Our Entrepreneurs in Residence

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.

Anita has managed brands with $100MM+ in annual revenue across AI, tech, finance, lifestyle and end of life categories. Currently, she is the Director of Marketing at Fraction, a fintech company that provides fairer financial solutions to homeowners across North America.

Futurist Cherry Rose Tan is a General Partner at Renew Venture Capital, whose mission is to solve society’s biggest challenges by purposely renewing how we invest in and help build companies, all while leading with empathy. Alongside a diverse and talented team of ex-operators, she brings expertise in early-stage B2B SaaS, network effects, and regulated industries like fintech and healthtech.

With over 15 years of experience in Tech, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, she has built a reputation as the First Mover in several industries, including crypto, edtech, and mental health. Tan served as Pre-Seed Investor of Paycase Financial, a Canadian blockchain pioneer that provides infrastructure and liquidity to global financial markets, where she and her brother worked on financial inclusion for the bottom billion.

Her previous company #REALTALK, the mental health movement for the tech industry, is known for being North America’s first and largest platform on Founder Mental Health. Specializing in working with high-net worth and C-Suite clientele, Tan grew the movement to 40,000 leaders and 70 national champions in four years, with a synonymous Top 14 Business podcast on iTunes as well.

As an Innovation Keynote Speaker, Tan is represented by the Speakers Bureau of Canada. She is the Entrepreneur in Residence at the Schulich School of Business, based in Canada's third largest university, where she advises a global ecosystem of 200 startups and 3,000 members. Her companies have been featured on Forbes, Inc., The Globe and Mail, CBC, Nasdaq, Reuters, and Insider for being disrupters in their industries.

Expertise:
Business Strategy | Pricing | E-commerce | Channel Strategy | Category Management | Consumer Research

Elliott is an educator and serial entrepreneur. Elliott spent 20 years in sales and sales leadership roles with high-tech companies including Microsoft and Dell before catching the entrepreneurship bug. He started his first business, AddMirror, in 2019 and sold it in 2017 after hitting seven figure sales numbers. His current venture includes a patented smart home platform. Elliott has a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA in Marketing from the Schulich School of Business.

Today, Erin is back to her fractional CMO roots, working with high-growth companies, as well as teaching the next wave of digital marketing professionals.

Hannah Lau is originally from Canada who has since built a career in Asia for the past 15 years. She has a diverse background of international corporate experience and also entrepreneurship where she founded her own consulting company - Astera Asia (www.astera.asia).
She is skilled in helping organizations (especially smaller outfits like nonprofits, startups, small/med businesses) build, fix, and change. This includes areas like strategic/business planning, organizational development, crisis/change, marketing/communications, etc. She’s passionate about helping fellow entrepreneurs in foundational ways so that their ventures have a strong start.

Helen has been advising artificial intelligence and emerging technology startups since 2014, including within in her own incubator, which she co-founded in 2015: The UofT's Department of Computer Science Innovation Lab (DCSIL). Where she supported students and faculty to commercialize their innovations.

A strategic and visionary chief executive with over 25 years of industry expertise and extensive experience in distribution, go-to-market for product development, consumer goods, and operational management, Indu Bains is a Principal with The Osborne Group, an Executive Consultant and Founder of Bainsco Consulting Group. Her mainstays are Interim/Fractional COO Roles, Operational Reviews, Strategic Plans, Leadership Coaching, and Sales/Marketing Strategies.
An energetic leader, Indu has international experience with negotiating contracts and developing sales pipelines, managing multifunctional teams, building and leveraging strategic relationships, and addressing organizational needs. As COO for SIMS Medical Corp for over 17 years, Indu led coast-to-coast operations for the distribution of medical goods via B2B and D2C channels, strategically propelling the growth of several major healthcare brands from zero Canadian sales to multi-million revenues. She has built her own e-commerce stores and partnered with third parties such as Amazon, Staples, Best Buy, etc.
Indu recruited, trained, and directed an award-winning customer service team, national sales force and management leadership team for operations, administration, finance, sales/marketing, and warehouse divisions. She has outfitted a full-service FIFO warehouse operation from purchase of building, to flow and design, to staffing and automation integrations, and created a strong supply chain with transport and logistics effectively importing products across the Canadian border with a 97% compliance rate. Additionally, Indu has founded and started up multiple successful small businesses, both brick & mortar and e-commerce.
In addition to executive consulting, Indu is a director on several boards in commerce, education, and healthcare. She has effectively negotiated several contracts & agreements, is a subject matter expert on many MedTech expert panels and advised on numerous mergers and acquisitions for global corporations leading to a very high 90% rate of successful execution.
Indu has a passion for healthcare systems, public education, commerce development, and DEIB initiatives, as reflected by her elected board positions and multiple community involvements. An avid learner, Indu excels in market research and application of data to develop operational and sales plans and thrives in providing mentorship for startup entrepreneurs.

Expertise:
Business Strategy/KPI | Pricing | Category Management | Sales (Broker/Dist rel’n) | Leadership | Team-building | Negotiation | Retail Strategy and Execution | Commercial Strategy

Expertise:
Business Strategy/KPI | Pricing | Category Management | Sales (Broker/Dist rel’n) | Innovation development | Marketing | Social Media | Financial | Inventory Control | Production Optimization | Co-packing

Kavita Srivastava is an accomplished finance, accounting, and valuations executive with an impressive track record spanning over 25 years. Currently holding the position of Senior Director at a prominent global firm, her primary focus lies in valuations and dispute consulting. In addition to her corporate role, she serves as the fractional CFO for a technology startup, bringing her extensive financial expertise to guide the company's growth.

Beyond her professional commitments, she actively participates in various organizations to foster women's empowerment and entrepreneurship. As an Activator and member of the Loan Committee at Coralus (formerly known as SheEO), she plays a pivotal role in reviewing and approving funding applications from the Perpetual Fund. Additionally, she contributes as one of the Toronto City Leads at the Canadian Women's Network (CWN), where her responsibilities include engaging and building a vibrant community of members in Toronto.

Kavita Srivastava is also a mentor at She Raises Capital where she helps women funded startups with the accounting and finance side of their businesses.
She has also served twice as a judge for the Rhyze Ventures (through Innovation Guelph) program pitch competition.

Prior to founding Diligen, Laura was the Managing Director of Distility. Laura holds undergraduate and honors degrees from the University of Cape Town and a Masters from Oxford University. She tweets as @lauravanwyn about legal technology, artificial intelligence and the future of work.

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".

Maryam Golabgir is the Chief Amazement Officer of Digital Marketing Experts, a Newmarket-based digital marketing consulting firm. She is a digital marketing veteran with over 17 years of experience.

Maryam has worked in the Telecommunications, E-commerce, IPTV, A.I. Development, Broadband Alliance, and Financial industries. Maryam has worked with many B2B and B2C clients across many industries such as Ford Canada, Nissan Dealer Group, Howard Johnson Hotels Canada, Staples Canada, Bell Canada, Rogers Wireless, Canadian Stone Industries (Cultured Stone®) and the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC), among others.
Maryam believes creating a sustainable digital marketing strategy will require a sharp vision and loads of metrics to accompany digital plans.
Maryam’s digital expertise is in Social Media Marketing strategies, Website Development, Search Engine Marketing and Optimization, Online Advertising and Video / Mobile Marketing.

Mick began his entrepreneurial journey after having worked for the financial services and card payment industries as a product marketing executive. Since beginning his first company, he has pivoted twice and now leads a highly innovative cybersecurity company. Mick possesses a very strong knowledge base in business development strategy, marketing, sales, operational management, technology & security strategy, and relationship building/management. He continues to be front and center at the crossroads of advancing technologies and user experiences, with a particular focus on privacy and security.

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. 

Prior to BWI, Rishabh was the CEO of Lake Finance, working on bringing multi-asset wealth management to retail audiences. He also worked within the Facebook Messenger monetization team to scale revenue, and was the Chief Product Officer at Bunz.com, a bartering community which scaled to 500,000+ members in 250+ cities globally. Rishabh has been building and scaling teams across financial services, marketplaces and community-driven applications since 2010.

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.

Susan Goebel, has over two decades of senior operations and business leadership experience spanning a variety of industries. Susan started out in the pharmaceutical industry where she developed and honed her skills in contract management, team building and leadership, mergers and acquisitions, funding, operations, business management and lobbying.

Susan also co-founded a pharmaceutical company and found herself fully vested in the Chief Operations seat. While using both her business and science background in the Bioscience Boardroom, helping doctors and veterinarians who were solving unmet needs bring their products to market as well as providing operational support.

Understanding the needs of scaling businesses, Susan founded Scaling Management Consulting Group, Inc, which offers scaling companies access to experienced executives on a fractional basis, allowing them to grow faster at a fraction of the cost.

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.

Email: longo.tara@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-longo/

Expertise: Financing | Operations | Business management | Divesting business | Retail locations | online grocery

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.