Material Change Fellows gathered in Toronto for two days of immersive programming, conversation, and community. Our fourth gathering in this city, it marked a milestone moment for Fellows as they deepen their investor journeys.
Thursday, May 28
We kicked off the day with our first speaker, Victor Reinoso, for a Fireside Chat, sharing his personal experience as an investor and the frameworks he has developed to evaluate opportunities today.
John Simpkins followed with a talk tracing his personal journey, from entrepreneurship into law, and what that winding path taught him about what it takes to become an investor, something he summed up simply: “The Material Change Institute is unlocking access and opportunity for the next generation of investors, founders, and operators. The Fellows I encountered at the two-day Material Change Summit were talented, thoughtful, driven leaders poised to become savvy, pathbreaking investors. Material Change Institute is already reshaping the investment world and the best is yet to come.”
Friday, May 29
The second day opened with a Fireside Chat with Sonia Sennik, CEO of Creative Destruction Lab (CDL). The conversation explored how Sonia’s engineering background and systems-level thinking have shaped her approach to building CDL’s complex, global ecosystem. She leads with curiosity and openness and is willing to share what she is figuring out as well as what she has mastered.
Nicole LeBlanc brought nearly two decades of venture expertise to a talk on corporate venture capital, offering fellows a practitioner’s view of how CVCs operate and what founders and investors alike should understand about working with them. As a Partner at Woven Capital, Toyota’s $1.6B global venture platform focused on climate and deep tech, Nicole brought domain depth and real-world perspective to the discussion with Material Change Fellows.
After lunch, Nathan Shedroff led an afternoon session on the values that make companies truly great and successful, moving beyond financial returns and functional performance to explore the fuller picture of what enduring businesses are built on. It’s a lens that resonates deeply with the Material Change Fellowship model, where Fellows don’t just spot opportunity but invest with intention.
The day closed with a dynamic group discussion before Fellows gathered for happy hour and continued connection.
Jesse Posey, Material Change Class IV Fellow, captures why Fellows keep coming back: “Material Change’s Summit in Toronto always feels like a new beginning. Whether it’s your first time or third, the people, the content, and the energy fill you with a sense of potential and hope for the future and for what is possible. While never being quite the same each year, it remains an event that I look forward to every time.”
For Class V Fellow Jaih Hunter-Hill, the event and the year’s program left a lasting impression: “Material Change gave me the space to see myself as a part of the larger investment sector in a constructive, exploratory and growth-focused space. Toronto was an incredibly important time to reunite and close out what has been an incredible year of connection, learning, and taking risks.”
And for Class VI Fellow Sheila Nabanja, four days in Toronto at the Creative Destruction Lab Super Session and Material Change Institute Summit crystallized a question that cuts to the heart of the fellowship’s mission: “Who decides which problems get funded, and which futures get built?”