Our Story
“Good & Well” has its roots in the parting comments given by one of my most inspiring college professors. When his mother, a Jewish immigrant from Eastern Europe, sent him off into the world, she said “Do good, son.” “Mom, after all these years in the U.S., you still don’t know that it’s “do well”,” he responded. “No son, I mean “do good”,” his mother repeated. It was this same message that he left us with as he darted out of the room. Growing up, I received two clear, but distinct messages: “do well” and “do good”.
Throughout my life, I jumped back and forth between these two messages, struggling to integrate them. While at Harvard Business School, I volunteered for non-profits. At Bain & Company, I sought out “pro-bono” projects. After the Berlin wall fell, I moved to Poland as part of a UN project advising the Government on the transition from “communism” to capitalism, but my work evolved into commercial consulting, venture capital and entrepreneurship.
“Good & Well” is my effort to intentionally and harmoniously integrate these two messages in my life. I firmly believe that combining passion, values, and a social mission with the dynamism, efficiency, and potential to scale found in the most successful companies can play a key role in addressing many of the greatest challenges we face in the world today. 
Picking tomatoes one of Fresh City Farm's greenhouses at Downsview Park.
Public Inc. is helping progressive businesses prove that they can, and should, profit with purpose.
Alice + Whittles works with Fair Trade projects in Sri Lanka to support rubber workers in the production of their footwear.
“I feel honored and privileged to support such inspiring entrepreneurs as they build their social purpose businesses and help establish a more conscious form of capitalism.”James Van Bergh,
Our Philosophy
Our future depends on a more humane form of capitalism – one where business plays a critical role in overcoming social challenges sustainably, and at scale, and in which entrepreneurs “do good” and “do well”. We believe:- Considering a broader set of stakeholders in business decisions is simply good business, not just the right thing to do;
- There is a growing market, and need, for companies that seek to solve social problems through a business lens;
- Consumers and employees are increasingly demanding that companies act responsibly and sustainably across all aspects of their operations;
- Purpose must be embedded in the DNA of a company to be a true partner with profit;
- A new investment mindset is needed to drive the purpose economy – one with mission alignment, longer time horizons and a commitment to safeguarding purpose as companies grow;
- We can all create change by bringing our humanity to work.
Two of Kotn’s three founders, Mackenzie & Rami, sourcing cotton in the Nile Delta region of Egypt.
Sisal baskets handmade by the Kaisgau Weavers, a co-operative of 800 women near Mt. Kasigau, Kenya and one of Far + Wide Collective’s artisan partners.
Football for Good's U14 academy squad celebrate a last-minute game-winning goal in Gulu, Uganda.
“We see ourselves as true partners, investing for the long-term and working collaboratively with investees to help identify and unlock opportunities for and barriers to scale. It’s this desire to be their partner in realizing both social impact and business success that I think differentiates Good & Well.”Alexandra Baillie,
Our Portfolio
Get to know some of the incredible people and businesses we are proud to partner with in creating a more fair, prosperous and sustainable world.
Kristi, founder of Encircled, speaks about the inspiration and process behind creating the newest reversible design.
The Lucky Iron Fish is a small iron cooking tool that infuses your meals with a healthy amount of natural iron to help prevent iron deficiency.
Founders of X Movement, Kaela and Emile, at an X Movement event in Kingston, Ontario.
Seeking Investment
We make equity investments of $100,000 - $500,000 in early stage social purpose businesses, providing founders with strategic advice, operational support, and a network of inspiring and likeminded entrepreneurs. If you...- Bring exceptional entrepreneurial spirit, passion, experience and humility;
- Own a registered Canadian business with at least basic proof of concept;
- Have an innovative or disruptive business model;
- Believe that profit and purpose can and should be mutually reinforcing; and
- Need capital to help start or scale your business
"Each of our investments is unique, but all of our entrepreneurs share a belief that business can and should be a powerful force for good."Thulasi Suntharalingam,
Student Engagement
G&W Internship Program:
Young Leaders for a Sustainable Future
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Good & Well and several of our portfolio companies are hiring 20 to 25 interns this summer. In addition to working for their host company, successful candidates will have various opportunities to learn from and network with professionals working within the social venture ecosystem.
The application period for all internship positions is now closed. However, you can be notified about future Good & Well internship opportunities by signing up to our email list below:
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Sustainable Solutions Case Competition
presented by
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Last March, we invited undergraduate and college-level students interested in learning about climate action and social impact to The Sustainable Solutions Case Compeition, hosted by us and Patagonia Toronto.
THE CASE TOPIC
How can Patagonia help make participating in the outdoor community and environmental movement accessible to a more diverse community? Is there a tool or resource that can be developed or a change that can be made in order to support everyone becoming environmental activists and outdoor enthusiasts?
Participating students had the opportunity to receive guidance from leading professionals in sustainability, social impact, corporate activism, and diversity & inclusion.
The winning team took home a $2,500 cash prize, over $500 in Patagonia gear and the chance to implement their solution with Patagonia. The team that placed 2nd won over $500 in Patagonia gear.
Given the high level of interest and the quality of the proposed solutions, we hope to continue this initiative in future years. Stay tuned by joining our student engagement email list below:
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Lucky Iron Fish's 2018 Partnerships for Social Impact Intern, Madeleine (right), in Benin helping deliver implementation training to CARE.
Marketing intern at Ulula in 2019, Sana (top row, third from the left), with members of the Ulula team on her last day.
Several 2019 interns learning about urban and organic farming at Fresh City Farm's Downsview Park farm.
The Good & Well Internship Program was by far one of the best things that happened to my professional career. Not only did it affirm my decision to work in the social enterprise space, but it exposed me to different areas of business impact, and allowed me to learn far more than any textbook could teach.Catherine Goncalves
Contact Us
Please direct all partnership, media or other inquiries to info@goodandwell.ca. Our offices are located at 4773 Yonge Street, Suite 5E, Toronto, ON M2N 0G2.
eLearning
eLengo
eLengo was created to encourage, educate and enable agripreneurs across Africa. At eLengo, we deliver practical online training, build thriving virtual communities and host a dynamic online marketplace.
Founders
- Chris Janssen
- Ian Suttie
A Kenyan farmer standing outside her mushroom farm.
A flock of free-range chickens. Almost 80% of eLengo users raise chickens!
Co-founder, Chris Janssen learning from farmers in East Africa.
Sustainable Fashion
encircled
Encircled is on a mission to bring quality, sustainability and humanity back into fashion. We help women build more sustainable and ethical closets by creating sweatshop-free, minimalist-inspired women’s clothing from eco-friendly materials. You deserve to feel proud of your wardrobe.
Founders
- Kristi Soomer
Clean Beauty
Everist
Everist is a beauty company on a mission: to fix the beauty industry’s plastic problem (and make your hair look amazing in the process). The company has released waterless shampoo concentrates and a bodywash.
Founders
- Jessica Stevenson
- Jayme Jenkins
Education
Football for Good
Football for Good unlocks the competitive advantages of frontier regions in East Africa to identify and develop youth football talent, deliver world-class training, education and character-building, and provide global opportunities to the youth, communities and partners it serves.
Founders
- Adrian Bradbury
Sustainable Agriculture
Fresh City Farms
The Farmers’ Market. Delivered. Fresh City Farms delivers farm-fresh organic meals, recipe kits and produce to your door. City farmers at heart, we are also proud to partner with some of Ontario’s finest growers. From sourcing from organic farms, to packing in reusable bags, to delivering with electric bikes, our operations are purpose-built to respect both people and planet.
Founders
- Ran Goel
Fresh City's Urban Farm at Downsview Park.
Freshly picked produce from Fresh City's urban farm.
A collection of Fresh City goods, including an unpacked produce bag.
Consumer Goods
Goodee
GOODEE is a leading curated home and lifestyle platform and marketplace that brings together the culture and values of good design and good purpose. We ultimately aim to promote thoughtful consumption by curating purposeful, design-focused brands and products (and related stories) from around the world.
Founders
- Byron Peart
- Dexter Peart
Goodee's selection of ethically made personal care products.
Eperara Siapidara PET Lamps designed and weaved by Columbia's expert artisans.
Goodee's Pop-Up Studio at Phi Centre in Montreal.
Sustainable Fashion
KOTN
Kotn was born from a desire for good quality, simple essentials that don’t cost a fortune. At Kotn, we work to elevate the clothes you spend your life wearing — reimagining your most ordinary utilities. We make our own fabrics from raw Egyptian cotton, a naturally remarkable fibre, bought direct from farmers at guaranteed prices – like farm-to-table, but for your clothes.
Founders
- Rami Helali
- Benjamin Sehl
- Mackenzie Yeates
Kotn's Queen St. West storefront.
A campaign shot from an earlier menswear collection.
Kotn's everyday essentials.
Health & Wellness
Lucky Iron Fish
The Lucky Iron Fish is a simple health innovation that adds natural iron to your diet. Simply boiling the Lucky Iron Fish in 1L of slightly acidified water can provide a family with a significant portion of their recommended daily iron intake. It does not change the taste, colour, or smell of the liquid it is cooked in, users do not experience any negative side-effects, and it can be reused by an entire family for up to 5 years.
Iron deficiency is the world’s largest micronutrient challenge, negatively impacting the lives of over 2 billion people around the planet. The World Bank estimates that iron deficiency takes $70 billion out of the global GDP each year. We need a simple solution for this complex global problem. We need the Lucky Iron Fish®
Founders
- Gavin Armstrong
Venture Capital
Ordinary
Ordinary is a Toronto-based angel and venture capital fund investing across sectors and stages in technology companies that improve the lives of their users, the more they interact with them.
Founder
- David Borcsok
Wealthtech
Otto Intelligence
Otto is a wealthtech platform that aligns people with their portfolios. We enable financial advisors to understand who their clients are and what they care most about (aka their purpose) and integrate these values into their investments.
A series of digital surveys and games designed to help clients discover what they care most about and what they want to achieve with their wealth. The data helps advisors deliver financial personalization, enabling them to integrate a client’s values and purpose into their portfolio.
Founder
- Stacey Kline
- Srin Sridharan
- Ben Gallacher
- Jeff Shin
Economic Empowerment
Powered by People
Powered by People (PBP) is a B2B sales platform connecting international buyers with handmade producers, leveraging blockchain technology to reframe the supply chain at scale. It is accelerating the rise of independent brands and retailers around the globe. Our marketplace is the aggregation point empowering buyers to source distinct products from a diverse sector of independent brands from over 40 countries around the world. At the same time, it leverages digital production management tools and financial services to support creative manufacturers in low-income countries to work with global buyers.
Founders
- Ella Peinovich
- Hedvig Alexander
Advertising
Public Inc.
Public Inc. is a social impact agency and innovation lab that designs and helps direct social change programs, campaigns and businesses. As a certified B Corporation we believe the way to create large scale social impact in the world is through the merger of profit and purpose.
Founders
- Philip Haid
- Paul Etsey
Asset Management
Rally Assets
Rally Assets is a full-service impact investment firm. Working with corporate and institutional investors, foundations, philanthropist and family offices, we provide tailored impact and responsible investing solutions that align our clients’ investments with their values. Deploying a total portfolio approach to integrate social and environmental impact across all asset classes, we empower our clients to achieve their financial and impact goals.
Senior Leadership Team
- Upkar Arora
- Kelly Gauthier
- Marc Foran
Sustainable Fashion
Thesus
What’s in a name?
ThesusTM = Thesis + Us.
Thesus denotes the spread of ideas + the community. At Thesus we believe that positive change happens when even simple ideas that are good for the world are given wings. Our ideas are brought to life through community connection, commitment, and design simplicity.
Our Thesis + Mission
At Thesus we believe that we would all be happier and healthier if we spent more time outside. So it is our mission to help you Be Outside. We commit to making socially and environmentally progressive footwear and accessories to take you there.
Founders
- Sofi Khwaja
- Nicholas Horekens
Supply Chain Management
Ulula
Ulula is a software and data analytics platform that allows organizations to engage with workers in real time to measure and monitor labor-related risks, creating more responsible global supply chains.
Founders
- Antoine Heuty
- Manu Kabahizi
Education
X-Movement
We provide immersive physical activity and mindfulness programs in-school and online that build life skills and help to create a positive school climate. “For every confident, fulfilled, self-assured, extraordinary person in the world, there was a moment when “no I can’t” became “yes I can!”. It was in that moment that a life lived in self-doubt, became a Life Energized.”
Founders
- Emile Studham
- Kaela Bree
Kaela and Emile leading an X Movement youth day.
X Movement coaches in action.
One of X Movement's awesome program participants.
Clean Tech, Fin Tech
CoPower
Put the planet in your portfolio. Until now, most individual investors have been shut out of the clean energy economy. CoPower is an investment platform for crowd financing clean energy projects – investing in a CoPower 5-Year Green Bond helps build more clean energy across North America while offering you an attractive 5% return.
Our research shows your investment portfolio may have more of an impact on your carbon footprint than any other individual action – including having a child. Read the report.
*We exited CoPower in 2019
Managing Directors
- David Berliner
- Trish Nixon
- Jon Frank
Artisan Craft
Far + Wide Collective
Far + Wide Collective is dedicated to connecting artisans in emerging economies to the international market. We believe that supporting craft producers through trade is the most effective and sustainable way to improve people’s lives. We also believe in the beauty of goods produced by traditional methods, with each handmade piece uniquely linked to the artisan who created it.
*Hedvig Alexander closed F&W in 2018, leveraging her experience to co-found Powered by People: http://poweredbypeople.com/
Founders
- Hedvig Alexander
Just a few of the 800+ female weavers that make up the Kasigau Weavers Co-Operative, one of Far + Wide Collective's partner artisan groups.
Finished sisal baskets handmade by the Kasigau Weavers Co-Operative.
Good & Well's president, Alexandra, on the ground in the Mt. Kasigau region of Kenya with a number of the Kasigau Weavers.
Mental Health
Inkblot
Inkblot is an affordable mental health services platform that uses advanced technologies for intelligent matching, monitoring effectiveness, and eliminating geographical barriers. Its mission is to create affordable, accessible, and innovative services and technologies to improve the psychological health of individuals and organizations, with a focus on secure video counselling. Using a proprietary algorithm, users are matched to the best counsellors for their specific needs and preferences, with Inkblot monitoring clinical effectiveness and client satisfaction session-to-session. With Inkblot, employees can get the help they need when they need it.
*We exited Inkblot in 2021
Founders
- Luke Vigeant
- Arash Zohoor
Accessible Fashion
IZ Adaptive
IZ Adaptive is a ready-to-wear apparel line designed for adults with physical disabilities. The brand features wardrobe basics like tees, denim, coats, and other casual wear with adaptive design features that make getting dressed more accessible to everyone. Fashion designer Izzy Camilleri founded the company in 2009, as one of the first brands to launch a truly inclusive apparel collection. Relaunching in the fall of 2018, the IZ Adaptive collection now includes apparel for both wheelchair users and those who are ambulatory but also require adaptive clothing.
*We exited IZ Adaptive in 2020
Founder
- Izzy Camilleri