Propel Impact

Matthew Morvan

Research Assistant at CoBrA lab, Douglas Mental Health Institute

Montreal Propel Impact Fund Manager (2020-2022), Analyst at Esplanade Quebec (2021

"Systems thinking is about moving away from improving individual parts to improving the relations among the parts."

What was your career path?

As a student who graduated from McGill with a degree in Cognitive Science, what’s always fascinated me within social innovation is how people with good intentions so often become part of the issue they want to fix. Before Propel Impact, I was the founder of Kassiopé, a non-profit which led prevention campaigns in eye-care. After being part of Propel Impact programs, I decided to combine my interest in solving health issues with my understanding of finance to find systemic solutions to health crises.

How did Propel Impact help you grow?

I joined the Montreal Propel Impact Fund in 2020 hoping to learn what drives an investor’s financial decisions. While I did end up acquiring various hard skills ranging from measuring impact to building a discounted cash flow, I found that truly impactful decisions depended less on excel sheets than on genuinely taking the time to listen to my community and the web of different interests that drive it.

What issue do you most want to tackle in the world?

Wielding my experience in cognitive science and impact investing, I wish to expand our perception of social finance and cognitive neuroscience in order to holistically rethink the infrastructure that determines our collective mental health.