The Canopy Lab was founded in 2017 by Eric Derks, a systems thinker who recognized the need for organizations to marry a stronger systems lens with a practical bent to their work. In 2019, inspired by Eric’s vision and approach, Tim Sparkman and Holly Lard Krueger joined the company as Managing Partners to respectively lead Canopy’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) and Inclusion+ Practices. Since then, the Canopy Lab has grown to work with numerous clients around the world.

In addition to their two Managing Partners and three Senior Consultants, the Canopy Lab also collaborates with a network of 20+ affiliate consultants, who bring expertise in economic and private sector development, systems thinking, inclusion, environment and climate, impact investing, and MEL.