Table of Impact Investment Practitioners has launched its flagship initiative Knowledge Exchange, a national, practitioner-led community of practice designed to strengthen impact and social finance fund management across Canada.

Knowledge Exchange was created in response to a long-standing gap identified by fund managers themselves: the absence of a confidential, peer-driven space to openly discuss the operational, governance, and deployment realities of running an impact investment fund in Canada. The program brings fund managers together through structured peer consults, cohort-wide discussions, and synthesis of emerging practices from the field. 

The pilot cohort represents a range of geographies, fund sizes, stages of funds’ maturity, structures, and impact themes. More than half of the participants are women and gender-diverse fund managers with a strong representation from equity-deserving communities. 

From pilot to shared infrastructure

Knowledge Exchange began in late 2025 with a pilot cohort of 36 fund managers. Early participation and candid practitioner engagement quickly confirmed both the demand for and the value of a trusted, peer-led learning environment grounded in real-world practice rather than theory.

The pilot is supported by the Government of Canada’s Social Finance Fund wholesalers: Boann, Fonds de finance social CAP Finance, and Realize Capital Partners, who have come together as founding sponsors of Knowledge Exchange. Their support reflects shared priorities across the ecosystem: strengthening fund manager practice and performance, building durable field infrastructure, and expanding access to peer learning for emerging and underrepresented managers across different regions and investment theses. 

When intermediaries learn and strengthen, more capital moves — and moves better — to the communities that need it most. Peer exchange across intermediary types builds the entire ecosystem’s capacity to attract new capital and deploy it effectively. No single actor has the full picture, but together we are strengthening the infrastructure that connects capital to community impact across Canada.

Dana Granofsky, Chief of Operations Officer, Boann

Supporting TIIP’s Knowledge Exchange aligns with our commitment to strengthening underrepresented fund managers and ensuring that Québec-based practitioners are connected into national learning infrastructure. While this is an early stage, we see real value in creating space for Québec-operating funds to learn alongside peers from across the country. Building these bridges is essential to a more inclusive and resilient ecosystem.

Bernard Ndour, CEO, Fonds de finance social CAP Finance

Realize Capital Partners is supporting TIIP’s Knowledge Exchange as part of our commitment to strengthening new and emerging impact investment fund managers, including those coming from  underrepresented regions and communities across Canada. The program provides a practitioner-led space for fund managers to share operational challenges, learn from peers, and build the skills and confidence needed to deploy capital effectively in complex markets.

Through this support, we are  contributing to greater capacity within Canada’s social finance market, while helping reduce deployment risk over time.

Johny Maung, Manager, Community Investing and Market Building, Realize Capital Partners

 

Early themes emerging from the field

Knowledge Exchange is a practitioner-led, neutral space, with TIIP serving as convenor and steward of the learning process. It is serving as both a capacity-building infrastructure for fund managers, and a source of real-time intelligence into impact investment ecosystem opportunities and systemic challenges, shaping TIIP’s advocacy agenda and field coordination priorities. 

The themes representing common pressure points in fund manager practice are captured in monthly State of Practice briefs for participating fund managers. Examples include:

  • navigating fundraising beyond an initial close
  • managing liquidity, timing, and negative carry in slow deployment environments
  • balancing mission integrity while scaling or engaging institutional capital
  • designing impact measurement approaches that are rigorous yet feasible
  • evolving governance as funds transition from grassroots to more formal structures

TIIP is also committed to sharing synthesized, anonymized insights from Knowledge Exchange publicly to support shared understanding across the impact investment ecosystem. Over time, this will build a real-time picture of emerging practices, challenges, and opportunities in impact fund management. See the latest edition of TIIP Public State of Practice Brief. 

What’s next

  • Knowledge Exchange pilot continues until May 2026 with bi-monthly peer sessions
  • TIIP will provide ongoing synthesis of emerging practices and field-level signals
  • Enrollment opens up to TIIP members on a rolling basis in the summer of 2026. Learn more about becoming a member.
  • French-language stream will launch in early 2027

TIIP is actively exploring additional partnerships to ensure the program remains accessible to emerging and underrepresented fund managers and continues to serve as credible, real-time field infrastructure for practitioners, funders, and policymakers.

Fund managers, ecosystem partners, and institutions interested in learning more about Knowledge Exchange or contributing to its evolution are invited to connect with TIIP.