ESGTree is your one-stop-shop to collecting, analyzing and reporting your ESG data. Designed with the needs of private capital investors in mind, our cloud-based data reporting platform is built entirely around providing customizable metrics and user experiences. Whether you are a seasoned ESG manager or entering the world of ESG for the first time, our goal is to make ESG reporting a value creation exercise. Our motto: Make ESG work for you.
Meet The Team
ESG, sustainability & technology experts with experience spanning 5 continents.
Rida Azim,
Client Solutions
Advisor
Rida Azim is ESGTree’s Client Solutions Advisor, with a primary focus on lead generation and lead nurturing. With her strong background in customer success, Rida plays a vital role in business development through data gathering, customer acquisition, and customer retention.
She has a MSc. in International Business and Marketing from Heriot Watt, Malaysia, and is committed to enriching the client experience at ESGTree.
Ximena Guzman, Special Projects
and Customer Success
Ximena Guzman is ESGTree’s Customer Success Associate, focusing on building and maintaining strategic partnerships with a keen eye for relationship management and event coordination.
Ximena has an MSc. in Sustainability Management from the University of Toronto, and plays a pivotal role in driving business growth and fostering strong client relationships.
Sarah Hussain, Head of Customer Experience
As Customer Success Manager, Sarah Hussain ensures that our clients’ specific needs are put front and center. Sarah brings a wealth of experience in program management in the education and development sectors. She singlehandedly managed the introduction and implementation of sports programs to over one hundred underprivileged schools in Pakistan as part of a UK Department for International Development initiative.
A communications expert, Sarah has facilitated numerous professional development activities for educators, most recently with regards to virtual/distance learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shahzeb Irshad, Senior Vice President
Operations and Business Development
Shahzeb Irshad leads product design at ESGTree and plays an instrumental role in product life-cycle management. He is based in the UK where he heads ESGTree’s EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) stream and manages the automation of new ESG frameworks on the ESGTree platform.
Mahin Karim, Client
Solutions Advisor
Mahin Karim is ESGTree’s Client Solutions Advisor, specializing in system implementation, customer experience, and data management for clients on the ESGTree platform. With a strong background in CX and digital marketing, Mahin excels in enhancing client engagement and driving business growth through data gathering, lead generation, and customer retention.
Holding a Degree in Marketing and Communication Science with a minor in Business Administration from VU Amsterdam, Mahin is committed to optimizing customer success at ESGTree.
Majid Mirza,
Founder/CEO
ESGTree is led by Majid Mirza, a global expert on impact investing and ESG. Former Head of Impact Investing at various organizations and founding board member of the Canada Forum for Impact Investing and Development, he has led ESG strategy, reporting, and research for over a dozen private equity firms, foundations, and government entities.
Majid’s doctoral research is on ESG in private capital markets. He regularly lectures at the university level on the topic of social and sustainable finance.
Izza Sheikh
Client Solutions Advisor
Izza Sheikh is ESGTree’s Client Solutions Advisor, linking technology implementations with ongoing support for ESGTree’s valued customers. Her expertise includes understanding unique client needs during onboarding and crafting personalized strategies for ongoing success.
Izza has a Bachelors and Masters in Labor Relations and Arbitration from the University of McGill and the University of Toronto, respectively. She is committed to ensuring holistic ESG/Impact reporting support for a streamlined client experience.
Mustafa Rahman, Head
of Marketing
Mustafa Rahman leads the marketing efforts at ESGTree, combining technology and creativity to develop compelling communication campaigns. With a diverse background in digital marketing and business development across sectors like healthcare, education, and finance, he brings a holistic approach to marketing strategy. Mustafa’s focus includes marketing automation and leveraging data for strategic decision-making.
Holding a degree in Marketing and Media, Mustafa’s varied experience enriches his innovative approach to the evolving landscape of ESG technology marketing.
Ali Saeed, Vice President
of Engineering
Ali Saeed leads the engineering team at ESGTree, where he is on a mission to use cutting-edge technology to create delightful user experiences. He brings over a decade of development experience with tech start-ups, where he built frontends, backends and mobile apps. With a designer’s eye and a developer’s heart, he loves refining the ESGTree platform from every angle.
Ali holds a degree in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Waterloo and is currently interested in the intersection of data engineering and artificial intelligence.
Meet the Advisory Board
Tanya Carmichael - Advisor, Former Global Head of Private Equity Funds for Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Chair, Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA)
Tanya is committed to creating catalytic impact pathways through a systems thinking approach. With more than 20 years of investment experience, Tanya carved out an executive pathway in private equity on the back of one key differentiator discovered early in her career: a passion for ESG injection into investment strategy and leadership. She went on to manage a $12B fund portfolio and global investment team as Managing Director and Head of Global Funds, Private Capital for Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. A firm believer in the power of global collaboration, Tanya served as Chair of ILPA and was also a member of the UN PRI Private Equity Steering Committee.
Tanya holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from Western University and earned her ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and Rotman (University of Toronto). With a non-traditional background in the world of private equity and corporate finance, she brings a progressive perspective and vision for a reimagined infrastructure of finance to support people, profit and purpose in equal balance.
Tanya serves as a speaker and advisor partnering with pension fund leaders, Boards, and institutional investors to re-imagine ESG, culture, and DE&I initiatives as part of their broader investment strategy. She believes the next frontier of sustainable, future-proofed investment can be achieved by leveraging holistic systems thinking, interconnectedness of investor and society, purpose loops and operational pathways for change.
Gerhard Pries – Senior Impact Investment and Development Finance Expert
Gerhard is a senior expert in the field of private equity investments in emerging markets. His career focus, for the last 35 years, has been in impact investing, innovative finance, and private/public collaboration to build healthy new economies across emerging markets.
Most notably, Gerhard was the founder and CEO of Sarona Asset Management, a firm investing private equity and private debt in small and mid-market companies across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Under his guidance as current Board Chair, Sarona continues to invest on behalf of family and institutional investors, with a commitment to strong financial returns, while creating deep and lasting impact wherever it invests.
Gerhard is also a sought-after speaker on the topic of investing to solve the world’s greatest SDG challenges and building healthy new economies through public-private collaboration. In many speaking engagements at the United Nations and various UN agencies, he has sought to build bridges of trust between the public sector and private sector, believing passionately that the world needs an integrated public-private approach to address today’s SDG challenges.
Mo Mirza – Director of Enterprise Data Engineering & Integrations at the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) Corporation
Mo is a data and software engineer with two decades of experience in IT. Presently, he is the Director of Enterprise Data Engineering & Integrations at OMERS, a privately owned pension fund that manages the retirement benefits of municipal employees of Ontario and is also one of the largest institutional investors in Canada.
Previously, Mo spent more than 4 years at Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), where he delivered data solutions critical to employers, workers, and health service providers. He has also worked in the banking, telecom, and retail sectors, most recently at the Bank of Montreal (BMO), building core data services and platforms that connect consumer and commercial lines of business. Prior to that, Mo was a researcher pursuing a PhD in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, which he left midway to join a start-up.
Mo holds a master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Wael Nafee – Partner at Raed Ventures, Former Executive at Careem (Uber Subsidiary)
Wael Nafee is a computer engineer, serial entrepreneur, and Y Combinator alumnus who has co-founded various start-ups in Silicon Valley and the Middle East. He was one of the early employees of Careem and held roles including VP of Product Management and VP of Platform Superapp Business Unit until Uber’s acquisition for $3.1 billion.
Wael is a techie at heart and has built technology products used by tens of millions of users worldwide. He is currently a partner at Raed Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage start-ups in the MENA region, and is passionate about building tech capacity and fostering entrepreneurship there.
Paul Heidebrecht – Director at Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement
Paul Heidebrecht is the inaugural Director of the Kindred Credit Union (KCU) Centre for Peace Advancement and an adjunct assistant professor at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo, where he teaches courses in peace and conflict studies.
Paul completed his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, and subsequently spent five years in various engineering positions. Living at Conrad Grebel University College, he was first introduced to both peace and conflict and theological studies there. Paul later earned a PhD in Theology and Ethics at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Both his master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation broke new ground in reflecting theologically on technology, and he has published several articles and a book in this area.
Prior to coming to Grebel and the KCU Centre for Peace Advancement, Paul served as the Director of the Mennonite Central Committee’s Ottawa office for 5 years. In this role, he led advocacy efforts on a wide range of international and domestic policy issues, including peace building, humanitarian assistance, food security, refugee resettlement, restorative justice, Indigenous reconciliation and mining justice. Much of this work was done in collaboration with civil society networks and ecumenical coalitions.
Contact Us
Contact Us
Office Addresses
Canada: ESGTree, CPA 4th Floor, 140 West mount Rd N, Waterloo,
ON N2L 3G6, Canada
United Kingdom: ESGTree, 33 Queen Street, London EC4R 1AP, United Kingdom