Aatif Baskanderi is CEO of The Northpine Foundation, one of the most giving philanthropy foundations in Canada that supports ventures to achieve scalable outcomes for underserved and underinvested communities in Canada. Their portfolios include refugees, formerly incarcerated persons, Scarborough, and rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Northpine deploys approximately $50M annually through gifts, grants, loans, equity, and blended finance while building deep relationships with its portfolio organizations as they pursue their ventures.

He is the Co-Founder of Salaam B’y, an anti-racism education initiative built with his wife and health equity physician advocate, Dr. Nazia Sharfuddin, based on a documentary film about his life growing up as a Muslim Newfoundlander. The film has toured internationally, including with the United Nations, screened at over 20 film festivals, won multiple awards and Aatif’s interfaith efforts were recognized by Queen Elizabeth II by being the third Canadian to be awarded Her Majesty The Queen’s Commonwealth Points of Light Award.

He was a Fellow with the Energy Futures Lab and a Member of the Next 30 Possibility Panel in Alberta. Other notable awards include the Memorial University Alumni Tribute Horizon Award and inaugural GlobalNL Community Champion Award. Prior to his current role, Aatif was the Executive Director of Startup Edmonton, the city’s early stage tech entrepreneur incubator. His previous work has spanned from designing smartphones at Blackberry, researching olive farmers in Palestine, malaria prevention education in Sierra Leone, leading Engineers Without Borders chapters around Canada, developing international science policy and diplomacy with the British High Commission, and leading innovation at a multinational electric utility company. Aatif’s education includes a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and Master of Technology Management degrees at Memorial University, and a Master of Social Policy & Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science.