Who We Are
We are united by our vision for the future, where every neighbourhood offers democratic access to nature; where biodiversity is a core stakeholder; where communities thrive and prosper; and where our most vulnerable individuals are treated with dignity and respect.
We are passionate and committed to creating tangible results. We work hard, indeed very hard, but we enjoy each others’ curiosity, care for this world, and drive to accomplish what we have all set out to do.
Let Me Explain…
Building scalable investment instruments that target institutional and private capital is not easy. Building these instruments in order to allocate funds towards nature & biodiversity, climate resilience, and homelessness is that much harder. Building instruments that are innovative because they ensure fair market returns and community ownership and governance of financed assets in perpetuity – well, that’s really hard!
This is why the team at Ombrello Solutions is solid. Every individual brings deep expertise in their area of work. It is rare to see a group that possesses corporate finance, structured debt, real estate, impact investing and nature based capital experience; balanced with conservation finance, affordable housing and community engagement. It is even rarer to have that group supported by an excellent advisory circle with stellar integrity, knowledge and network.
Finally, Ombrello Solutions is logistically sound as its operations are handled with professionalism and care, ensuring that everyone could focus on their respective building components, and have fun in the process.
Core Members
Anastasia Mourogova MillinFounder, DanSa Capital Innovation & Ombrello Solutions
In October 2022 Anastasia founded DanSa Capital Innovation and Ombrello Solutions, with a goal to build systemic investment instruments that transition institutional and private capital at scale towards key societal and environmental challenges. Anastasia Mourogova Millin brings 21 years of corporate banking experience, strategically supported by her in-depth knowledge of the commercial real estate sector. Anastasia most notably helped launch the first Canadian Schedule A impact bank – Vancity Community Investment Bank, and under that mandate she oversaw a $1.3-billion existing real estate portfolio as well as brought in $250-million in new loans to B Corps, social enterprises and not for profits. Subsequently, Anastasia – in her role as global director of Capital and Investments at Dark Matter Labs – focused on building new markets for a portfolio of civic infrastructure, including nature based solutions such as soil and biodiversity, in order to re-imagine the existing systems of capital formation, deployment and value aggregation.
Brittany ScottDirector of Operations
Brittany Scott is a sophisticated project manager with a decade of experience developing and leading complex initiatives. Known for her outstanding communication and leadership skills, Brittany approaches every project with energy, empathy, and integrity—qualities that are essential in driving forward our mission. Her background in developing and implementing organizational systems ensures the effective coordination of both our strategic efforts and day-to-day operations. Brittany holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors and Distinction in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Child Studies, equipping her with a nuanced understanding of human behavior and societal needs. This perspective informs her holistic approach to our initiatives and the products we are building.
Jean-François ObregónCivic Infrastructure Bond, Head of Research and Financial Analysis
Jean-François Obregón is a Research Fellow at the Ivey Business School at Western University, where he focuses on improving the adoption of regenerative agriculture in Canada. He is the Principal at The Urban Hulk, a blog and consultancy focussed on socially responsible investment research and urban planning through which he is currently working with Ombrello Solutions and DanSa Capital Innovation.
Jean-François holds a Master of Planning in Urban Development from Toronto Metropolitan University, where his major research paper “The Time Is Ripe: New Financial Tools For The City Of Toronto’s Parkland Dedication Rate” detailed 20+ financial instruments that can be used to finance parkland and green space acquisition. Jean-François worked for 6+ years at Sustainalytics, a rating agency focussed on ESG risks, where finished as Lead Analyst, Financials and Real Estate. He is the lead author of the recently released “Advancing Regenerative Agriculture in Canada: Barriers, Enablers and Recommendations”.
Marie-Sophie BanvilleHomelessness Bond, Head of Research and Financial Analysis
Founder of Atelier Radah, Marie-Sophie focuses her professional practice on the emergence of sustainable, affordable and decolonial housing formulas that bring us back to basics: the land is our first home. She believes in the creative potential of finance, and works to develop new financial architectures to foster innovative housing models. Head of development at Vivacité – Société immobilière solidaire (2016-2021), she helped create a non-speculative homeownership formula. In addition, she designed and taught an interdisciplinary seminar on the financialization of housing during an artistic residency at Concordia University’s Faculty of Fine Arts (2019-2021). Marie-Sophie Banville holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the Université de Montréal and is currently pursuing a doctorate in law at the University of Victoria.
Advisory Circle
Larry WatersWaters & Co
Larry Waters worked at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce for forty-three years. When he retired in 2011, he was responsible for CIBC’s relationships with many of its most sophisticated property company clients. He has designed and arranged financing solutions for many landmark projects including:
- The Montréal World Trade Centre and Intercontinental Hotel mixed use project
- Bell Canada’s head office on Ile des Soeurs – Montréal
- Quartier Dix30 – Brossard,
- Aura condominium project in Toronto
- EDC Head Office, Ottawa
In addition to his 30 years experience in real estate banking, he held various other positions in commercial and corporate banking. These posts included responsibility for Commercial Banking in Eastern and Northern Ontario.
He has been a member of:
- Concordia University’s real estate planning committee
- Vice-chair of the board of governors at John Abbott College
- Chairman of the Advisory Council on Neurosciences, Ottawa Neurological Institute
- A director of the Ottawa General Hospital Foundation.
Jeremy GuthTrustee, Woodcock Foundation
Jeremy is Trustee of the Woodcock Foundation and director of the foundation’s large landscape conservation program. The program has been focused on the protection of core and corridor areas within the Yellowstone to Yukon region, which offers one of the world’s best opportunities to conserve a landscape of a sufficient scale for the full range of ecological processes and challenges such as migration and adaptation to climate change. More recently, it has expanded to include wildlife mitigation planning in rapidly developing regions internationally, where pre-construction connectivity planning efforts can be highly impactful and cost-effective. Jeremy is the co-founder of the ARC International Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure Design Competition (completed: January, 2011) and founding partner of the ARC Solutions Partnership. The competition’s achievement was to engage the most innovative international, interdisciplinary design teams to create the next generation of wildlife crossing infrastructure for North America’s roadways. The partnership continues to support the study, design and construction of wildlife crossing structures throughout North America. In 2018, Jeremy and the Woodcock Foundation commissioned Nature United to produce A Blueprint for Action: Conservation Finance to Support Canada’s Target 1 , which was the first survey of the tools and solutions Canada will need to finance its land protection commitments to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
