In September 2017, Stephanie Pinnington joined the Toronto Renewable Energy Cooperative (TREC) as Marketing & Engagement Manager and walked into a small team with a bold mission: could democratizing access to capital, which had worked in renewable energy, work in other sectors too?
She joined before Tapestry existed – before Tapestry was Tapestry.
In case you don’t know our origin story, TREC is a renewable energy cooperative in Toronto that raised community bonds in the late ’90s to build North America’s first urban wind turbine. The community bond model worked so well that other co-ops and nonprofits began asking how they could follow TREC’s lead. By the time Stephanie joined TREC, there was an opportunity to turn this guidance into a larger, even more impactful organization – the one that would become Tapestry Community Capital.
Stephanie believed in the vision from day one and she threw herself into everything – marketing, events, client outreach, storytelling. The early days were scrappy and full of possibility. Sharing what seemed like a niche story, experimenting, building from nothing, and realizing that something special was taking shape.
Ryan Collins-Swartz, Co-Executive Director of Tapestry, recalls, “From the very beginning, Steph had this deep belief that what would eventually become Tapestry was going to be successful. She would always say, ‘This is going to be huge.’ Her attitude and optimism were so contagious, and that spirit has carried us through so many ups and downs in building Tapestry.”
Stephanie didn’t just want to dream on a whiteboard. She wanted to be out in community, listening. In six months between joining TREC and launching Tapestry in May 2018, she and Ryan drove all over Ontario, visiting farms, furniture banks, faith spaces, co-working spaces, and music venues, soaking up stories, challenges, and hopes that would ultimately shape Tapestry’s DNA.
Even when resources were tight, Stephanie made things happen. Mary Warner, Co-Executive Director of Tapestry, remembers, “At one point we were trying to run a breakfast event for the food non-profit industry and couldn’t get catering so Steph organized EVERYTHING herself (I think she even baked muffins and brought her mom’s pickled onions) and it was a success.”
From those early muffin days to leading major funding projects, Stephanie has witnessed Tapestry grow from an idea into a thriving 19-person team unlocking millions in community capital. As her role evolved from marketing and engagement into fundraising, innovation, and partnerships, so did the scale of the work. But the spirit stayed the same: creative, collaborative, and deeply personal.
Looking back, some of her favourite milestones capture that evolution. From hosting events when no one yet knew who Tapestry was, to sparking meaningful conversations in new sectors, to winning the CMHC Housing Supply Challenge and gaining a platform to innovate. Publishing Tapestry’s first research report. Launching Weave Community Capital Fund. And, perhaps most rewarding of all, seeing the intelligence and creativity of the team come together.
Tapestry has always been a labour of love. “Steph’s belief in what’s possible, her ability to bring people together, and her deep commitment to community continue to shape Tapestry today. The culture of optimism, creativity, and care that she helped build is woven into everything we do, and it will continue to guide and inspire us as we grow into the next chapter of our work,” says Ryan.
Eight years later, what keeps Stephanie at Tapestry isn’t just the work – it’s the people. The colleagues she’s laughed, cried, and celebrated with, the projects she’s seen come to life, and the everyday investors who believe in causes they care about.
Stephanie says Tapestry feels like her “baby.” She believes deeply in what the organization does, in the projects that finally get the capital they need, in unlocking a pool of funding that never existed before. And yes, she admits with a laugh: she drank the Kool-Aid – and she’s still drinking it, with the same energy, humour, and heart she brought to Tapestry on that very first day.
Now, as Director of Growth and Partnerships, Stephanie is back fully immersed with the team she knows so well, dreaming big about new projects, exploring new sectors, and helping make unlocking capital with community bonds easy so more organizations can bring their ideas to life.
Reflecting on her journey, Stephanie says if she could give her day-one self any advice, it would be simple: believe in yourself and the mission. Eight years later, she wouldn’t change a thing. If she could go back and do it all over again, she’d do it the exact same way.
Thank you, Steph, for believing in what was possible and for helping make it real.
Get in touch with Stephanie at stephanie@tapestrycapital.ca.
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