Speakers & Panelists
CMI Vancouver 2026 features a dynamic roster of moderators, panelists, workshop facilitators and speakers
Steven Johnston
With extensive experience in senior leadership roles within the non-profit and social enterprise sectors, Steve has actively contributed to addressing community challenges in Toronto’s Regent Park and Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Additionally, contributing to policy work with the City of Vancouver focused on community economic development. At CIRES, Steve’s role involves comprehensive leadership, encompassing organizational management, strategic planning, growth initiatives, government relations, and community stewardship. His commitment to community-oriented work is rooted in the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to thrive. Steve advocates for inclusive, thriving communities that harness the untapped potential of their members. Social enterprises and employment programs empower individuals, allowing them to contribute their talents, participate in the broader economy, and secure a sustainable future for themselves and their families.
Sean Condon is the Director of Social and Economic Innovation with Vancity Community Foundation and has extensive experience in community economic development and nonprofit management. He oversees social impact and climate resilience programming with the Foundation.
Prior to his current role, he was the Managing Director of 312 Main, a VCF-led social and economic innovation centre in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Supporting more than 80 impact organizations, Sean helped ensure the space met its impact goals while being financially sustainable.
In addition, Sean was the founder of Megaphone, a magazine sold on the streets of Vancouver by people experiencing poverty. Sean helped build Megaphone into an award-winning social enterprise that worked with more than 300 community members every year and put more than $100,000 annually into the pockets of its vendors.
Matthew Smedley is the Executive Director and CEO of Mission Possible, a Vancouver-based community economic development agency that uses employment and social enterprise to create pathways out of poverty and exclusion.
Over nearly two decades with the organization, Matthew has helped build and scale Mission Possible’s social enterprises, MP Maintenance and MP Neighbours, demonstrating how market-based business models can generate both sustainable revenue and meaningful social outcomes.
Under his leadership, Mission Possible has expanded its reach, strengthened its earned-revenue model, and developed partnerships across the corporate, philanthropic, and public sectors. Today, its social enterprises provide paid transitional employment, skills development, and coaching for people who have historically faced significant barriers to the workforce.
Matthew holds a Graduate Certificate in Community Economic Development from Simon Fraser University, and is an ordained minister, certified leadership coach, and father of four. When he isn’t navigating social enterprise or parenting challenges, you can find him exploring the backroads of British Columbia on his motorcycle.
With 20 years of experience in working community economic development, Johanna is deeply committed to ensuring an inclusive economy for all.
She is passionate about creating meaningful employment opportunities, recognizing the profound value of work that extends far beyond income. Johanna began her career in the Downtown Eastside at the Potluck Café Society and further contributed to social enterprise development at the Vancity Community Foundation. Most recently, she served as the Director of EMBERS Eastside Works, a program she founded to champion equitable and inclusive employment services for individuals facing barriers to employment. She currently continues her work in community economic development as the Director of Exchange Inner City at Community Impact Real Estate Society where she focuses on social enterprise and social finance initiatives.
Dylan Goggs is the founder and Board Chair of CleanStart Property Services, a Vancouver social enterprise he has spent sixteen years building and operating. CleanStart provides property services in social housing, healthcare and other complex environments while creating employment for people who face barriers to work.
In 2026, CleanStart and Just Like Family Home Care Canada launched CleanStart Franchising Inc., a joint venture to take the model nationally through locally owned businesses.
Dylan’s work is focused on coaching franchisees and other entrepreneurs to build strong, profitable businesses that create good jobs and measurable social outcomes.
Lilian Chau
Lilian is an immigrant, single mother, women of colour, and the CEO of Entre Nous Femmes Housing Society, one of Canada’s first women-led community housing organizations that began 40 years ago by a small group of single mother's who wanted to improve their lives and other single mothers and their families.
Today, Lilian is leading the transformation of the Society to provide more affordable homes for women, single-parents, seniors, people with disabilities, and indigenous and other equity-deserving groups in the Metro Vancouver region. Under her leadership, the Society has doubled, with over 500 affordable rental homes under construction, and over 1100 affordable homes in development.
Lilian has extensive experience in urban and community planning, public engagement, affordable housing development, social finance, and social-purpose real estate development. She has experience working with communities, and municipalities and government agencies, First Nations, non-profit housing organizations, and financial and philanthropic sectors. She is a Board Director for the Hiyám ta Sḵwxwú7mesh Housing Society with the Squamish Nation, BC Non-Profit Housing Association, and The Law Foundation of BC. Recently, Lilian joined Weave Community Capital as a member of their Investment Committee. In 2026, Lilian was awarded the YWCA Women of Distinction Award for her leadership in the non-profit sector. She is a Registered Professional Planner and resides with her family on the beautiful traditional and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and the səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
Kristi Riviat
Kristi Rivait (KR) brings 20 years of leadership experience in the non-profit sector, including 10+ years as an Executive Director.
Kristi is an expert at operational transformation, diversifying revenues, and partnerships that create systems-level change. Kristi co-founded Scale Collaborative to support the empowerment of the impact sector. She inspires leaders on how to find the right revenue for their missions, shifting their internal culture from a scarcity approach to abundance thinking. Inside the Scale family of organizations, KR is the Director of Partnerships and Programs and the Board President of Thrive Impact Fund.
Elizabeth Chick-Blount
Elizabeth is the Chief Executive Officer of Buy Social Canada. In this role Elizabeth coordinates and connects Buy Social Canada’s work with public, institutional, and private sector purchasers to design and implement Social Procurement and Community Benefit Agreement policies and practices.
Elizabeth has a degree in Law from the University of Cambridge and is a graduate of Year Here, a post-graduate program in Social Innovation and Social Enterprise. Elizabeth’s experience spans study in Law and legal research, frontline roles in communities, consulting for the public sector, and working with social enterprises in the UK and Canada. Elizabeth understands the importance of ensuring cross-sector collaboration and community co-creation in the work needed to build healthy, thriving and accessible communities.
Passionate about creating social change and supporting community-building, sustainability, equity, and reconciliation, Emma uses her skills as a journalist and communicator to foster dialogue and raise awareness about innovative solutions to today’s pressing issues.
As Partnerships and Strategic Communications Manager at Buy Social Canada, Emma highlights the possibilities of a social value marketplace both online and through community collaboration. She spearheads content creation, resource development, and event hosting, and manages consulting projects to promote community wealth building and assess market capacity.
Nicole Bradbury
Nicole hails from St. John's, Newfoundland, and is now based in Vancouver, BC. Her entire career has been in the investment industry, after working for traditional large firms, Merrill Lynch and Alliance Capital, in London, Geneva and New York, she pivoted to sustainable VC in 2008 by joining Renewal Funds.
As a Renewal Partner, Nicole sourced and supported early and growth-stage sustainable food and consumer product businesses and was responsible for the organization’s operations and finance functions. After a hiatus to support her family, last year Nicole joined the Thrive Impact Fund to deploy flexible capital to BC impact-driven organizations.
Bob Prenovost is the Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Propellor Advisors, where he enables mission-driven organizations to translate strategy into measurable results.
He brings extensive expertise in project management, risk management, social purpose real estate, and social enterprise development. Over his career, Bob has held prominent leadership positions, including Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Neighbourhood Houses of BC (ANHBC), Executive Director of bc211, and Vice President roles at both Counterpoint Educational Ventures and Boston Pizza International. A certified professional holding PMP, CRM, and LEED® AP designations, Bob combines deep private sector experience with a passionate commitment to capacity-building and social impact across public, private, and non-profit sectors.
Leads fundraising and capital deployment for Weave, former Venture Partner and Investment Manager at NorthX Climate Tech, managed +$400 M in cumulative assets under management, and holds an MBA from the University of Oxford.
Emily Mercy
Emily Mercy is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Goparity Canada, leading the organization's investor relations, strategic partnerships, and community growth.
She has over six years of experience in investor relations and impact storytelling. Emily also is a Steering Committee member of the Canadian Coalition for Community Capital and represents for-profit impact investment institutions in federal policy conversations.
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We respectfully acknowledge that CMI Vancouver 2026 will take place on the unceded, traditional and ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh).