Community | ELLA

The ELLA Community is comprised of entrepreneurs, experts, industry professionals and supporters all coming together for the common goal of empowering women to rise in entrepreneurship.

“Individually we are one drop. Together we are an ocean.” - Ryunosuke Satoro

Advisory Committee

The ELLA Advisory Committee consists of highly-acclaimed women leaders that actively demonstrate what is possible when women are empowered to rise in their field. Under their guiding advice, ELLA programs are poised to provide the tangible resources and support this underrepresented community needs to achieve their highest potential.

Guided by outstanding people:

DR. GEORGETTE ZINATY

Executive Vice President at Corporate Class Inc.

TEDx Speaker

Selected as 1 of 6 Canadian Women Empowering Women

Founder of WHEW! (Women Helping Empower Women)

Forbes Coaches Council Member

REETU GUPTA

Ambassadress & Chairwomen of the Gupta Group

Co-Founder of Rogue Insights Capital

Named one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women 2020 by Women's Executive Network

SNITA BALSARA

Investor at Graphite Ventures

Founding Committee Member of Canadian Women in VC

Committee Member of Scale Without Borders

Board Member of Rexdale Women's Centre and Golden Triangle Angel Network

VALERIE FOX

Chief Innovation Consultant at The Pivotal Point

Co-Founder of the DMZ at Ryerson University which launched in 2010, and by 2015 was named the number one University Business Incubator in North America and number 3 in the world

What do you value most about the ELLA program?

“The environment that all elements of the program create together. It is a space I can be comfortable being ambitious in. I feel supported, celebrated and validated.”

— ELLA Altitude 2020 Alum

Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIRs)

Our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIRs) are experienced entrepreneurs who draw from their own first-hand experience in building their own business(es) to provide expert advice in a mentor role. Each ELLA program participant is assigned an EIR who will work closely with them throughout the program to help them address challenges, push boundaries and grow successful businesses.

Gain one-on-one mentorship with an experienced entrepreneur:

AMOYE HENRY

Millennial Entrepreneur and Investment Consultant

In 2018, she was named one of Canada's top 100 Accomplished Black Women. Through enticing pitches and building strong brand partnerships, she has helped to secure approximately $11M in funding for local entrepreneurs, start ups and community organizations. Recently, she co-founded Pitch Better, a market research start up that led Canada’s first and largest open market study on Black women entrepreneurs. This led to North America’s first interactive and dynamic dashboard identifying 1500+ Black women businesses across Canada... http://foundhers.ca. Currently, Amoye and her partner have partnered with CILAR through Facebook Canada to deploy hundreds of thousands of dollars to help support Black entrepreneurs through the pandemic.

In addition to running Pitch Better, Amoye co-founded and Executive Produced the AfroChic Cultural Arts Festival. Since its inception in 2010, AfroChic has created opportunities for over 350 local and international artists, entrepreneurs and cultural practitioners. As a cultural arts leader, she has advocated for the broader Canadian society to embrace, recognize and respect the cultural and historical contributions of people of African descent, bringing communities together. AfroChic is now a global entity having produced content in Canada, United States and West Africa.

A recent graduate at Ivey Business School’s Executive MBA program - Amoye continues to lift as she climbs the corporate Canada ladder and works to create more representation for people of color within the capital markets, by supporting up and coming women and diverse people.

MARGARET ZANEL

Founder & Partner, Strategy and Leadership of Wentworth Strategy Group Inc.

President of Zanel Advisory Group Inc.

Margaret is a recognized expert in supporting senior leaders advance to and be highly effective within the C-Suite, and purpose-driven organizations achieve revenue growth.

She works with leaders to help them develop a path to achieve their professional goals; and senior teams to rapidly grow revenue through expansion into new markets, new geographies, innovative offerings, new capabilities, and new programs.

Margaret is a highly skilled executive advisor, strategist, entrepreneur, diversity champion and leadership coach with over 30 years of experience in Fortune 100 and private equity-backed early growth & start-ups in Canada, the US, and globally. Her industry experience is in the high-growth sectors of technology, cannabis, and retail health & wellness.

Margaret is the Founder & Partner of Wentworth Strategy Group Inc., a diversified management consultancy focused on helping small and medium enterprises thrive. She leads the Strategy and Leadership practice. Margaret is also President, Zanel Advisory Group Inc., supporting senior leaders advance to and be effective within the C-Suite, through leadership advancement coaching and strategic advisory.

As a passionate advocate of diversity, equity and inclusion, Margaret works tirelessly to support women's advancement in the c-suite and the boardroom. She is co-instructor of the inaugural DeGroote School of Business, Executive Education Program on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace. Margaret is the first women facilitator of the Board of Trade's Trade Accelerator Program (TAP) for women-led and women-owned business cohorts across Canada. She is an Entrepreneur In Residence with the Ella Accelerator, Ontario's first accelerator focused on supporting women-led product and service-based businesses. Margaret is the Founder of the Women Entrepreneurs Network, a social platform to inspire and educate the next generation of women entrepreneurs. She was also the Executive Director, Mentorship Programs for Women Get on Board Inc.

Margaret currently serves on the Advisory Board of HerRide, Canada's first women driving women ride-hailing membership-based company. She is also an Advisor to a game-changing global conservation tech start-up WildTechDNA. Margaret served for two years on the McMaster Alumni Board. She also served on the board of Xerox Canada Inc. She is an alumnus of the Judy Project. In 2018 Margaret was selected as one of Diversity MBA Magazine's "Top 50 over 50", and in 2020 Margaret was recognized as one of Diversity MBA Magazines, "Top 100 Women of Influence".

NATASHA FREIDUS

Social Entrepreneur & The Co-Founder and CEO of NeedsList.

Natasha Freidus is a social entrepreneur and trailblazer re-imagining the future of tech for good.  She is the co-founder and CEO of NeedsList, a software company powering a new model of crisis response. With over one million in ARR, Natasha has secured partnerships for NeedsList ranging from Google to USAID to Grand Challenges Canada. 

Natasha has over two decades of experience applying human centred design for social impact. Prior to NeedsList, Natasha founded Creative Narrations, a training and consulting firm grounded in storytelling as a tool for social change. Her clients included HP, YMCA of the USA and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Natasha enjoys supporting other women and non-binary entrepreneurs on everything from business strategy to pitching investors to brand development. She currently serves on the advisory boards of Sitti Soap and Atelier MBOKA. 

SANDRA BEKHOR

Founder, Bekhor Management

Sandra Bekhor founded Bekhor Management in 2005 to enable lawyers, architects, accountants and other professionals to realize the vision for their practice through business and marketing strategies, from start-up through to succession planning.

Sandra regularly writes about practice development for CBA PracticeLink and SlawTips. In partnership with the Toronto Lawyers Association, Sandra co-founded, ‘Keeping it Social’, a LinkedIn group for Toronto lawyers.

Sandra is the instructor for the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s 'Marketing for Architects' course. She also contributed a chapter to the 2nd edition of ‘Marketing Techniques for Law and Professional Practices’, published by the American Bar Association.

TARA LONGO

Healthy Butcher Founder and Entrepreneurial Advisor

Tara Longo is an entrepreneur with a deep passion for food.  In early 2005, she became a leader in the food industry by opening the first Certified Organic retail store in Ontario called The Healthy Butcher.  Over the next 15 years, she expanded into 3 locations in Toronto and Kitchener, and opened an online grocery delivery business.  Moreover, she made an impact on how animals were raised, how farmers were treated, and how food was sold in Ontario.   

Tara has a business education, with strong skills in finance and operations and has been recognized for her accomplishments several times, including Impact’s Green Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year, Star Women in Grocer, and Excellence in Corporate Responsibility Award.  Tara brings her passion to the business community through various programs and groups working with entrepreneurs to help them succeed. 

VALERIE FOX

Chief Innovation Consultant at The Pivotal Point & Co-Founder of the DMZ at Ryerson University

Valerie Fox is on a mission to help entrepreneurial communities thrive locally, nationally, and internationally based on a triple win practice of partnership, collaboration, and iteration. Valerie has over 30 years of experience in the digital world, where she initially founded a graphic design business. She was later pursued by IBM to be part of their innovation intrapreneurial network, where she led design teams for enterprise software design, and was the creative director for large experience sites, such as the Sydney Olympics. Valerie was also awarded 5 patents, including one for the Universal Shopping Cart for the Web, which is in the top 5% of IBM patents. Additionally, she also won the Sara Kirke Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the 2016 CNE Woman of Distinction award, and had the honour of being part of the 2016 Canada Innovation Leaders team. Valerie is able to lend her expertise to foster innovation throughout Canada and is a valuable contributor to the ELLA program.

Entrepreneurs-In-Residence (EIRs/Mentors)

Gain one-on-one expert guidance from an experienced professional!

“She took time to understand me, and yet pushed me out of my comfort zone. I was able to see my business from a different perspective thanks to her insistence and experience.”

— ELLA Ascend 2020 Alum

Community Partners

ELLA is here to create real, tangible changes to propel women entrepreneurs. We draw on the support of passionate and engaged Community Partners to help us give entrepreneurs access to the information and resources they need to grow their businesses.