Celebrating Philanthropy: Strengthening Canada’s Culture of Philanthropy

The MPNL program hosted “Celebrating Philanthropy: Strengthening Canada’s Culture of Philanthropy” on June 26, 2025, at Carleton University. TD sponsored the event and panel. The panellists are listed below.

Panellists:

Oonagh Breen is a Professor of Law at the Sutherland School of Law, at University College Dublin, in Ireland, where she researches NGO Law, Governance, and Social Change, teaching in the area of Equity and the Law of Trusts. Oonagh has worked with the nonprofit sector, charity regulators and policymakers in a number of jurisdictions (including Ireland, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada). She specializes in the area of comparative charity regulation and nonprofit-state collaboration in public policy formation and development. Appointed by Northern Ireland’s Minister for Communities as Chair of the Independent Review of Charity Regulation in Northern Ireland in 2021, Oonagh and her Review Panel published their report in 2022, the recommendations of which were formerly accepted. A regular international speaker on comparative charity regulation matters, Oonagh has published extensively.

Liban Abokor is an MPNL Fellow, the CEO of Reimagine LABS, which empowers our sector with tools such as Navigator, and the Executive Director of Youth LEAPS, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving educational and employment outcomes for Black youth in Toronto. Liban co-founded the Foundation for Black Communities, Canada’s first-ever philanthropic foundation dedicated to supporting Black-led, -serving, and -focused nonprofits and charities. He has 20 years of experience and leadership in the areas of education, healthcare, housing, philanthropy and social service. He formerly worked as a Policy Advisor for the Ontario Ministry of Health, and led Local Economic Development Initiatives for Toronto Community Housing. Regarded as a social impact leader in Canada, Liban is a key voice in the philanthropic sector, where he works to disrupt inequitable practices and modernize the sector through a justice-based approach.

Bob Wyatt is an MPNL alum and has been the Executive Director of the Muttart Foundation and since 1989. Following a career in journalism and public relations in both the government and private sector, he worked in the voluntary sector with capacity-building organizations to build a higher profile of the sector and to encourage its greater engagement in public-policy issues. As part of the Canadian government’s Voluntary Sector Initiative, he co-chaired the Joint Regulatory Table. He also served on the boards of a variety of organizations, and regularly advises boards on good governance practices. Bob has been Executive in Residence at the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies, at Queensland University of Technology. He has received the Alberta Centennial Medal for outstanding contributions to the voluntary sector, has received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Carleton University, and in 2022, he became a Member of the Order of Canada.