Sohail Ramzan

CEO Message

by Profound Impact
December 5, 2023December 5, 2023

November was a busy month for the Profound Impact team as we released our annual Social Impact Report, participated in industry conferences and met with venture capitalists in the US in preparation for the company’s next funding round.

The Profound Impact Social Impact Report highlights strategies we’ve undertaken over the last twelve months to maintain and improve a positive environment for our employees. These initiatives have included monthly in-person team meetings, team-building activities, virtual social events (including group cooking sessions), group volunteering, professional skills and growth support education programs, a team-wide book club and the matching of charitable contributions to community organizations. I’m proud to report that Profound Impact has achieved an employee retention rate of 100% (with 0% attrition) while growing the team by 33%. This employee retention rate is in stark contrast with tech companies globally, where the average attrition rate sits at 13.2%.

Conference attendance and presentations took Profound Impact employees across North America to learn more about key technologies and to meet current and potential customers.

Our Technical Program Manager, Sohail Ramzan, attended AWS Reinvent in Las Vegas to meet with AWS experts and to learn about the latest cloud industry innovations and how generative AI is revolutionizing the workplace.

Sherryl Petricevic, Director of Strategic Alliances and Partnerships was joined by Mike Folinas, Director of Research Administration at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto to present a case study on the use of Profound Impact’s Research Impact tool at the Canadian Association of Research Administrators (CARA) East in London, Ontario.

Jacqueline Watty from our Business Development team represented Profound Impact at qConnect 2023 in Calgary to connect with researchers and industry representatives discussing Canada’s role as a leader in quantum research and development, and how and why quantum is going to affect, change and benefit businesses.

Karl Burger, Director of Sales, attended the VentureLAB HardTech Summit, Canada’s premiere technology and innovation-focused summit that brought together global industry leaders, Canadian founders, investors, and innovators to explore the necessary ingredients to build a strong, connected hardware and semiconductor ecosystem in Canada.

Dr. Deborah Rosati, the chair of Profound Impact’s board of directors, and I took part in Pathways to Silicon Valley, where 24 female founders from across Canada participated in a curated immersion program designed for women founders of start-ups on their path to global business growth. We joined this program to establish relationships with US venture capital firms to prepare for our next fundraising round and our launch into the US in 2024.

December is the season of giving and the team at Profound Impact is demonstrating the power of small acts of kindness through our annual 12 Days of Impact, a program that encourages generosity. Our 12 Days of Impact campaign provides great examples of easy and inexpensive ways to be kind and generous and has also helped members of the Profound Impact team create a meaningful sense of contribution to their community while increasing bonds of collegiality on the job. We encourage you to download the 12 Days of Impact calendar and challenge your team to participate through small acts of kindness that have great big impacts.

I wish you all the best for 2024 and look forward to working with you in the new year.

Sherry Shannon-Vanstone

Sohail Ramzan

by Profound Impact
December 13, 2021March 1, 2022

Technical Product Manager, Profound Impact Corporation

A born innovator with exceptional leadership skills, Sohail Ramzan has made his mark on the international tech community. From working with multinational software companies, Oracle partners and global multilevel marketing companies in Pakistan and the Middle-East, Sohail is now a technical program manager with Profound Impact™, leading a team that is building the company’s solutions including Connection Impact, an engagement and interaction platform; Career Impact, a career trajectory tool to provide actionable insights by analysing alumni career data; and soon to be released Research Impact, a data-driven tool that assists research universities and institutions to achieve their goals of increasing the effectiveness of their research staff.

Born in Pakistan, Sohail completed his MBA at Hamdard University in 2003 before pursuing a career as a software engineer. As time passed, Sohail continued to climb the corporate ladder, becoming a software development manager and then a project manager for companies in South Asia and the Middle East. In 2016, Sohail and his family decided to immigrate to Canada, where he continued to explore opportunities to advance his tech career. Sohail joined the Profound Impact team in 2019 as Technical Program Manager, where he has been building the organization’s diverse and talented workforce while inspiring product innovation.

A true advocate of career growth and team culture, Sohail brings compassion, communication and flexibility to his role, embracing a diversity of perspectives that ultimately leads to successful team outcomes. He was recently named a Timmy Award finalist for Best Tech Manager for his role in leading geographically distributed teams through unexpected challenges while inspiring performance and growth. Sohail’s stewardship and expertise has contributed greatly to Profound Impact’s success.

Sohail credits his family for giving him the inspiration and drive to pursue his professional goals. Sohail’s son was born with spina bifida, a neural tube defect that affects the spine. Despite the physical disability, his son has thrived in Canada. He is an ambassador for WeCare Canada, an organization that provides life-changing programs and services for children and youth with physical disabilities. A true advocate for children with special needs, Sohail’s son also represented Easter Seals Ontario by participating in fundraisers, radio commercials, telethons and other events to generate awareness and raise money for special needs children. His son’s ability to demonstrate this type of leadership at 13 years of age inspires Sohail in his professional journey to leverage the power of technology to make a difference in the world. Sohail is working on his first book about accessibility and inclusiveness, planned to be launched in 2022.

Through his work at Profound Impact, Sohail is using his skills and expertise to lead the development of the company’s products including the Connection Impact platform, which functions as a digital community helping people become aware of undiscovered relationships. Through those relationships, the platform helps to accelerate connectivity and inspire collaborative solutions to difficult global problems.

One of the most important organizational changes implemented by Sohail since joining Profound Impact was his decision to change the development model from being outsourced to being built in-house. Sohail hired his own team and began building the platform internally, which optimized performance, improved efficiency and expedited timelines. Sohail is also leading the creation of Profound Impact’s visualization tools such as the academic ancestry tool, which combines private and public data using artificial intelligence to create linkages between alumni. This tool has the capability to trace back hundreds of years, demonstrating the global impact of one’s educational ancestry.

Key to Sohail’s success has been his ability to inspire creativity amongst his team while facilitating collaboration and communication. Sohail rallies his team to produce high quality results, while creating an environment that avoids burnout. He celebrates his team’s successes, encourages career advancement through the attainment of certificates and new credentials, and frequently supports causes that his team is passionate about.

What keeps Sohail motivated is leveraging the power of data to make a difference in the world. His impact, both tangible and intangible, is quite significant. Sohail is incredibly proud of the effect he has had on younger people he has trained in the industry. Over his 18 years in software development management, Sohail has taught many people who have gone on to successful careers with multinational companies. His passion for mentorship and commitment to product innovation have made Sohail a true innovator, committed to leveraging the power of data and technology to inspire global change.

Sohail holds many technical certifications including: AWS Certified Solution Architect (CSA), Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA), Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Project Management Professional(PMP) and PRINCE2 Practitioner.

You can view some of Sohail’s accomplishments in the image below:

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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!

CEO Message

by Profound Impact
November 9, 2021February 10, 2022

Welcome to the November edition of Profound Connections.

The past few weeks have been an exciting time for our team at Profound Impact™.

We are proud to announce that our very own Sohail Ramzan, Technical Program Manager, was selected as the Toronto Region’s Best Tech Manager for the 7th annual Timmy Awards. Sohail’s contributions to Profound Impact have been immeasurable and we are thrilled that his talent and leadership are being recognized through this prestigious awards program. Congratulations, Sohail!

In addition, Sherryl Petricevic, our Business Development Consultant at Profound Impact has been named a recipient of the 2021 Leading Women, Leading Girls — Building Communities Recognition Award from MPP Laura Mae Lindo. This recognition program acknowledges and celebrates women-identified Kitchener Centre residents who have demonstrated exceptional leadership to improve the lives of others and who have made substantial contributions to the community.

Also new this month — I am thrilled to have been elected to CANARIE’s Board of Directors. It’s an honour to be joining such an esteemed group of professionals, all of which bring unparalleled expertise in technology, innovation, finance and academia. More on these announcements below!

This week is an exciting one as we celebrate National STEM Day (November 8) and Global Entrepreneurship Week (November 8-14). Here we are, 20 months since COVID-19 emerged, and we are working harder than ever to reboot our economies for a better, more sustainable and equitable post-pandemic world. These two national and global events signify how we can be rethinking our approach to build back stronger and regenerate growth.

This past Monday, we had the opportunity to watch a special screening of the 3M produced documentary film “Not the Science Type” by the 3M Women’s Leadership Forum in celebration of National STEM Day. I invite you to watch the preview here. And don’t forget to check out the tens of thousands of activities, competitions and events hosted by millions of people all over the world in celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Thank you for your continued engagement and support.

Warmest regards,

Sherry Shannon-Vanstone

Timmy Awards

by Profound Impact
October 19, 2021May 13, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOCAL TECH STARTUP PROFOUND IMPACT’S SOHAIL RAMZAN NAMED TORONTO REGION’S BEST TECH MANAGER BY TIMMY AWARDS PANEL

2021-Timmy-Awards-Ramzan-Named-Torontos-Best-Tech-Manager Download

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:

Durrell Communications

media@profoundimpact.com

Lindsay Lewis

Tech in Motion Events

lindsay.lewis@techinmotionevents.com

484-252-9071

Timmy Award Finalist

by Profound Impact
September 2, 2021May 13, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOCAL TECH STARTUP PROFOUND IMPACT™’S SOHAIL RAMZAN NAMED BEST TECH MANAGER FINALIST FOR TIMMY AWARDS

Profound-Impact-2021-Timmy-Awards-Press-Release Download

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/.