Purpose.

Drive social change by helping businesses discover their social purpose.

Mission.

To transition companies from transactional philanthropy to transformational social purpose.

Vision.

A movement of cross-sector collaborations that will drive innovative solutions to our most challenging social issues.

Peggie Pelosi

Founding Partner & Strategic Advisor

Peggie Pelosi is a social architect. She has the unique professional combination of being a visionary, an inspiring speaker and successful, innovative entrepreneur. Combining her skills in management, sales and marketing, and her commitment to involving people and companies in doing well and driving social change, Peggie established ORENDA Connections in 2004 as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Consultancy. Peggie is the Founder of Orenda and the author of Corporate Karma, a book that discusses how businesses can move forward by giving back, and a sought-after speaker to business groups and not-for-profit organizations.

Prior to creating ORENDA, Peggie was VP Sales for Usana Health Science. While at Usana Peggie developed a Strategic Community Investment program for the company that helped transform the corporate culture- resulting in rapid sales growth and a significant rise in the economic value of the corporation.

Peggie is also the Executive Director of Innovators Alliance, a not-for-profit peer- to-peer mentoring group for Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders.

Peggie is a graduate of the CSR program at St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto, and a certified trainer in Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership corps. In her spare time Peggie teaches CSR in a post-graduate program at Seneca College, and in a Continuing Education Certificate program at the University of Toronto.

Peggie is an active humanitarian, having spent time working in Central America, Eastern Europe, India, Africa and in the underserved communities of her hometown of Toronto. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Children’s Hunger Fund, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto and newchoir. Currently Peggie is a member of Women for a Humane Canada.

Carissa MacLennan

Managing Partner

Carissa is a visionary leader who has spent the last 20 years working with a social purpose. Throughout her career she has worked as a frontline youth worker, educator, international development practitioner, nonprofit director, board member, and consultant tackling social, environmental, and indigenous issues around the world.

Over the years, she has designed innovative and influential strategies and programs with some of the world’s leading organizations; including, Journalists for Human Rights, UNICEF Canada, The Munk School of Global Affairs, and the Jane Goodall Institute. Carissa’s work with these organizations has resulted in programs with international scale and recognition. The Rights Media framework she developed for Journalists for Human Rights gained the attention of BBC World Service Trust as an innovative approach to journalism training and is being used in over 25 countries. While working with UNICEF, Carissa led the design of a Rights Respecting Schools initiative which has since been integrated into UNICEF global’s toolkit for rights-based approaches to education in developed countries. During her time with the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, Carissa led the assessment and redesign of their Roots & Shoots program so that it focussed on holistic approaches to sustainability, inclusive of indigenous ways of knowing – which is also being adapted into Roots & Shoots programs around the world.

As a global change-maker, Carissa has worked with governments, nonprofits, academic institutions, and private companies in countries around the world, including; China, Rwanda, Egypt, Ghana, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, the United States, and all across Canada. Critical to Carissa and her work are measurable strategies that address root causes, not bandaid solutions. She has a fundamental understanding of the complex issues that face our world and the interventions that can create sustainable and ethical change.

Carissa has also served on the boards for several non-profit organizations, contributes as an advisor to Endeavour Volunteer Consulting for Nonprofits, and is a member of Women for a Humane Canada. Carissa believes in the practice of mindfulness and holds numerous certificates, including the Specialization in Applied Mindfulness from the University of Toronto and the Mindfulness Ambassador Facilitator certificate from Mindfulness without Borders.

Our History

Orenda was founded by Peggie Pelosi in 2004. Since it’s inception, Orenda has been a thought leader and prominent consulting firm in corporate social responsibility. Orenda has worked with companies of all sizes, nonprofits and academic institutions across Canada, the United States, and Europe.