conference speakers

Lucy Bernholz is a Senior Research Scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society and Director of the Digital Civil Society Lab. She has been a Visiting Scholar at The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and a Fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center, the Hybrid Reality Institute, and the New America Foundation. She is the author of numerous articles and books, including the annual Blueprint Series on Philanthropy and the Social Economy, the 2010 publication Disrupting Philanthropy, and her 2004 book Creating Philanthropic Capital Markets: The Deliberate Evolution. She is a co-editor of Philanthropy in Democratic Societies, to be published in August 2016 by the University of Chicago Press. She writes extensively on philanthropy, technology, and policy on her award winning blog, philanthropy2173.com.

She has a bachelors of arts degree in History from Yale University, where she played field hockey and captained the lacrosse team, and a masters of arts degree and a doctoral degree from Stanford University.

Tris leads NPC's development of new strategies, partnerships and initiatives to help transform the social sector to focus on and deliver greater impact, working with partners both in the UK and internationally. All of this is fundamentally based on collective action, as the challenges we face require systems change, not organisational success. Tris helped initiate the Inspiring Impact programme which aims to embed good impact practice across the UK charity sector by 2022. He is also engaged in international efforts to advance an impact focus in the social sector, as co-Chair of Social Value International, as a member of the Leap of Reason Ambassadors Community, and as a speaker at international conferences in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Andrew Means is Head of beyond.uptake the philanthropic and civic innovation arm of Uptake and Co-Founder at The Impact Lab. Andrew is dedicated to creating a more effective and efficient social sector by developing data tools that help organizations improve their impact. Andrew works with a wide-range of nonprofit, foundation, and government agency partners on issues of strategy and data.

Additionally, Andrew is founder of Data Analysts for Social Good, a professional organization for individuals interested in how data, research, and analytics are changing the social sector. Through this work Andrew hosts webinars, classes, and an annual two-day conference attracting hundreds of leaders from around the country.

Prior to founding The Impact Lab, Andrew worked as Associate Director at the Center for Data Science & Public Policy at The University of Chicago; Manager, Director of Impact Measurement & Data Storytelling at Groupon; and Director of Research & Analytics at the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. In all these roles Andrew has helped develop teams dedicated to using data to further the impact of the social sector.

Andrew is an internationally recognized speaker on issues of data and philanthropy speaking at conferences around the world. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Ingenuity Inc. and is an advisor to Markets for Good.

Robyn has over 20 years of experience in Alberta’s social and health system focusing on policy development and analysis, quality improvement, knowledge mobilization, and data system innovation.

Appointed in September 2012 as President and CEO, Robyn is responsible for strategic and operational leadership of PolicyWise for Children & Families.  Robyn oversees PolicyWise’ generation and mobilization of evidence for child and family well-being through a collaborative cross-sector approach between government, academia, and the community. Robyn leads the team responsible for the analysis of linked administrative data from all child and youth serving ministries through the Child and Youth Data Laboratory.

She provides strategic advisory support to provincial initiatives such as the Early Childhood Development Research Strategy, Alberta Mentoring Partnership, Building an Inclusive Education System, Addictions and Mental Health Strategy and the Maternal Newborn Youth and Child Strategic Clinical Network.

Robyn holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Calgary, an MBA from the University of Alberta, and an adjunct appointment in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta.

Mariana Catz brings over 20 years of transformational leadership nationally and internationally in the not for profit, public and private sectors to her role as Chief Operating Officer at the Ontario Trillium Foundation. She was instrumental in creating OTF's new granting methodology and strategy launched in 2015, and she has positioned the Foundation as a leader in Open Data.

As Chief Operating Officer, Mariana enhances corporate organizational processes and infrastructure, while overseeing the Foundation’s budget allocation, and supporting the Board’s fiduciary responsibilities. Her role encompasses quality assurance and risk management, information management and performance measurement. Mariana drives change while ensuring operations and project management go hand-in-hand.

She began her career at the Ontario Ministry of Health as Policy Associate in the Long-Term Care Division with the Special Advisor to the Minister. She was the founding Chief Information Officer at Baycrest Geriatric Center and the Center for Addiction and Mental Health. She was appointed Chief Advisor for eHealth for Health Canada in Ottawa, which led to the creation of Canada Health Infoway. She went on to become Infoway’s first Vice-President, Knowledge Management based in Montreal where she also led the Business Intelligence and Privacy portfolios.

Mariana is an engaging speaker and is passionate about the topic of Driving Change and Innovation in organizations, Impact Measurement and Digital First.  She holds a Masters in Health Science from the University of Toronto and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation.

Michael Lenczner has over 15 years of experience working at the intersection of technology and the nonprofit sector. He splits his time between serving as the CEO of Ajah, a Montreal-based company that develops online tools for fundraisers, and being the Director of Powered by Data, a nonprofit initiative launched by Ajah that helps the nonprofit sector use data to increase its impact.

In 2003, Michael founded Île Sans Fil, a community wireless group now operating over 500 public hotspots in the Montreal area. Working in open data since 2005, he has co-founded national, provincial and municipal lobbying groups such as Montréal Ouvert, as well as coordinated numerous hackathons on issues such as sustainability, corruption and municipal services. He co-founded Ajah in 2010 and in 2013, Ajah created Powered by Data. Shortly after, Powered by Data was recognized by New Philanthropy Capital as a top innovation in global philanthropy.

Michael is a frequent collaborator on academic-community partnerships and has published peer-reviewed articles in the areas of epidemiology and public policy. He serves on several nonprofit boards and advisory groups related to technology, democracy, and civil-society. He has also spoken at over 100 conferences across North America and Europe.