About us
We seek to build a more effective charitable sector
The gap
Many foundations, family offices, and philanthropists care deeply about social issues, but lack the time, teams, or tools to tackle them.
Strategic giving takes effort. Only 40% of Canadian charities have a website, due diligence lacks a clear framework, and charities have limited access to the technology and expertise needed to measure their impact. As a result, many philanthropists default to well-known brands, while effective local groups doing meaningful work are overlooked.
Our role
Eleos Fund helps philanthropists find, fund, and measure the work of these organizations. We function as a buy-side investment bank for philanthropy: we find and evaluate effective charities, create funding structures that de-risk giving, and help philanthropists understand the outputs and outcomes their giving generates.
The goal
We want philanthropy to be informed and accountable, and charities to have the support to sustain and scale their impact.
Team
Dan Yan
Founder
Dan has been involved in the charitable sector since 2017. He has extensive consulting experience with charities in the education and social services sector, with clients such as Pathways to Education, Ontario Educational Leadership Centre, The Gatehouse, and The Reading Partnership. He has also worked with sector partners, such as the LEAP-Pecaut Centre for Social Impact. These experiences gave him insight into how existing funding structures affect everything from impact measurement to charity operating models—those challenges led to the creation of Eleos Fund.
In the private sector, Dan was a management consultant at EY-Parthenon working with private equity, technology, and financial services clients. He also worked in product and operations roles at businesses in the technology and energy sectors, from startups to large enterprises. His background was in industrial engineering.
Advisors
Laura Schlee
Corporate Responsibility Leader,
Ernst & Young Canada
Laura is the Corporate Responsibility Leader for Ernst & Young Canada. She has built and scaled impact strategies, including EY Ripples pro bono consulting services; developed national impact and accountability measurement frameworks; led philanthropy and cross-sector partnerships; and oversaw the AI for Good program on AI skills development for non-profits. Laura also serves on the boards of Fred Victor, the Planet In Focus International Film Festival, and New Beginnings Support Program.
