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

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

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.

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. “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.

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.

“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 Aatif and the management team.”

John emphasizes, “I don’t want Northpine to do what is easy. I want to remain ambitious, dynamic, and never stop caring.”

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

Aatif grew up in Clarenville, Newfoundland & Labrador, and has global education and career experiences across various sectors and focus areas.

He co-founded Salaam B’y, an anti-racism education initiative, with his wife, Dr. Nazia Sharfuddin, a health equity physician advocate. Salaam B’y is based on a documentary film about his life as a Muslim Newfoundlander, which has gained international recognition, including screenings at over 20 film festivals and The Queen’s Commonwealth Points of Light Award. Aatif has also received the Memorial University Alumni Tribute Horizon Award and the GlobalNL Community Champion Award. 

His career has included roles at Startup Edmonton, Blackberry, researching olive farmers in Palestine, malaria prevention education in Sierra Leone, leading Engineers Without Borders chapters in Canada, developing international science policy and diplomacy with the British High Commission, and leading innovation in a multinational electric utility company.

Aatif holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and a Master of Technology Management from Memorial University, and a Master of Social Policy & Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Douglas Allison is the Chief Financial 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

Zach translates community insight into board-ready, outcomes-driven investments for Scarborough. He monitors a live portfolio through light-touch quarterly updates, milestone tracking, and executive dashboards; convenes nonprofits, agencies, and employers to align efforts and enable warm referrals; and grounds recommendations in field reality via site visits, program audits, and participant listening. Zachary 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, consulting, and insurance where he implemented AI-enabled solutions and operational improvements. He also designs learning experiences for mental-health and ADHD communities as a Learning Experience Architect. 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.