Women of Influence
October 27, 2021 Q&A: Serial STEM entrepreneur Sherry Shannon-Vanstone on launching and scaling a social network. Here’s how she managed her business through the pandemic. Read the article online.
Timmy Awards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LOCAL TECH STARTUP PROFOUND IMPACT’S SOHAIL RAMZAN NAMED TORONTO REGION’S BEST TECH MANAGER BY TIMMY AWARDS PANEL
The prestigious tech industry awards program, created by Tech in Motion, announces top regional tech leaders for 2021
WATERLOO, ON | OCTOBER 19, 2021 —Profound Impact™ Corporation, a Waterloo Region-based startup, is proud to announce that Sohail Ramzan, Technical Program Manager at Profound Impact, has been selected as the Toronto Region’s Best Tech Manager for the 7th annual Timmy Awards. He will now have the opportunity to receive even more recognition by competing to take home the North American Award, to be chosen by an expert panel of judges: Dr. Anita Jindal, Senior Director of Engineering at VMware, Akshaya Aradhya, Director of Engineering at Netflix, and Nirmal Srinivasan, Software Engineering Director at PayPal.
“We are extremely proud to recognize leading managers in the tech industry, locally and across North America,” says Mandy Walker, Executive Director of Marketing at Motion Recruitment, Tech in Motion’s creator. “These tech leaders’ steadfast dedication to empowering their teams through all circumstances and adapting to changing circumstances, while still inspiring those around them, deserve recognition.”
Sohail has worked with Profound Impact for nearly two years, leading a cohesive development team that has built and continues to enhance the next-generation social engagement and interaction platform to measure the worldwide impact of an organization and its programming. Guided by Sohail’s leadership and technological expertise, Profound Impact has created an innovative digital community of stakeholders including alumni, academics, researchers, innovators and professionals working together to find actionable solutions to global challenges.
“Sohail’s contributions to Profound Impact have been immeasurable and we are thrilled that his talent and leadership are being recognized,” said Sherry Shannon-Vanstone, founder and CEO of Profound Impact “Sohail and his team have brought our product vision to life, ensuring that our digital community and other services provide the tools and analysis needed to measure impact and tackle complex global issues.”
After the success of last year’s virtual event, the 2021 Timmy Awards ceremony on Oct. 28 will once again be an entirely digital experience on YouTube Premiere. North American winners will be announced live in front of Finalists, Regional Winners and members of the tech community from across North America. The public can RSVP here to attend and see who will be declared as the 2021 North American Winner. Further information on all judges and finalists can be found on the Timmy Awards’ website.
For more information on Profound Impact, please visit www.profoundimpact.com. See how Profound Impact is being deployed by visiting https://demo.profoundimpact.com/.
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ABOUT TECH IN MOTION EVENTS
Tech in Motion is a North American events series that brings local tech community professionals together to connect, learn and innovate. What started as a passion project in 2011, by IT staffing and recruiting firm Motion Recruitment, grew into an organization of over 250,000 members across 14 chapters in North America including Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, LA, New York, Orange County, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. Please visit www.techinmotionevents.com for more information about our notable speakers, sponsors and events.
ABOUT PROFOUND IMPACT CORPORATION
Profound Impact connects great people to do great things by providing a unique and transformational digital community to measure the worldwide impact of an organization and by facilitating and accelerating connectivity to inspire collaborative solutions to difficult global problems.
Website: www.profoundimpact.com
Facebook: @aprofoundimpact
Instagram: @aprofoundimpact
LinkedIn: Profound Impact Corporation
Twitter: @aprofoundimpact
For media inquiries, please contact:
Madison Lambden
519-994-1912
Lindsay Lewis
Tech in Motion Events
lindsay.lewis@techinmotionevents.com
484-252-9071
CEO Message
Welcome to the October edition of Profound Connections.
Celebrating Women of Impact
October is Women’s History Month in Canada, a month dedicated to celebrating the contributions of Canadian women in building the country we know today.
At Profound Impact™, we are celebrating the talented women who help to make up our exceptional team. We are proud to be a Canadian, woman-led company as we continue to connect great people to do great things.
This year’s theme for Women’s History Month — Women Making History Now — recognizes the women who are making a lasting impact for our country today — including addressing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and moving us forward on the path of reconciliation.
Our October Impact Story highlights Jean Becker, Senior Director of Indigenous Initiatives and Interim Associate Vice-President of Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Waterloo. A woman of impact, indeed — read on for the full story!
How can you join in the celebration for Women’s History Month?
- We will be using the hashtag #WomensHistoryMonth all month long to celebrate the significant contributions that women have made, and continue to make, in shaping our society. We invite you to join in the conversation and do the same.
- You can nominate a woman of impact here. Women of Impact in Canada is an online gallery celebrating women’s achievements and contributions to Canadian society.
- Learn more about women’s contributions and important milestones in women’s rights in Canadian history.
- Do you have an Impact Story to share about a woman who has made a difference in your life? Reach out to us at connections@profoundimpact.com for a chance to have your story featured in an upcoming newsletter!
Women have long been trailblazers in creating a better, more inclusive, and equal Canada. Today and every day forward, we must support, uplift and celebrate the women changing our world for the better.
Thank you for your continued engagement and support.
Jean Becker
Senior Director, Indigenous Initiatives
Interim Associate Vice-President, Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion, University of Waterloo
Dedicated to enhancing indigenous education and programming at Ontario’s post-secondary institutions, Jean Becker has made tremendous strides in advancing our understanding of indigenous affairs. Serving as the Senior Director of Indigenous Initiatives at the University of Waterloo, Jean provides strategic leadership in identifying opportunities for systemic change while creating a long-term vision for the university. By building strong relationships between Canada’s indigenous communities and post-secondary institutions, Jean is playing an integral role in the evolution of higher education. Her work has been pivotal in addressing historic misconceptions of indigenous culture, while promoting a deeper understanding of the role that indigenous communities have played in shaping our nation’s past, present and future.
Jean’s inspiration for advancing indigenous education and awareness in post-secondary institutions comes from her own personal post-secondary school experiences. While attaining her undergraduate degrees in sociology and anthropology at the University of Guelph, Jean took a course in women’s history, where the course material centred around the oppression of European women. Having grown up Inuk, as a member of the Nunatsiavut Territory of Labrador, Jean could not relate to these stories of oppression in the Western world. Women in indigenous culture are highly regarded and are often the centre of the communities. Realizing that only one narrative of women’s history was being taught to hundreds of thousands of students across Canada, Jean committed herself to ensuring indigenous education became a bigger component of post-secondary curriculum.
Prior to her role at the University of Waterloo, Jean served as Senior Advisor of Indigenous Initiatives at Wilfrid Laurier University. During her time at Laurier, Jean oversaw indigenous student enrollment increase from 99 students to 600. She also helped implement crucial curriculum and programming changes and brought on a number of indigenous staff members, which she credits as the reason for the increased enrolment numbers.
At the University of Waterloo, Jean has also made significant contributions to the advancement of indigenous education. The university recently announced a cluster hire of 10 indigenous scholars that will be tasked with making curriculum changes across a variety of faculties. It is also in the process of hiring indigenous staff in other critical positions, including in the Office of Research, Recruitment and Admissions, as well as the Student Success Office. Jean is extremely optimistic that once the right people are in place, systemic changes to post-secondary education will follow.
Despite Jean’s professional accomplishments, she attributes her greatest impact to the relationships she has forged. Whether with students, faculty or indigenous communities as a whole, Jean is incredibly proud of the lasting impacts she has made on others around the world. She has inspired students to pursue careers helping people in indigenous communities across Canada. She has also made it her mission to use these relationships to learn, understand and honour the traditions and lifestyles of indigenous peoples.
Recognizing the roles that universities and colleges have played in the false depiction of indigenous communities, Jean is committing to ensuring that no student graduates from post-secondary school without a solid understanding about indigenous people and their history. She is confident that the University of Waterloo is well-positioned to accomplish this feat. From its executive leadership to the rank-and-file, the university is extremely supportive of indigenization. Jean believes this is an important stepping stone to broader societal change, where indigenous communities are called upon to find solutions to addressing inequality and historical wrongdoing.
Jean Becker has had a long and accomplished career in advancing our knowledge and understanding of indigenous people and implementing systemic changes at post-secondary institutions. She has published essential literature on the plight of indigenous peoples across Canada, including a chapter on violence against Aboriginal women in a 2006 book, Remembering Women Murdered By Men: Memorials Across Canada. She also published a Native Studies course on contemporary native communities of Canada for the University of Waterloo and co-authored the Aboriginal Head Start initiative for Health Canada, an early intervention program focused on early childhood development.
In addition to her published works, Jean has been a vocal advocate for indigenous rights and education through public speaking engagements across the country. She has participated in cultural sensitivity workshops on residential schools, as well as equity and human rights panels tackling sexual harassment, the child welfare system and discrimination against indigenous peoples in the justice system. She has also provided counselling for indigenous men in correctional institutes, youths living in group homes and households in crisis that are navigating Family and Children Service agencies.
Jean’s contributions to advancing our understanding of indigenous culture and history have been unparalleled and her continued focus on institutional change will live on for generations to come. You can view some of her accomplishments in the images below:
Do you have an impact story to share? Reach out to us at connections@profoundimpact.com for a chance to have your story featured in an upcoming newsletter!
Canadian Contributions to a Cashless Society
Forthlane Fridays Webinar – Canadian Contributions to a Cashless Society – October 29, 2021
Profound Impact’s Sherry Shannon-Vanstone joined panelists Alfred Menezes of the University of Waterloo and John Loeprich of 3iQ Corp to discuss Canadian contributions to a cashless society from both the macro and micro level that consumers do not often appreciate the importance of, including the technical side, energy and environmental implications.
If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording here.
Here are the Key Takeaways from the webinar by Forthlane Partners.
The Cryptocurrency Landscape
- Regulators in Canada are playing an important role in helping Canada become a leader in transitioning to a cashless society.
- Since 3iQ Corp is the first company worldwide to receive regulatory approval for a prospectus product (the Bitcoin Fund) listed on a major stock exchange, it has made individuals a lot more comfortable. This has resulted in greater adoption in Canada.
- There has been significant portfolio adoption in the U.S., despite cryptocurrency being unregulated.
- Although cashless products are not a core-holding of any portfolios yet, we are seeing more comfort among a lot of institutional investors and hedge fund managers.
- Canada’s research and education organizations have enabled the commercialization of science. As a result, Canada has been a major contributor of information to the cryptocurrency industry.
- As a professor at Waterloo, Alfred Menezes has seen an increase in student interest in cryptography. As an example, a course Alfred teaches about cryptocurrency used to have enrollment of approximately 100 students but has now risen to over 275 students.
- The US government and MIT have partnered around digital currency. In Canada, this partnership would most likely be seen between the government and University of Waterloo.
- Waterloo has the largest research group in cryptography security. Waterloo has already launched the “Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute” with dozens of faculty members who are conducting research in this sector.
Cryptocurrency as the Reserve Currency of the World
- The early developers of Bitcoin and Ethereum comprised of a few anarchists and many strong libertarians. Overall, the founders tend to be very idealistic people. However, this idealistic perspective does not always align with the perspective of banks and nations.
- In principle, it would be wonderful if the world adopted one cryptocurrency, but in practice it is not realistic.
- On September 7, 2021, El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender and was the first country to do so. It is not clear why and whether it will be a success. It will be interesting to see what comes of this decision over the next few months and if Canada should follow.
- Many countries are very against Bitcoin becoming the new world’s reserve currency. Since the U.S. dollar is the current world’s reserve currency, the U.S. does not want Bitcoin to replace it.
Cryptography
- Cryptography helps address big problems, including democratization of access, cost of financial services, a hedge on government, and physical mobility (during WW2, Gold was heavy and immobile, so diamonds were viewed as the “more mobile” product).
- Bitcoin and Ethereum have been wonderful experiments to explore what is envisioned, but there is a lot more to blockchain, with many applications outside of cryptocurrency.
- To push cryptography forward, more commercialization opportunities and conversations are needed.
- We need to continue to encourage research and start-ups, which encourage collaboration. The government is helping to support this as well as the private industry. Monetary investments are also important to support research.
Real World Applications of Cryptography
- Finance companies are implementing security tools, prediction markets, and smart contracts which can all be implemented very quickly.
- The Top 5 banks in Canada have not felt the need to innovate over the last several years. A simple example here is still needing to pay $40 for a wire transfer.
- De-centralized finance can put pressure on the banks to innovate. For example, this could help reduce wire transfer costs and reduce overnight wait time for wire transfers to clear. Transactions could be instant.
De-Centralizing Cryptocurrency
- In theory, de-centralization is nice, but in reality, it is quite hard to achieve.
- Bitcoin was intended to be de-centralized, but decisions are ultimately made by the miners, so are quite centralized.
There are only a handful of miners in the world, and most of these miners were all in China, until a few months ago. Over the last few months, there has been a crack-down on miners in China.
Celebrating Profound Impact Day
Celebrating Profound Impact Day 2021 – September 14, 2021
Profound Impact Day 2021 featured special guest speaker Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, former president at the University of Waterloo. A self-proclaimed lifelong learner, Feridun Hamdullahpur has been a powerful force in building the University of Waterloo’s reputation as a leader in innovation and academic excellence.
Profound Impact Day
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WATERLOO STARTUP LAUNCHES IMPACTFUL ACTIONS AWARD AS PART OF SECOND ANNUAL PROFOUND IMPACT DAY CELEBRATION
Waterloo Region’s very own Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur announced as inaugural recipient of the Award
WATERLOO, ON | SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 — Profound Impact™ Corporation, a Waterloo Region-based startup providing a next-generation social engagement and interaction platform, today celebrates the second annual Profound Impact Day by announcing the launch of the Impactful Actions Award program. Presented at the virtual Profound Impact Day event, Profound Impact™ is pleased to award Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, former President & Vice Chancellor (2010-2021) and Professor of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo as the 2021 recipient.
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. A monetary contribution will be made in honour of Award recipients to an initiative or cause that aligns with their work and impact.
In Dr. Hamdullahpur’s honour as recipient of the 2021 Impactful Actions Award, Profound Impact™ has chosen to donate to the University of Waterloo Student Wellness fund. This fund supports student success by ensuring students have access to resources that promote their physical and mental wellbeing.
“The Impactful Actions Award program brings together two of our core values at Profound Impact™: collaboration and making a positive impact,” said Sherry Shannon-Vanstone,Founder and CEO, Profound Impact Corporation. “It’s always exciting to see the ways our platform is being used to connect people and facilitate future impactful endeavours. It is an honour to recognize Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur this Profound Impact Day 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.”
Celebrated annually on September 14, Profound Impact Day 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.
This year, Profound Impact™ hosted a series of events engaging innovators, thinkers and doers from across Waterloo Region and the world as part of the Profound Impact Day celebration.
Beginning with a virtual event featuring a fireside chat with Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, discussing his previous work with the United Nations’ HeForShe Alliance as a 10x10x10 Impact Champion, the Impactful Actions Award was debuted in its inaugural year.
Further, Profound Impact™ is thrilled to be supporting Hack the North, Canada’s largest hackathon. Announced yesterday, the organization is hosting a pre-hack challenge for hackers to warm up for the 36-hour Hack the North event. Profound Impact™’s Chief Strategic Advisor, Brian Romansky, will present a Tech Talk titled “AI Technology for Data Aggregation and Normalization – Shifting the Value Proposition of Distributed Data”, taking place from 7:00-7:45pm on Saturday, September 18th.
To conclude the Profound Impact Day 2021 series of events, Profound Impact™ is pleased to announce the launch of their new career trajectory product, designed to help universities and colleges, research institutions and social impact organizations gain important alumni insights, develop new strategy and programming, and identify career progression success stories.
Even with the development of new and innovative products, Profound Impact™ remains dedicated to expanding the possibilities of its digital communities, recognizing them as one of the most important tools to help organizations continue to innovate, scale and strengthen — especially as the world emerges from the ongoing pandemic.
“Discovering new relationships, no matter where you are in the world, empowers collaboration. Now more than ever, a thriving digital community can help both individuals and organizations amplify the impact of the work they are doing,” said Sherry Shannon-Vanstone.
For more information on Profound Impact™ and the Impactful Actions Award, please visit www.profoundimpact.com. See how Profound Impact™ is being deployed by visiting https://demo.profoundimpact.com/.
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ABOUT PROFOUND IMPACT CORPORATION
Profound Impact connects great people to do great things by providing a unique and transformational digital community to measure the worldwide impact of an organization and by facilitating and accelerating connectivity to inspire collaborative solutions to difficult global problems.
Website: www.profoundimpact.com
Facebook: @aprofoundimpact
Instagram: @aprofoundimpact
LinkedIn: Profound Impact Corporation
Twitter: @aprofoundimpact
For media inquiries, please contact:
Madison Lambden
519-994-1912
Shannon Dodangoda
905-806-7190
Timmy Award Finalist
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LOCAL TECH STARTUP PROFOUND IMPACT™’S SOHAIL RAMZAN NAMED BEST TECH MANAGER FINALIST FOR TIMMY AWARDS
The prestigious tech industry awards program, created by Tech in Motion, announces top regional tech leaders for 2021
WATERLOO, ON | SEPTEMBER 23, 2021 — Profound Impact™ Corporation, a Waterloo Region-based startup, is proud to announce that Sohail Ramzan, Technical Program Manager at Profound Impact™, has been selected as a Best Tech Manager Finalist for the 7th annual Timmy Awards, which recognizes the top workplaces and people inside the North American tech industry. Ramzan has been named one of three regional finalists in the Toronto area.
Demonstrating great leadership and positive influence, managers such as Sohail Ramzan lead their teams through unexpected territories and inspire performance and growth. The Waterloo Region’s tech community can vote here until September 27 to decide the Regional Winners, who will be judged in the national round by experts from companies like Paypal, Netflix and Oracle.
“In an ever-changing world, we value the unwavering commitment and agility from tech leaders like these, who help strengthen and motivate those around them professionally,” says Mandy Walker, Executive Director of Marketing at Tech in Motion’s creator, Motion Recruitment. “Through the Timmys, we are glad for the opportunity to recognize leaders in tech workplaces dedicated to empowering their teams.”
The selection criteria for the Best Tech Manager is based on the following:
- Promotes career growth and inspires innovation
- Goes above and beyond to ensure a motivating, inclusive team culture
- Employs a clear and communicated vision to produce an innovative product
“We are thrilled that Sohail’s talent and leadership is being recognized as a finalist for this prestigious award,” said Sherry Shannon-Vanstone, founder and CEO of Profound Impact™ Corporation. “At Profound Impact™, our work is rooted in inspiring collaborative solutions to difficult global problems — and Sohail continues to push our mission forward as a visionary manager who remains committed to empowering our team.”
Profound Impact™ offers a next-generation digital community and interaction platform, helping universities and colleges, research institutions and social impact organizations accelerate connectivity, inspire collaboration and measure their impact. Earlier this month, the Profound Impact™ team debuted their new career trajectory solution, designed to help institutions and enterprises find and tell their impact stories through alumni career trajectory data. The company looks forward to releasing additional solutions, including a research/researcher matching solution, to be announced soon.
After the success of last year’s virtual ceremony, the 2021 Timmy Awards ceremony on Thursday, October 28 will once again be a completely digital experience. To vote, RSVP or learn more, visit the Timmys website.
For more information on Profound Impact™ please visit www.profoundimpact.com. See how Profound Impact™ is being deployed by visiting https://demo.profoundimpact.com/.
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ABOUT TECH IN MOTION EVENTS
Tech in Motion is a North American events series that brings local tech community professionals together to connect, learn and innovate. What started as a passion project in 2011, by IT staffing and recruiting firm Motion Recruitment, grew into an organization of over 250,000 members across 14 chapters in North America including Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, LA, New York, Orange County, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. Please visit www.techinmotionevents.com for more information about our notable speakers, sponsors and events.
ABOUT PROFOUND IMPACT CORPORATION
Profound Impact connects great people to do great things by providing a unique and transformational digital community to measure the worldwide impact of an organization and by facilitating and accelerating connectivity to inspire collaborative solutions to difficult global problems.
Website: www.profoundimpact.com
Facebook: @aprofoundimpact
Instagram: @aprofoundimpact
LinkedIn: Profound Impact Corporation
Twitter: @aprofoundimpact
For media inquiries, please contact:
Madison Lambden
519-994-1912
Lindsay Lewis
Tech in Motion Events
lindsay.lewis@techinmotionevents.com
484-252-9071
CEO Message
Welcome to the September edition of Profound Connections. As autumn arrives in our part of the world and summer draws to a close, many of us are gearing up for a time of significant change. For some, it’s back to school — others, a career shift. Whatever this season looks like for you, I wish you continued learning, growth and success.
September is special for us at Profound Impact™ as we celebrate the second annual Profound Impact Day on September 14.
On September 14, 2020, the inaugural Profound Impact Day was celebrated to recognize the global impact of the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo and its role as an international centre of research and development in cybersecurity. Presented by Profound Impact™, the Day was inspired by the late Professor Scott A. Vanstone and the impact that his mentorship and guidance continue to have in the world of mathematics and across various fields.
Reflecting on this Day over the last year, the impact and scale at which we could tell these stories of collective impact and legacy was realized. We set out to develop a community that provides the opportunity for connection and collaboration that all current and future leaders need to meet their potential. We spotlighted those who are contributing to the greater good through their stories of impact. We celebrated the extraordinary accomplishments of those making a difference, right here in Waterloo Region and beyond.
This month’s Impact Story shines light on Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, former President & Vice Chancellor (2010-2021) and Professor of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, engineer, educator and leader. We are thrilled to also welcome Feridun to join us this Profound Impact Day for a fireside chat to discuss his involvement with the United Nations’ HeForShe initiative as a 10x10x10 Impact Champion.
I’d like to extend a warm invitation to you and hope you will join us for this special event on September 14. Registration details and more information can be found below.
Thank you for your continuous engagement and support.
Feridun Hamdullahpur
Former President & Vice Chancellor and Professor of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo
Career summary and major highlights
A self-proclaimed lifelong learner, Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur has been a powerful force in building the University of Waterloo’s reputation as a leader in innovation and academic excellence. Striving for better his entire career, Feridun made significant contributions to education through his role as the University of Waterloo’s sixth President and Vice-Chancellor. Although his leadership trajectory took him from professorship into administration, he remains an active researcher and engaged professor. An advocate of research, connection and innovation, his drive to maximize the impact of higher education on society built a community working together to do better and change the world.
As a young professor busy with research, an early influential interaction with his department chair at TUNS (then the Technical University of Nova Scotia now Dalhousie University) would begin to shape his future. In a conversation with Les, chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Feridun spoke of his dissatisfaction with how the graduate applications were being handled. Les told him there are two types of people in this world: those who complain and leave the work up to others and those who get things done, and asked him, “Which one are you?” Feridun accepted the challenge to get things done and moved into an administrative assignment to improve the program and set the course of his entire career. From this first position to Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and later Dean, Feridun became an influential administrator who constantly recognized opportunities to solve problems and make a difference in higher education.
Viewing mentorship as incredibly important to inspiration, learning and growth, Feridun attributes being able to make the kind of difference he is proud of to working with wonderful people over the course of his career. An early mentor in Turkey taught him to understand the nature of research, and more importantly, the importance of failure and perseverance. Later, after Feridun came to Canada, he and Dr. David McKay would discuss finding meaning in their work. McKay also encouraged Feridun to share learning experiences with his own students, leading him on the path of constant learning.
After a question at a University of Waterloo town hall brought the concerningly low number of female faculty to the forefront, Feridun was inspired to take action on gender inequality. Recognizing the human-made obstacles that stood in the way of gender equity, Feridun resolved to use his position to create an environment that takes action for a more equitable future while remaining committed to the highest degree of academic excellence. This led to his involvement in the United Nations’ HeForShe initiative, a program that seemed tailor-made to help set attainable targets that would shift attitudes and improve accessibility for female scholars. This initiative increased participation from female students and reached a higher number of female faculty members well before target deadlines, maintaining high standards for education while making space for female voices.
Feridun Hamdullahpur speaks at the United Nations HeForShe IMPACT Summit in September 2018.
Despite not being in a classroom for over 20 years, Feridun never stopped being a professor. Reflecting on his own experience, he does not see a future where he is not involved in teaching in some way. He kept up with research, graduate supervision and publishing while remaining committed to improving the student experience, doing as much as possible outside the classroom to enrich and expand their horizons. With continued involvement with the United Nations’ HeForShe initiative as a 10x10x10 Impact Champion and on several university boards and committees in an advisory capacity, Feridun remains involved in shaping the future of education.
After 11 years, Feridun stepped down from the Office of the President, leaving a legacy of lasting change. Four of the six deans at the institution are women and during his tenure Feridun hired four women Vice Presidents and one University Secretary all of whom reported to him, a direct result of building a place of respect that made it accessible for the right people to come forward. There is still room to grow, but Feridun is confident the growth will be organic and a foundation for the exciting changes yet to come.
Feridun has a long history of entrepreneurial and academic success. You can view some of his most significant accomplishments outlined in the images below.
Here’s a link to a live graph on the Profound Impact platform showing Dr. Hamdullahpur’s academic ancestry.
Do you have an impact story to share? Reach out to us at connections@profoundimpact.com for a chance to have your story featured in an upcoming newsletter!