Canada’s Podcast

Starting a Company to Influence Culture – Profound Impact on Canada’s Podcast

Sherry Shannon-Vanstone, Profound Impact’s Founder, President and CEO was featured on another podcast! 


Sherry sat down with Canada’s Podcast to discuss entrepreneurship and starting a business to influence culture. As an advocate for women in STEM, Sherry talked about positioning women in business, science, and tech as leaders in post-pandemic recovery and economic development. Listen to Sherry’s episode on Canada’s Podcast to learn more about her entrepreneurial journey, innovation, philanthropy, and Profound Impact.

Inspiring Generosity and Kindness: 12 Days of Impact Challenge 2022

The Profound Impact team is excited to launch 12 Days of Impact 2022 to kick off the giving season. The 12 Days of Impact, in partnership with Giving Tuesday, is dedicated to encouraging the importance of small acts that can make a big difference! Building on Giving Tuesday, a global generosity movement, the 12 Days of Impact encourages individuals, organizations, and businesses to address local challenges, promoting kindness, generosity, and the humanitarian spirit.

This year, the Profound Impact team is challenging individuals and organizations to create a community of ambassadors working to make a difference. The 12 Days of Impact will kick off on Giving Tuesday, November 29th, and run until Thursday, December 15th. Check out the Profound Impact 12 Days of Impact calendar, showcasing good deeds and positive acts to encourage us all to make a difference this holiday season! Click here to download a sample calendar with space to insert your own logo and challenge your network! #GivingTuesday

Meet the Team at these Conferences

You can meet the Profound Impact team at these upcoming October conferences!

The annual THINK Conference is happening October 19-20 at the Design Exchange event venue in Downtown Toronto. Profound Impact’s Brian Romansky, along with Shawna Reibling,  Knowledge Mobilization Officer at Wilfred Laurier University, will present The State of Play for Communicating Research Funding Opportunities to Internal and External Stakeholders: Barriers and Opportunities. Based on interviews and survey data collected from research administrators across Canada in 2021, this session will share the current state of how Research Administrators communicate funding opportunities as well as innovative new ways of solving identified pain points.  Register for the hybrid conference here

CAN-CWiC is the premiere Canadian Computing Conference for Women in Technology, taking place October 21-22 at the Delta Hotels by Marriott Toronto Airport and Conference Centre. Sherry Shannon-Vanstone and Sherryl Petricevic will be introducing Research Impact at the conference and Sohail Ramzan and Renata Rusiniak will participate in the Career Fair to introduce students to employment opportunities at Profound Impact. You can use this link to register by October 10th 

Startup Canada Podcast

Empowering Women in STEM with Sherry Shannon-Vanstone

Click to Listen

Episode Overview

As a well-known serial entrepreneur, Sherry Shannon-Vanstone has made a significant contribution to the spectrum of digital industries from information security to telecommunications and technology, while also making a major contribution to the advancement of all women. She is an extraordinary leader and visionary who has made a material difference to the roles women play and their influence in the digital economy. Throughout Sherry’s career, she has been a trailblazer in the fields of STEM, business, and philanthropy. 

In honour of her late husband, Scott A. Vanstone, Sherry founded Profound Impact in 2018 — a data driven platform for use by organizations and their stakeholders including alumni, researchers, and students to engage, discover, and measure the worldwide impact that the institution and its community have on technology and the world. It also aims to build a sense of community for a global audience of affinity groups such as women in STEM and entrepreneurs.

“There is a talent battle today. We are seeing digital transformation across every industry and with that, there is a huge opportunity and challenge.”

In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Scotiabank, we talk about Sherry’s entrepreneurship journey, how she leverages data with her clients, and  the importance of empowering women in STEM.

IMPACTFUL ACTIONS AWARD WINNER ANNOUNCED ON PROFOUND IMPACT DAY 2022

GREEN HOPE FOUNDATION PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER KEHKASHAN BASU, M.S.M., WINS 2022 IMPACTFUL ACTIONS AWARD

The Impactful Actions Award recognizes world leaders making a profound impact on the global community.

WATERLOO, ON | SEPT. 14, 2022 — Profound Impact™ is proud to announce Kehkashan Basu, M.S.M., as the winner of the 2022 Impactful Actions Award. 

The annual award is presented by Profound Impact Corporation, a Toronto-Waterloo Corridor tech company providing tools for organizations to maximize their global impact. Profound Impact’s Impactful Actions Award recognizes individuals who are inspiring collaborative solutions to difficult global problems. 

Basu, who is just 22 years old, started working towards improving the world around her at the age of seven. Basu planted her first tree at eight and founded her own humanitarian organization, Green Hope Foundation, when she was 12. 

“My work focuses specifically on empowering our most vulnerable populations,” Basu said. “We do this through a myriad of ways, including providing education for sustainable development and turning that education into ground level actions.”

Green Hope Foundation recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. The global social enterprise has worked with more than 300,000 people across 26 countries, focusing on water, sanitation, clean energy and food security. 

“We want Green Hope Foundation to be in every country of the world so we can change the mindsets of people all across society,” Basu said. “We want to create cross-sectional dialogue and partnerships to benefit every single person within our communities.”

Basu was presented the Impactful Actions Award for Profound Impact Day. The day, which honours the late Professor Scott A. Vanstone, celebrates the impact and legacy of collaboration and innovation developed through the Profound Impact community.

“Kehkashan has done incredible work from such a young age. We’re so impressed by her commitment to making the world a better place,” said Sherry Shannon-Vanstone, Founder and CEO of Profound Impact. “Every single one of our nominees this year represents the incredible talent we have here in Ontario and across the globe.”

Basu said winning the award is a huge honour. “It’s a vindication of my belief that young people and young women are doing a lot for people and the planet. To be recognized for those efforts, it’s just a really amazing feeling.”

Profound Impact will make a donation to a charity of Basu’s choice in her honour.

Profound Impact received nominees from the community for the 2022 Impactful Actions Award. In 2021, the inaugural Impactful Actions Award was presented to Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, former President & Vice Chancellor (2010-2021) and Professor of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo.

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ABOUT PROFOUND IMPACT CORPORATION 

Profound Impact helps education, research and social impact community organizations leverage data to measure program impact, tell their story and inform strategy. Profound Impact products include Connection Impact, Career Impact and their newest offering, Research Impact.  Research Impact helps researchers match with the perfect grant to fund their research. Everything Profound Impact does works towards the important goal of connecting great people to do great things and maximizing their worldwide impact. 

Website: www.profoundimpact.com 

Facebook: @aprofoundimpact

Instagram: @aprofoundimpact 

LinkedIn: Profound Impact Corporation

Twitter: @aprofoundimpact

For media inquiries, please contact:

Katherine Hill Durrell Communications

katherineh@durrellcomm.com

media@profoundimpact.com 

Brittany Bortolon Durrell Communications

brittanyb@durrellcomm.com 

media@profoundimpact.com 

MEDIA ADVISORY – IMPACTFUL ACTIONS AWARD WINNER TO BE ANNOUNCED

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROFOUND IMPACT™ TO ANNOUNCE WINNER OF IMPACTFUL ACTIONS AWARD AT THIRD ANNUAL PROFOUND IMPACT DAY

The Impactful Actions Award recognizes world leaders making a profound impact on communities globally.

WATERLOO, ON | SEPT. 13, 2022 — Celebrated annually on September 14, the third annual Profound Impact Day will feature the winner of this year’s Impactful Actions Award. 

The annual award is presented by Profound Impact Corporation, a Toronto-Waterloo Corridor tech company providing data analytic tools for organizations to maximize their global impact. Profound Impact’s Impactful Actions Award recognizes individuals who are inspiring collaborative solutions to difficult global problems. 

Members of the media are invited to attend this year’s Profound Impact Day celebrations. Please RSVP via email with contact information and interview requests to brittanyb@durrellcomm.com. Tune in virtually here.

What: Profound Impact Day 2022 will feature a fireside chat with 2021 Impactful Actions Award winner Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, former president of the University of Waterloo. Dr. Hamdullahpur will have an in-depth conversation and exclusive Q&A with the winner of this year’s Impactful Actions Award.  Profound Impact received nominations from community members and named the finalists in August. They are, in alphabetical order, Kehkashan Basu, M.S.M., Dr. Mona Nemer and Dr. Neil Turok. You can learn more about the finalists here.

Event Details:

Profound Impact Day 2022

Date: September 14, 2022

Time: 12 to 1 p.m. ET

Virtual Access: Click here

With presentation and remarks from notable attendees:

  • Sherry Shannon-Vanstone, President and CEO, Profound Impact
  • Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, 2021 Impactful Actions Award winner, former president of the University of Waterloo
  • Winner of the 2022 Impactful Actions Award

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ABOUT PROFOUND IMPACT CORPORATION 

Profound Impact helps education, research and social impact community organizations leverage data to measure program impact, tell their story and inform strategy. Profound Impact products include Connection Impact, Career Impact and their newest offering, Research Impact. Research Impact helps researchers match with the perfect grant to fund their research. Everything Profound Impact does works towards the important goal of connecting great people to do great things and maximizing their world-wide impact. 

Website: www.profoundimpact.com 

Facebook: @aprofoundimpact

Instagram: @aprofoundimpact 

LinkedIn: Profound Impact Corporation

Twitter: @aprofoundimpact

For media inquiries, please contact:

Brittany Bortolon

brittanyb@durrellcomm.com 

Impactful Actions Award Press Release

Impactful-Actions-Award-Press-Release-1Download
Profound Impact

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN FOR 2022 IMPACTFUL ACTIONS AWARD

The Impactful Actions Award recognizes individuals making a profound impact on the global community

WATERLOO, ON | JUNE 1, 2022 — Applications are now open for the 2022 Impactful Actions Award.

The annual award is presented by Profound Impact™ Corporation, a Toronto-Waterloo Corridor tech company providing data analytic tools for organizations to measure their global impact. Profound Impact’s Impactful Actions Award recognizes individuals who are inspiring collaborative solutions to difficult global problems.

“The Impactful Actions Award combines two of our core values: collaboration and making a positive impact,” said Sherry Shannon-Vanstone, Profound Impact’s Founder and CEO. “We’re excited to get to know impactful individuals through the nomination process and especially, honouring and celebrating the winner for their valuable contributions.”

Nominations are open now until July 20. The top three finalists will be contacted on August 15, and the 2022 Impactful Actions Award winner will be announced during the Profound Impact Day virtual event on September 14, 2022. Please take this opportunity to review the award criteria and nominate someone you feel is making an extraordinary positive impact.

Impactful Actions Award

Nominations are now open for Profound Impact’sTM Impactful Actions Award. The Impactful Actions Award is an annual awards program recognizing leaders from around the world who are making a profound impact on the global community by inspiring collaborative solutions to difficult problems. This program brings together two of Profound Impact’s core values: open collaboration and making a positive impact. 

The winner will be announced annually on September 14th, Profound Impact Day, which is a celebration of the world’s diverse leaders and changemakers who are leaving their mark on the global community through their initiatives, influence, and impact.

Award Criteria

To meet the judging criteria for the Impactful Actions Award, the Nominee must: 

  1. Significantly contribute to the area(s) of leadership, mentoring, gender equality and inclusiveness, academic excellence, or research;
  2. Be a living person over the age of 18 years old;
  3. Have achieved professional recognition in their field of study or expertise;
  4. Exemplify the core values of open collaboration and positive impact;
  5. Demonstrate innovative ideas or actions for solving challenging problems with the scalable potential for global impact.

Award Timeline

Key dates in this annual award cycle for 2022 include:

  • JUNE 1 – Award nominations open
  • JULY 20 – Award nominations close (nominations will be accepted until 11:59 PM ET)
  • AUGUST 15 – Three finalists selected and notified
  • SEPTEMBER 14 – Winner honoured on Profound Impact Day

The top 3 finalists will be profiled in early September in Profound Impact’s newsletter. The award winner will be recognized on Profound Impact Day and a donation to their charity of choice will be made by Profound Impact Corporation. 

Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur was the inaugural recipient of the Award in 2021. Dr. Hamdullahpur is the former President & Vice Chancellor and Professor of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He was selected for the impact he has made on university education, research and scholarship in our broader society through constant reform and innovation in the higher education sector, in addition to his involvement in the United Nations’ HeForShe initiative to take action on gender inequality.

If you have questions about the Impactful Actions Award, please email rrusiniak@profoundimpact.com.

The Nominator must contact the Nominee(s) to inform them of their Nomination. Nominee(s) has the right to decline to be nominated, in which case, no nomination should be submitted. Self-nominations are accepted for this award. The nomination submission must be completed using the online nomination form.

Waterloo Grit Podcast

Profound Impact’s CEO, Sherry Shannon-Vanstone, was the guest speaker for an inaugural podcast hosted by Jay Krishnan of Canada’s Accelerator Centre for a great conversation. Sherry shares her personal story and discusses the challenges facing female entrepreneurs in technology, and offers some great advice for meeting those challenges. A mathematician, entrepreneur, innovator, and philanthropist, Sherry defied the odds when it comes to women pursuing STEM careers and has been an advocate for women in STEM, pushing for them to assume a greater role in Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery. Watch the podcast recording here or listen on Spotify here.