Leadership changes hit Benevity and Fable as CEOs step aside for board seats

Two impact-focused tech firms have moved their CEOs to the board as executive changes continue across Canada.

“I feel profound comfort in my decision to step down as CEO and pass the baton to Toan Dinh.”

Former GoFundMe COO Soraya Alexander will step into the top job at Calgary-based charitable donation management software firm Benevity on Nov. 1. Meanwhile, Toronto-based accessibility tech startup Fable has appointed former Boast chief revenue officer Toan Dinh as CEO. 

Alexander replaces Christopher Maloof, who will chair Benevity’s board just over one year after he replaced CEO Kelly Schmitt (who now heads Headversity). Benevity founder and board member Bryan de Lottinville called Maloof the right leader to “shepherd” Benevity at the time. 

“Chris has led Benevity through an important phase of growth and transformation, strengthening our foundation for innovation at scale,” de Lottinville said following Maloof’s shift to the board. 

He said Alexander brings “unique skills” that will help accelerate how Benevity serves its clients and nonprofit partners. Alexander was an executive at fundraising platform Classy when it was acquired by GoFundMe in 2022. Following the acquisition, she was COO and president of GoFundMe Pro until she left the company this past April.

Founded in 2008, Benevity offers community investment as well as employee, customer, and nonprofit engagement software solutions. Earlier this year, the company launched its refreshed  Enterprise Impact Platform and appointed Ian Goldsmith its first-ever chief AI officer. 

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Meanwhile, Fable co-founder Alwar Pillai is stepping down as CEO to become executive chair. Incoming Fable CEO Dinh brings over 15 years of experience scaling SaaS companies across North America and Europe, according to Fable. In addition to Boast, he has maintained leadership positions at Patsnap, TouchBistro, Quantum Workplace, and Achievers. 

Founded in 2018, Fable helps businesses test the accessibility of their products through its flagship product, Engage, which provides tester recruitment, technical support, and compensation.

“I feel profound comfort in my decision to step down as CEO and pass the baton to Toan Dinh,” Pillai wrote in a LinkedIn post. “I’ll step back from the day-to-day while continuing to guide Fable’s long-term strategy.” 

The move comes nearly one year after the company raised $25 million USD ($33.8 million CAD) in Series B funding from Five Elms Capital, including a secondary capital component that saw Disruption Ventures exit its stake and cede its board seat to Five Elms. 

Fable’s mission remains unchanged following the executive shuffle, the company said in a statement. It added that it will continue to invest in product innovation and expand its global footprint.
The scale and consistency of Canadian executive turnover was one of BetaKit’s biggest stories of 2024. While this year hasn’t compared in scale, the number of Canadian executive changes picked up this month, affecting firms like Exro Technologies, Q4 Inc., Arthrolense, Headversity, AbCellera, and InBC.