Woman with blonde hair in a black top and dainty necklace.

When Tammy Kyte speaks about her entrepreneurial journey, it doesn’t start with her as Co-Founder and Executive Director of GiveWise, a philanthropic startup focused on transforming lives through accessible generosity.

Tammy’s journey actually begins with another business she ran alongside her husband, Dan. However, the common thread at the centre of both companies is the desire to create lasting change and make an impact.

“My husband and I started a home building business,” she says. “Through that, we were always involved in non-profits and the philanthropy space through giving to charities in our community and internationally. We share a strong value for giving back.”

This passion for making a difference would soon inspire Tammy and her husband to chart a new path. After 15 years spent building homes, the duo decided to change lanes—pivoting towards the social impact space.

From One Entrepreneurial Lane To The Next

The concept for the GiveWise platform came to fruition when Tammy and her husband were introduced to a technology that combined a nonprofit organization with a for-profit software company.

“We had the opportunity to invest in a software platform, [and] the idea was to create a bank account for charitable giving. It really spoke to us as business owners,” she says.

By creating a bank account for charitable giving, the concept would facilitate easy experiences for donors to keep all transactions in one place, track their donations, and receive tax receipts instantly. Initially getting involved with the business as board members, Tammy and her husband were contemplating what their next move would be once the initial platform was sold to a U.S. firm. With a proof of concept, they decided to create their next business inspired by the platform.

“We loved the business model. It was proven out, so we decided to create a business around it,” Tammy says.

Launched in 2018, GiveWise functions as a bridge between donors and their charities of choice. Operating as a donor-advised fund, donors can contribute money or assets, receive a tax receipt, and distribute funds or assets over time. Designed for people with varying means, GiveWise users can donate cash, stocks, mutual funds, and other assets to any registered charity in Canada. With no minimum balance and no minimum gift requirement, the platform supports donors in their efforts to be intentional and informed while bearing witness to the change and impact they are making. Based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, GiveWise has enabled over 16,000 gifts and $106 million in total charitable contributions to 800 charities.

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A Community That Gets It

While Tammy isn’t new to entrepreneurship, being at the helm of a tech startup was a unique change that encouraged her to flex a different set of muscles and approach challenges with a refreshed perspective.

As GiveWise continued to grow, she was interested in finding a community where she could connect with others and discuss business. After hearing about The Forum from an acquaintance, Tammy was immediately interested.

“I didn't know a lot of women in the tech space, and in the business world, it was always male-dominated,” she says. “I was looking for a forum to discuss business, any challenges that arose, and all kinds of things with women who got it.”

Impressed by The Forum’s community and offerings for women entrepreneurs, Tammy joined the Weekly Virtual Connects, a recurring weekly meeting with entrepreneurs across Canada. “I met different charity leaders from across the country as well as different business leaders who participated in The Forum but had completely different types of businesses,” she says. “It was a great place to throw around ideas and get input from entrepreneurs in various sectors.”

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The Forum’s Impact: Educate, Activate, Elevate

The Forum's work is guided by three social impact pillars—Educate, Activate, Elevate—that ensure we're able to provide the comprehensive support that women entrepreneurs need to thrive. For Tammy, these pillars translated into practical growth: gaining AI expertise, building strategic partnerships with charities, and developing the confidence to pitch her business more effectively.

Educate: Through the Weekly Virtual Connects calls, Tammy met different entrepreneurs in the Vancouver, B.C., area, eventually meeting in person. After finding out about the AI Skills Lab Canada program from her fellow participants, Tammy enrolled immediately. The program is split into two distinct lab cohorts. The Early AI Adoption Lab is for early-stage entrepreneurs with less than $1 million in revenue and one to 10 employees, while the AI Strategy and Operations Lab is for more established businesses that have scaled to $1 million in revenue with one to 499 employees. This AI upskilling initiative is structured to help participants effectively use AI and align tools with their values and business models.

“The Early AI Adoption Lab was very valuable in that they had clear expectations and showed how you would benefit from creating AI policy,” Tammy says. “The program allowed me to spend time on things that I wouldn't normally spend time on and think through how we’re going to use these tools to better our system.”

Activate: Transitioning from one industry to another requires more than a skillset—a network of peers, mentors, and champions makes a pivot much smoother. The Forum served as a connector for Tammy, helping to expand her network considerably.

Through The Forum, Tammy developed relationships with a number of charities and was able to test iterations of a product GiveWise was developing called GiveGenius. With this offering, these organizations would be able to use a giving button embedded on their respective websites, helping donors give in multiple formats. This early testing phase was incredibly helpful for Tammy and the GiveWise team and validated that the initiative was worth pursuing further.

“They were great testers for the product,” Tammy says. “To be able to ask, ‘Would you use this? Is this actually beneficial?’ was huge. I don't know where that would have gone without those key relationships to validate it.”

Elevate: One of our goals at The Forum is to champion the experiences and voices of women entrepreneurs to amplify their success and show just how much they can achieve. For Tammy, one of the biggest changes she’s noticed is her confidence when sharing her business pitch. She credits The Forum with creating a safe environment for her to work on this through Weekly Virtual Connects.

“The sessions give you a space to practice your pitch,” she says. “You have a short amount of time in those sessions to say what you do, what you offer, and how you can benefit somebody. I participated fairly regularly for a couple of years and just kept practicing.”

Building Momentum: GiveWise's Path Forward

Since launching in 2018, Tammy and her husband have grown GiveWise impressively. Today, the company has grown to a team of eight and is gearing up to launch the GiveGenius feature in 2026 with multiple subscription tiers. Tammy is excited to continue helping charities raise money and educate both donors and nonprofits on the numerous ways to donate.

“A lot of charities have a hard time keeping up with technology, and they don't have a vision for what donors want,” she says. “GiveGenius is our biggest excitement for 2026—getting that out there will help charities raise more money through technology.”