Exclusively for PFC Members In Person

Meeting the Moment: Member Gathering and Policy Roundtable in Toronto

8 May 2025 / Registration Open

In Canada, the political landscape is shifting. At the same time, the new administration in the US is creating complex political challenges for Canada, affecting our economy, sovereignty, and security.  

Foundations are looking to make informed decisions at this turbulent time, in consideration of long-term resilience, economic stability, and social impact.  

Join us in person to confer in a facilitated discussion on how we can together mitigate economic risks, sustain prosperity, exchange ideas, find solutions, and collaborate on strategic philanthropy that strengthens Canada’s economic future and safeguards our sovereignty.  

Participants will discuss and learn more about: 

  • The context of US President Trump’s new policies 
  • Their impact on philanthropic leaders in the US and Canada 
  • The intersection with the Canadian political environment 
  • Actions they can take 

At this first gathering of our Meeting the Moment initiative a week after the federal election, we’ll engage in facilitated group discussions and cap the evening off with a networking reception, where canapes and beverages will be served.  

Speakers

Andre Pawan Vashist, Director of Learning and Collaboration, PFC 

Jean-Marc Mangin, President & CEO, PFC 

Lisa Lalande, CEO, Century Initiative  

André Pawan Vashist

Director, Learning & Collaboration

A multi award winning social innovator, André has 20 years of experience in community wellbeing and transformations and is a facilitator of multi-stakeholder collaborations that are working towards social and ecological justice.

At his core, he is a dedicated family member with two children, a lover of the land with joy for being outdoors, a poet who expresses openly about life’s journey, and a collaborationist who currently sits on the Board of Libro Credit Union and is Advisor to Carolinian Canada’s conservation finance project.

Co-designing solutions to shared challenges is where André likes to infuse his magic by weaving identities with a healing centered approach - connecting the inner and outer work as we attempt transformations to solve societal challenges. Watch this TEDx Talk to learn more about André.

André is currently located on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabek (Ah-nish-in-a-bek), Haudenosaunee (Ho-den-no-show-nee), Lūnaapéewak (Len-ahpay- wuk) and Chonnonton (Chun-ongk-ton) Nations, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum - also known as London, Ontario, and along the river, Deshkan Ziibi.   

The three Indigenous Nations that are neighbours to London, Ontario are the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation; Oneida Nation of the Thames; and the Munsee-Delaware Nation who all continue to live as sovereign Nations with individual and unique languages, cultures and customs.      

(This Land Acknowledgement is a first step towards reconciliation. Awareness means nothing without action. He continues to learn and take steps towards decolonizing practices, including being informed about the traditional lands, Treaties, history, and cultures of the Indigenous people across Turtle Island.)    

Jean-Marc Mangin

President & CEO

Jean-Marc has been President & CEO of Philanthropic Foundations Canada since 2019. He currently sits on the Government of Canada’s Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector.

Prior to PFC, Jean-Marc led a renewal process of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the largest national organization of Canadian researchers and scholars as its Executive Director.

He also has had a long career serving in international development with the UN, NGOs, and the Canadian Government in responding to global humanitarian disasters and development challenges. As CUSO Executive Director, he led a merger with VSO-Canada, and he was the first Executive Director of Global Call for Climate Action, a cross-sector civil society initiative supporting transformational change to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Born in Manitoba, raised in Quebec, and educated in BC and Ontario, he holds an MA in Political Sciences and Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto.

The land that Jean-Marc lives, learns and works on has been home to many Indigenous communities throughout time, and is the traditional unceded territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin People.