TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2020 – York University’s ELLA Altitude has won the COVID-19 Support Award in the 2020 Canada Innovation and Entrepreneurship Awards, presented in partnership with the Government of Canada’s Trade Commissioner Service.
Also known as the CANIE Awards, the program presented by the Innovators and Entrepreneurs Foundation (IEF), is powered by Startup Canada. The Awards celebrate the achievements of outstanding contributors to Canada’s entrepreneurial landscape through excellence in innovation and entrepreneurship.
“We are honoured to receive the COVID-19 Support Award from the Innovators and Entrepreneurs Foundation, an organization that shares our passion for supporting entrepreneurial endeavours,” said Amir Asif, vice-president research & innovation at York University. “This recognition of an ELLA program highlights York University’s commitment to empower women entrepreneurs and support them, especially at a time when the global pandemic has disproportionately affected women. ELLA is a great example of York’s new educational approaches, such as work-integrated learning, that equip our graduates to thrive in the global knowledge economy.”
ELLA – the Entrepreneurial Leadership and Learning Alliance − recently received federal investment from the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES) Ecosystem Fund to help women entrepreneurs grow their businesses through the Altitude program.
“It is incredible to see the resilience of entrepreneurs and innovators across the country during times like this,” said Kayla Isabelle, IEF’s board chair and executive director, Startup Canada. “Coming together to recognize the strength and tenacity of our community is more important than ever.”
The awards were presented at the CANIE Grand Finale digital ceremony last night. ELLA’s Entrepreneurship Manager Nicole Troster accepted the award on behalf of York University.
York University champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. York students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. York U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, York is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni. York U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.
Media Contact:
Gloria Suhasini, York University Media Relations, 647-463-4354, suhasini@yorku.ca