Audited Financial Statements 2025

Audited Financial Statements 2024

Audited Financial Statements 2023

Audited Financial Statements 2022

We back the organizations proving it's possible, with the evidence to show how they’re making it happen.


Northpine is a private family foundation focused on improving outcomes for underserved communities across Canada. We work with a diverse portfolio of nonprofits, charities and socially-minded businesses — organizations with people-first principles, ambitious approaches, and a genuine commitment to learning. 

We don't fund from a distance. We take the time to build real relationships with the organizations we back and deliberately seek out those that others might consider too risky or too unconventional. We believe the people closest to the issues are best placed to solve them, and we back them with everything they need to go further than they could alone.

Northpine is a private family foundation focused on improving outcomes for underserved communities across Canada. We work with a diverse portfolio of nonprofits, charities and socially-minded businesses — organizations with people-first principles, ambitious approaches, and a genuine commitment to learning.

We don't fund from a distance. We take the time to build real relationships with the organizations we back and deliberately seek out those that others might consider too risky or too unconventional. We believe the people closest to the issues are best placed to solve them, and we back them with everything they need to go further than they could alone.

We back organizations that are accountable to, and trusted by, the communities they serve. That community trust is our signal, and reason, to back them boldly with the freedom to take innovative approaches to create lasting change.

Trust

As the ones closest to the issues and the people they serve, organizations define what success looks like. Together, we choose clear, demonstrable indicators to track progress, and treat every insight as an opportunity to adapt, improve and serve communities better.

Rigour

We back organizations whose work is designed to outlast our investment and outgrow its current reach, whether that means influencing policy, shifting how funders respond, proving a model others can follow, or simply helping more people in more places.

Continuity

You know what meaningful change looks like for your community better than we do. We start by understanding your work, your context, and what real progress means for the people you serve.

You define success

Together we identify the clearest, most honest way to track change over time. The evidence doesn't need to be complex, but it does need to be clear and demonstrable.

We choose what to measure

Reporting at Northpine is collaborative. Together, we use what we learn to adapt and improve, because every insight is an opportunity to serve communities more effectively.

We learn together

How We Track & Measure Outcomes

John and Cathy Phillips founded the Northpine Foundation over twenty years ago.

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John is a retired angel investor, and Cathy is a retired psychologist who specialized in helping cancer patients manage stress and live meaningfully.

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After recently acquiring unanticipated wealth due to their early investment in Shopify, the couple felt a great sense of responsibility to use this wealth strategically as a force for good and redirected Northpine for that purpose.

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They hired a diverse team tasked to make riskier investments that lead to sustainable and scalable impact in the lives of selected cohorts who face significant barriers in Canada.

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“We chose to keep our focus within Canada because there’s a lot to do right here. Many people find themselves in circumstances where they don’t stand a chance,” John says. “We want to reach the people that are hard to reach,” Cathy adds.

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Married 50 years, John and Cathy’s shared values and complementary styles guide Northpine’s culture and style of operation. Cathy emphasizes kindness and trust as root values to allow the foundation and the people it serves to thrive. John stresses the need to be innovative and strategic: to take risks and to find effective ways of measuring impact.

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“Anyone who knows John well knows how hard and diligently he works behind the scenes at everything he does,” Cathy says. “He is the silent architect behind it all and in retirement can now focus on using his considerable experience and knowledge to guide the team.” John emphasizes, “I don’t want Northpine to do what is easy. I want to remain ambitious, dynamic, and never stop caring.”

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John and Cathy continue to play an active role in the management and direction of Northpine.

John and Cathy Phillips

Abdulla Daoud is an Impact Manager at the Northpine Foundation, focused on advancing practical solutions that improve refugee integration and economic mobility. 

A leader in the refugee-serving sector with lived experience, Abdulla brings a multidisciplinary academic background in statistics, mathematics, international affairs, and cybersecurity. He applies this background to strengthen how refugee communities are served, using data, policy analysis, systems thinking, and technology to design more effective and responsive solutions. 

Abdulla is also involved in teaching refugee policy at McGill University, where he helps connect frontline realities with broader policy and systems-level analysis.

Abdulla Daoud

Bayan Khatib is a co-founder of the Syrian Canadian Foundation, dedicated to empowering newcomers and people of diverse backgrounds, and fostering cross-cultural connections in Canada. Serving as the organization’s Executive Director for three years, she helped build SCF from the ground up and pioneered innovative programs for newcomers.

Bayan co-founded the annual Syria Film Festival in Toronto, giving voice to the struggles and hopes of the Syrian people. During the 2011 Syrian uprising, Bayan led a multinational media campaign and spoke at local and international events and conferences about the struggle for freedom in Syria and the ensuing humanitarian crisis.Bayan is a skilled writer, having translated “Just Five Minutes: Nine Years in the Prisons of Syria,” a memoir of a female political prisoner, and authored a series of short stories, and opinion pieces in The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.

Today, at The Northpine Foundation, Bayan continues her commitment to refugee and marginalized communities, to make a lasting impact.

Bayan Khatib

Danielle is a passionate advocate and community leader dedicated to advancing social justice for individuals impacted by incarceration and marginalization. As a Community Programs and Engagement Coordinator at the University of British Columbia, she developed and led the Women Expanding Boundaries (W.E.B.) programs, supporting women and gender-diverse individuals both in custody and in the community. Drawing on her lived experience, Danielle brings a powerful and informed voice to her work, combining empathy with strategic insight.


She has contributed as an advisor and advocate with national organizations, helping shape policy, strengthen partnerships, and support community-driven research. Danielle has delivered keynote presentations and facilitated workshops that translate complex issues into accessible, meaningful dialogue. With her strong relationship-building and program development skills, she is committed to creating inclusive spaces and driving systemic change.

Danielle Merasty

Impact Manager - Formerly Incarcerated Persons

Douglas Allison is the Chief Executive Officer at the Northpine Foundation, with over 20 years of leadership experience in sports, arts, and entertainment. Doug has played a pivotal role in driving success, sustainability and growth at two of Canada’s most iconic organizations: the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

At the CFL, Doug helped transform the league into a dynamic, profitable sporting enterprise. Later, as CFO at TIFF, he guided the festival through a period of global recognition and remarkable financial stability. He also held roles with the Ottawa Senators and Ernst & Young, one of the world’s leading professional accounting firms, where he worked in Toronto, Canada and London, England.

Outside of work, Doug co-founded and leads the Jack Lake Film Festival, a volunteer-led annual event supporting the North Kawartha Food Bank. He is also a devoted husband, father, and hockey coach for his son’s youth team.

Douglas Allison

Mark has lived in Holyrood, NL since 1982. He holds a B.Sc. from Memorial University, an Advanced Aquaculture Diploma from the Fisheries and Marine Institute, and an Applied Business Information Technology Graduate Diploma from the College of the North Atlantic. Mark has also completed certificates in Leadership and Sustainable Business Strategy through Harvard University.

His work experience includes a 20+ year military career as a commissioned officer in the Canadian Forces, and owner/operator of several small businesses. Previously he was the Executive Director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Aquaculture Industry Association, a member-based organization with a mandate to facilitate and promote commercial development of aquaculture.Mark is married to Rhonda (nee Tulk) and is a proud father to two beautiful children, Sam and Anna.

Mark Lane

Impact Director - Newfoundland and Labrador

Naomi (she/her), is a Kenyan and first-generation Canadian, who moved about ten years ago and lives on Treaty 1 territory - Winnipeg.

Before Northpine, she was a Community Investment Manager at United Way Winnipeg, managing a portfolio of United Way-funded agencies, a capital grant, and an organizational effectiveness grant, and building trusting relationships with agency partners and other non-profits in Winnipeg. Previously, she worked in the settlement sector supporting refugee families.

Outside of Northpine, Naomi spends her time volunteering in the community, learning French and reading books.

Naomi Gichungu

Neel is from Scarborough and is passionate about sharing the region’s strengths with the world. With a deep commitment to access and opportunity his career has included leadership roles in education, banking, and community development.As co-founder of the Rotman OnBoard Fellowship, Neel has supported over 100 non-profit boards. He also created Canada’s first course on Black Entrepreneurship with CBC Dragon Wes Hall to address systemic anti-Black racism.

As Dean of Student Experience & Wellbeing at UTSC, Neel helped secure the largest single investment to establish the Sam Ibrahim Centre for Inclusive Excellence—the first university building named after a Muslim and Arab business leader.

Neel has forged collaborations with organizations like The Black North Initiative, McKinsey & Company, and Toronto’s Poverty Reduction Office. He holds a BCom from TMU and completed his Executive Education in Social Innovation Design at UPenn, where he earned a teaching fellowship for his work on sneaker culture in low-income communities.In his free time, Neel enjoys family outings at the Scarborough Bluffs and exploring Canada’s most authentic food scene in the ENDS.

Neel Joshi

Roseanne brings a strong commitment to community well-being and local leadership to her work with Northpine Foundation. With experience supporting community-driven organizations across Newfoundland and Labrador, she is passionate about supporting those doing important work on the ground and fostering meaningful, sustainable change.

A graduate of Memorial University, Roseanne values lifelong learning and believes that kindness, empathy, and community-led decision-making are essential to building stronger, more resilient communities.

Roseanne Leonard

Impact Manager - Newfoundland and Labrador

Sammia Malik has 20+ years of diverse experience spanning for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, excelling in operational and program management, with a focus on scalable, sustainable and impactful change models. She has contributed to programs led by Oxfam, Care, USAID, DFATD, EU, UNHCR, Procter and Gamble, and Unilever, and has extensive experience in social and economic impact consulting with FMCG companies and humanitarian response organizations, to bring micro to macro level change.

Over the past ten years, Sammia has held pivotal roles within management teams, driving organizational alignment through strategic vision. Her experience spans diverse countries, including Liberia, Jordan, Turkey, Canada, and Pakistan, giving her a strong understanding and adaptability for varied professional environments.

Sammia Malik

Sara A. Tessier is a social justice advocate with lived experience, and a decade dedicated to working on behalf of some of the most marginalized, victimized, criminalized, and institutionalized men, women, and youth in Canada.She has worked with the John Howard Society, Elizabeth Fry Mainland Nova Scotia, and Coverdale Justice Society, supporting those leaving provincial jails during the Covid-19 pandemic. Sara also served as an Outreach Worker for the G.A.T.E. program and a Peer Mentor with Coverdale.

Her influence extends to advisory roles and board memberships, including the African Nova Scotian Affairs Mobilizing Partnership Program, Scientific Advisory Committee for the Nurse Practitioner Research Project with Wellness Within/IWK/ WAGE, YWCA’s Trafficking & Exploitation Services System LGBTQ+ cultural group and the CAEFS Lived Experience Committee. Sara volunteers at Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law, Saint Mary’s University Criminology Department, and the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies assisting the ongoing educational and professional development of students and professors, staff and members and Correctional Service of Canada contractors and volunteers. She has testified before Senate Committees on prisoners’ human rights and legislative changes.

Sara has written articles and spoken on panels about prison issues, carceral law, advocacy, human rights, sexual violence, reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ topics, and mental health.

Sara Tessier

Impact Director - Formerly Incarcerated Persons

Viren lives and works in Ottawa. He has spent much of his professional life in Canada working with non-profits, philanthropy, and mission-driven organizations to build brand reputation, deliver impact, and leverage the power of story.

Viren has a over a decade of experience in marketing, advertising and communications for diverse clients, from multinational corporations to grassroots social organizations. He has collaborated on marketing and communications campaigns for worldwide audiences, with clients and teams across Asia, North America and Europe, building a strong understanding of diverse cultural nuances and market dynamics.

Viren Fernandes

Zach helps develop investment recommendations informed by community data and program evidence for Scarborough. He assists in monitoring a live portfolio through light-touch quarterly updates, milestone tracking, and executive dashboard – grounding recommendations in field reality via site visits, program audits, and participant listening.

Zach strengthens partner data practice by simplifying collection, maintaining shared tracking, and analyzing trends to surface the drivers of outcomes.Before Northpine, he worked across research, counselling, and insurance where he implemented AI-enabled solutions and operational improvements.

A University of Toronto Scarborough graduate, Zach brings curiosity, humility, and follow-through to help partners turn strategic intent into measurable progress and community-responsive results.

Zachary Zarowsky

The People Behind Northpine

Formerly Incarcerated Persons

Newfoundland and Labrador

Refugees

Scarborough

Winnipeg

Youth In and From Care

Making school work, and keeping the door to graduation open (Cradle-to-Career Strategy - Stage 2)

Pathways into work that lasts, and households that hold (Cradle-to-Career Strategy - Stage 3)

The Northpine Foundation provides support to organizations who measurably improve outcomes for underserved communities in Canada.

Explore the six communities where Northpine invests in outcomes-focused work.

News, updates and stories from Northpine, our investee organizations and our communities.

A sustainable and fulfilling life, for every person in Canada.