Newfoundland university students to lead impact investing in the province

Author Sharlene Gandhi

A Newfoundland university has launched a student-led impact investing fund, the first in the province. 

Memorial University’s Fairlead Social Impact Fund was announced in June 2025, forming part of its Impact Investing Fellowships, which it partners on with Propel Impact. 

Students have already invested $75,000 in a local furniture bank in the region, which provides gently used furniture and homeware to people in need. 

Several universities in Canada house student-managed investment funds, allowing business and economics students to get hands-on investment experience. 

The University of Victoria’s Impact Investing Hub tracks where these are located in the country, and Memorial University has its own student-managed investment portfolio. 

However, according to the Hub’s analysis, more than 80 per cent of these student-managed funds do not integrate ESG goals into their investment portfolios. 

Propel Impact has also previously partnered with The University of Victoria to support students with hands-on impact investing and sustainable finance experience. In Montreal, Concordia University’s business school runs a Sustainable Investment Practicum in partnership with Manulife. 

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  • Sharlene Gandhi is the Future of Good editorial fellow on digital transformation.

    Sharlene has been reporting on responsible business, environmental sustainability and technology in the UK and Canada since 2018. She has worked with various organizations during this time, including the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business at Lancaster University, AIGA Eye on Design, Social Enterprise UK and Nature is a Human Right. Sharlene moved to Toronto in early 2023 to join the Future of Good team, where she has been reporting at the intersections of technology, data and social purpose work. Her reporting has spanned several subject areas, including AI policy, cybersecurity, ethical data collection, and technology partnerships between the private, public and third sectors.

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