As the last of our summer long weekends leave us, it’s time to refocus on the academic year ahead. September often represents a time of new personal growth and academic acceleration, which reminds our Profound Impact team about why we started this journey in the first place! The collective impact of researchers around the globe gives us the inspiration to follow our passions in life and work hard on what matters most. Profound Impact is a tribute to exactly that. If you’re looking for the best grants for your research, let us find the perfect match! Our latest product, Research Impact, matches researchers with the right grants and funding to ensure you’ll have the support you need to complete your project.
Building on the energy we feel each September, we invite you to save the date for Profound Impact Day on September 14th! Profound Impact Day is celebrated annually to honour my late husband, Professor Scott A. Vanstone, on his birthday. We hope you can join us as we acknowledge and celebrate everyone who is making impactful advancements in their fields of expertise.
Also on September 14th, we will announce the winner of the second annual Impactful Actions Award! For this award, we received nominations from leaders making a profound impact on the global community and inspiring collaborative solutions to difficult problems. We have profiled our top three finalists in this month’s Impact Story. Tune in on Profound Impact Day to find out who will take home the 2022 Impactful Actions Award. Our finalists, Kehkashan Basu, M.S.M., Dr. Mona Nemer, and Dr. Neil Turok, are inspirations to all of us and a reminder of the difference we can make in our world.
Before signing off, I’d like to take a moment to thank the Profound Impact team for their ongoing dedication to our mission. We have started our new fiscal year with plenty of exciting conversations about what’s ahead.
As always, we are thankful for your ongoing support and engagement.
Environmental activists, scientists, and government advocates – the finalists for the 2022 Impactful Actions Award are global leaders exemplifying collaboration while making a positive impact on the world around us. The Impactful Actions Award is presented annually and celebrates individuals who inspire collaborative solutions to difficult global problems.
We’d like to introduce this year’s finalists (in alphabetical order) and provide three short stories of impact. The winner will be announced on September 14th at the 3rd annual Profound Impact Day.
L-R (In Alphabetic Order) Kekashan Basu, M.S.M., Dr. Mona Nemer, Dr. Neil Turok
Kehkashan Basu, M.S.M.
Kehkashan Basu, M.S.M., began her commitment to making the world a better place when she was a child.
“When I was seven, I saw an image of a dead bird with its belly full of plastic. That was very disturbing to me,” Basu said. “I realized that I had to do something to stop that from happening again.”
She planted her first tree at eight years old and founded her own humanitarian organization, the Green Hope Foundation, at the age of 12. The foundation is now celebrating its 10th anniversary.
“I wanted to be able to bridge that lack of inclusivity and really empower those who don’t have access to bringing about change in their own spheres of influence,” Basu said.
The Green Hope Foundation is a global social enterprise working across 26 countries impacting more than 300,000 people. The group works closely with vulnerable communities, bringing them education for sustainable development, and turning that education into ground-level actions focused on water, sanitation, clean energy and food security.
“Overall, we’re working to create an equal and peaceful society so that we are able to really leave no one behind and ensure a life of dignity for all,” Basu said.
Mentorship and collaboration are at the heart of Green Hope Foundation’s work. “You can’t do this on your own,” Basu said. “You need to be able to work with others, share best practices, see where they’re succeeding, and learn from that as well. It’s really about joining hands to bring our effort together, because at the end of the day, it’s our common humanity, it’s our common planet.”
Basu hopes her work through Green Hope Foundation will continue to inspire people to give back to their community and protect the planet. “We want the Green Hope Foundation to be in every country, ensuring we’re able to change the mindsets of those all across society.”
The visualization below showcases Basu’s past accomplishments and awards:
Dr. Mona Nemer
A leader in providing scientific advice for policy development, Dr. Mona Nemer was named Chief Science Advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2017. In her role, Dr. Nemer helps to ensure that science is taken into consideration in government decision-making.
“Increasing the visibility and understanding of science is an important aspect of the work of my office, as it helps provide people with the tools they need to make good decisions for their lives,” Dr. Nemer said.
As Chief Science Advisor, Dr. Nemer is responsible for offering expert advice on key scientific issues. She also assesses how the federal government supports quality scientific research and recommends ways to improve that support. “Science is our best tool for understanding and being able to make predictions about the world,” she said.
Prior to taking on the role of Chief Science Advisor, Dr. Nemer was Vice President of Research and Director of the Molecular Genetics and Cardiac Regeneration Laboratory at the University of Ottawa. A leader in molecular cardiology, Dr. Nemer has discovered several genes associated with development and function of the heart. Her research has contributed to further development of diagnostic testing for heart failure and genetic birth defects.
Dr. Nemer has served on multiple national and international advisory committees and boards, including as an Executive Committee Member of the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. Dr. Nemer put together the COVID-19 expert panel, bringing together researchers and practitioners to provide multidisciplinary advice on aspects of the covid pandemic from infectious disease research and disease modelling to behavioural sciences. The panel helped to bring emerging scientific information about COVID-19 to the Prime Minister and Cabinet in a timely manner to ensure Canada was handling the pandemic in the most effective way possible.
“We saw scientists step up and not only provide advice to governments, but communicate and explain science to the public on a variety of issues,” Dr. Nemer said. “That is because there was really no aspect to the health crisis that shouldn’t be informed by science.”
Dr. Nemer’s work has expanded and diversified scientific advice provided to the federal government by establishing a multidisciplinary network of federal scientific advisors. She worked to help create the Interdepartmental Indigenous STEM Cluster to inform and advance Indigenous innovation in natural science stewardship. Dr. Nemer has a strong commitment to educating the next generation of scientists, supervising more than 100 graduate and postgraduate students around the world during her time in academics. Now, as Chief Science Advisor, she continues to help develop young scientific minds through her pan-Canadian youth council, which provides evidence-based input on scientific issues affecting young people.
The visualization below showcases Dr. Nemer’s past accomplishments and awards:
Dr. Neil Turok
After spending years as a theoretical physicist, Dr. Neil Turok wanted to do something to give back to his home continent and to the global scientific community. Nearly two decades ago, he was prompted by his father to write up a concept note describing his idea for a new kind of centre for advanced scientific training, in Africa. The note was shared with a range of interested parties and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) was born. Dr. Turok, now the Higgs Chair of Theoretical Physics at the University of Edinburgh, was a Professor at the University of Cambridge when AIMS’ first centre was launched in Cape Town, South Africa.
“As a theoretical physicist and a cosmologist, I don’t exactly work on useful things. I work on what happened at the Big Bang and where the universe is going,” Dr. Turok said. “Just about the only useful thing I could do was teach people math, computing and related skills.”
Students travel from across Africa to take part in the program, where they learn from the best lecturers from around the world. Now, more than 19 years since its inception, AIMS graduates over 350 students at Master’s level each year, at centres in Cameroon, Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa.
“As soon as we started, we were overwhelmed with the enthusiasm of the students,” Dr. Turok said. “They said, ‘this is a totally life-changing experience.’ And then all of the international lecturers who came to teach them said, ‘this is the best teaching experience I’ve ever had, because suddenly I’m with these super enthusiastic students from many different cultures and backgrounds.’”
Spots at AIMS are fully funded, including travel, medical insurance, accommodation and tuition. Students make meaningful connections with like-minded scientists around the world. Most go on to lecturing positions at African universities or into industry.
“These students come, in general, from very disadvantaged backgrounds. They come to us because they can’t afford to pay for a scholarship to go overseas to Europe or the U.S. for further study,” Dr. Turok said. “AIMS provides an environment where they can really thrive.”
Dr. Turok said AIMS plans to create five more centres in the next 10 years, scaling up its postgraduate training and research as well as teacher training and STEM high school programs. Dr. Turok predicts a wave of highly motivated young African scientists entering and positively impacting global science.
The visualization below showcases Dr. Turok’s past accomplishments and awards:
Do you have an impact story to share? Let us know at connections@profoundimpact.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming newsletter!
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.
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:
Significantly contribute to the area(s) of leadership, mentoring, gender equality and inclusiveness, academic excellence, or research;
Be a living person over the age of 18 years old;
Have achieved professional recognition in their field of study or expertise;
Exemplify the core values of open collaboration and positive impact;
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
NEW LOCAL VENTURE AND LEGACY PROJECT PROFOUND IMPACT™ PROVIDES NEXT-GENERATION, SECURE DIGITAL COMMUNITY FOR FACULTY, ALUMNI AND STUDENTS
Profound Impact Day will be recognized and celebrated on September 14, 2020 in honour of the late Professor Scott A. Vanstone of the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo
WATERLOO, ON | SEPTEMBER 9, 2020 — With university populations returning in new capacities for the 2020-21 academic year, Profound Impact Corporation is introducing a new and secure way for faculty, alumni and students to engage through its innovative digital platform.
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, Profound Impact helps to engage the untapped capacity of scholar and alumni networks in hopes of inspiring collaborative solutions to global problems.
The Profound Impact digital community has been designed for use by universities and other research institutions and their stakeholders to engage, discover, and measure the impact that the institution and its community have had and continues to have on the world. Different from existing alumni engagement platforms, Profound Impact is a powerful tool that involves all stakeholders associated with the institutional user — tracking the impact year over year of scholars and alumni while also enabling its users to visualize and explore hidden connections for collaborative purposes.
Founded in honour of her late husband by Sherry Shannon-Vanstone, a local renowned serial entrepreneur, trailblazer in the fields of STEM, business and philanthropy, and expert in information security, the Profound Impact platform has been developed on a foundation of privacy and security. Another one of the platform’s key differentiators is its capacity for visualization and use of data analytics.
“With incredible research and innovation happening at our universities, it’s crucial to have a system that will facilitate connections and push the boundaries of discovery,” said Shannon-Vanstone. “Being able to share stories of both individual and collective impact on our platform will help the community realize the lasting legacy of these relationships.”
The inaugural Profound Impact Day will be recognized on September 14, 2020 in Waterloo to acknowledge and celebrate the global impact of Scott A. Vanstone, the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo and its role as an international centre of research and development in cybersecurity.
On that day, at 12 noon, university alumni, faculty and students across Canada and the U.S. will join in a celebration of the power of alumni and faculty engagement and connection with a demonstration of the Profound Impact platform. A second event at 4 p.m., hosted in conjunction with the University of Waterloo Math Faculty, will focus on the Math Faculty’s vision for research, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship and profound impact of early discovery, experimentation, and disruption through research and invention.
“As a math alumnus of the University of Waterloo, I reflect on many intersections of student co-op experiences, professors, and industry researchers over the decades that have proven so fruitful to each side of the equation,” stated Dave Jaworsky, Mayor, City of Waterloo and BMath ‘88. “Most of these have been through chance relationships. I had the chance to work with Professor Vanstone in the wireless security industry, and this new digital community will honour and cultivate his spirit of collaboration.”
Inspired by the late Professor Scott A. Vanstone of the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo and the impact that his mentorship and guidance continue to have in the world of mathematics and across various fields, Profound Impact™ provides a unique digital community that connects people to help them become aware of undiscovered relationships and to demonstrate their individual and collective profound impact stories.
