and coached at the provincial and national levels. She earned her Bachelor’s of Commerce with Honours from the University of Manitoba, a Masters in Business Administration from Queen’s University, and a Certificate in Social Impact from Queen’s University.

Justin Sweeney

Justin Sweeney (he/him) is a social entrepreneur and social finance professional based in New Brunswick. As a community and social finance consultant, Justin provides fractional admin services to impact investment funds as well as financial modeling services to organizations building real estate projects. In his role at Kaléidoscope Social Impact, Justin led the creation of two new investment programs that have seeded dozens of social enterprises and hundreds of affordable housing units across the province of New Brunswick.

Justin has worked full-time in community and social finance since 2018 and specializes in the alternative investment areas of private debt and real estate. In addition to his role on the Propel Impact Board, Justin sits on the Investment Advisory Committee for Realize Capital Partners, the Board of Directors for TREC/Tapestry Community Capital, and the Community Granting Committee for the Greater Saint John Community Foundation. Justin is an advocate of creating supportive policies, open-source knowledge hubs, and better administrative software to help place-based social finance projects channel billions into social innovations and community assets.

He lives with his wife in rural Kings County, New Brunswick, raising their two young children.

Cheralyn Chok

Cheralyn Chok (she/her) is the Executive Director and co-founder of Propel Impact.
Since the inception of Propel Impact in 2019, she has led the organization to train hundreds of young leaders across Canada, developing the programs she would have wanted to take part in years ago. Social and environmental impact have always been core to her work; Cheralyn brings entrepreneurial experience from founding and operating a zero-waste necktie company for seven years (Miley Cyrus bought one in 2015!) and was an early employee at social ventures ChopValue and Awake Labs.

Outside of Propel, Cheralyn serves on the board of the Tribe Network and as an advisory board member of the University of Victoria Impact Investing Hub. She holds a BCom from the University of British Columbia and was named a BCBusiness Top 30 Under 30 in 2022 and one of The Peak's Emerging Leaders in 2024.