Mentorship Circle

Katie Gingerich speaking to mentee over laptop

The Grebel Peace Incubator Program supports peace-related start-up initiatives through mentorship, training opportunities, and seed funding in order to validate their concepts and secure sustainable funding to effect systemic change. We know that making connections with the right mentors is a crucial ingredient in the success of a start-up.

This Mentorship Circle is intended to deepen and expand the ability of the Centre for Peace Advancement to support members of the Peace Incubator program. The Mentorship Circle does not encompass all of the many individuals throughout the Centre for Peace Advancement’s networks that provide mentorship to incubator members on an ad hoc basis. Members of the Mentorship Circle gather each semester to:


The Mentors:

Doug Blair

Doug (he/him) is a financial professional with over 15 years of experience who looks to make a positive impact as an investor, advisor and philanthropist. He holds an Honours Bachelor of BusinessAdministration (BBA) from Wilfrid Laurier University and Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) from University of Waterloo.

Dough Blair headshot

Doug began his career at Meritas, a mutual fund company that helps investors align their portfolio with their social, ethical, governance and environmental concerns. He then worked over 10 years in the executive offices of Scotiabank in progressively more senior roles based in Toronto. Most recently, Doug was a participant in the Grebel Peace Incubator program with Demine Robotics, a Canadian/Cambodian company advocating and developing technology to safely dispose anti-personnel landmines.

He currently serves on Grebel’s endowment Investment Advisory committee, treasurer and secretary of the board of Silver Lake Mennonite Camp, and Erb Street Mennonite Church’s finance committee.


Pamela Fehr

Pam is passionate about catalyzing social change.  She is currently working as an independent consultant, taking on projects that feel challenging and exciting and have the opportunity to fuel community transformation. 

Pamela Fehr overloking the countryside

Pam spent ten years working with Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) with a focus on building business solutions to poverty, living and working in countries such as Nicaragua, Haiti, Mozambique, Peru and Egypt among others.  After settling in Waterloo and building a family she spent ten years as Vice President Marketing at Kindred Credit Union where she had the privilege to lead the renaming, rebranding of the credit union and to develop their community engagement strategy.  Recently Pam has been working at a systems level, seeking to create positive change in the affordable housing and children’s mental health sectors here in our community. 

When she isn’t spending time trying to catalyze her four kids toward independence, you can find her on her bike riding the roads of Waterloo Region.


Cassie Myers

Cassie a Waterloo-based entrepreneur that is passionate about women's rights, Black rights and helping companies grow inclusion+equity. She gets to do this work in a few ways.At Lunaria Solutions, she uses technology to help communities, people and companies grow diversity, equity and inclusion.

Cassie Myers smiles at the camera

When she is not at Lunaria she is a support line volunteer at the Sexual Assault Support Centre in Waterloo Region, mentor at Technovations and a board member at YWCA-KW. She recently completed her Master's at Wilfred Laurier University where she researched the impacts of anti-Black racism and DEI initiatives on the visibility of Black women in the workplace.

Cassie is always happy to chat research and support people starting out, especially other Black and women entrepreneurs.