Do
you
think
you
have
the
next
big
idea?
Thousands
of
UWaterloo
students
have
been
behind
the
hundreds
of
startups,
making
Waterloo
region
the
second
highest
density
of
startups
in
the
world,
according
to
Communitech.
Join
us
in
an interesting
discussion
with
a
couple
of
entrepreneurs
who
have
secured
funding
for
their
startups,
an
angel
investor
who
has
invested
in
multiple
startups
internationally,
and
public
servant
tasked
to
support
underrepresented
entrepreneurs
in
improving
their
economic
participation.
The
panel
discussion
will
be followed
by
breakout
sessions
with
individual
alumni
where
you
can
ask
questions
Moderator:
Vidyut
Ghuwalewala
Vidyut
is
currently
a
student
in
the
Arts
and
Business
co-op
program
in
his
3B
term.
His
past
co-op
experiences
have
included
working
at
Snapcommerce
and
investStartford.
Vidyut
is
also
the
Chief
Operating
Officer
of
Social
Currant,
a
youth-led
creative
studio
that
works
with
purpose-driven
organizations
to
create
maximum
impact,
focusing
on
short
form
video
content
and
influencer
marketing
based
in
Washington
DC.
In
less
than
a
year,
it’s
grown
to
a
team
of
12
employees,
more
than
25
clients
and
a
network
of
200
influencers
creating
impact.
Meet
your
Arts
alumni!
Muneeba
Adil
Omar
(BA
’05,
Political
Science)
Muneeba
Adil
Omar
is Director
at
the
Federal
Economic
Development
Agency
for
Southern
Ontario.
She
joined
the
Canadian
federal
government
through
the
Recruitment
of
Policy
Leaders
program
in
2008,
an
initiative
aimed
at
recruiting
exceptional
candidates
into
the
Public
Service.
She
is
also
a
graduate
of
the
Accelerated
Economist
Training
Program,
a
two-year
leadership
development
program,
during
which
she
worked
on
a
variety
of
social,
economic,
and
international
policy
issues.
Muneeba
was
formerly
Deputy
Director
at
the
Department
of
Innovation,
Science
and
Economic
Development.
Prior
to
this,
she
held
various
government
positions
with
the
Federal
Economic
Development
Agency
of
Southern
Ontario,
Health
Canada,
and
the
Department
of
Finance.
Muneeba
is
the 2013
Faculty
of
Arts
Young
Alumni
Award
recipient.
Tanveer
Ali
(BA
’09,
Political
Science)
As
a
student,
Tanveer
Ali
took
advantage
of
UW’s
entrepreneurial
community
and
founded
his
first
company
in
his
third
year
of
his
undergraduate
degree
program.
Since
then,
Tanveer
remains
an
active
angel
investor,
with
interest
in
technology
and
manufacturing.
Tanveer
is
Co-Founder
and
CFO
of
Frontier
Nutrition,
a
company
that
develops,
manufactures,
and
markets
ultra-affordable
snacks
that
satisfy
consumer
cravings
and
treat
and
prevent
malnutrition
in
emerging
markets.
He
is
also
an
Executive
Director
at
Olympic
Industries,
the
largest
biscuit
manufacturer
in
Bangladesh,
where
he
has
overseen
revenue
growth
from
$7
million
in
2007
to
$140
million
in
2017.
Tanveer
also
sits
on
the
boards
of
a
number
of
tech
companies.
In
2016,
Tanveer
established
the
Ali
Arts
Entrepreneurship
Award
which
provides
$2,500
annually
to
an
Arts
undergraduate
student
enrolled
in
Year
Two,
Three,
or
Four
who
is
pursuing an
entrepreneurial
endeavour.
*Bio
prepared
by
the
Arts
Advancement
office.
Gabriel
Saunders
(BA
'19,
Political
Science)
Gabriel
Saunders
is
a
25-year-old
social
entrepreneur
who
graduated
from
the
Arts
and
Business
program
in
2019
–
majoring
in
Political
Science
and
minoring
in
Entrepreneurship.
Immediately
after
completing
his
undergrad,
he
joined
the
Master
of
Business,
Entrepreneurship,
and
Technology
(MBET)
program
at
the
Conrad
School
of
Entrepreneurship
and
Business,
which
he
graduated
from
in
2020.
He
is
the
Founder
of
Decomp,
an
early-stage
biotechnology
start-up
that
seeks
to
combat
plastic
waste
pollution
through
utilizing
proprietary
plastic-degrading
microbes.
In
September
2021,
Gabriel
presented
Decomp
to
North
America’s
top
environmental
officials
at
the
Commission
for
Environmental
Cooperation’s
28th
Council
Session.
Gabriel
is
also
the
Co-Founder
of
Turks
and
Caicos
TV
(TCITV),
an
influencer
marketing
agency
bridging
influencers
to
the
Turks
and
Caicos
Islands
to
increase
opportunities
for
Turks
and
Caicos
Islanders.
In
August
2021,
TCITV
co-hosted
a
free
basketball
camp
for
kids
with
former
NBA
players.
TCITV
is
also
followed
by
influencers,
such
as
DJ
Khaled,
Chance
the
Rapper,
and
Chase
DeMoor.
Sarah
Sedgman
(BA
'98,
English)
Sarah
Sedgman
is
CEO
of
LearnExperts,
developers
of
a
creator
platform
that
achieves
rapid
course
creation
through
artificial
intelligence
(AI),
who
recently
announced
the
close
of
its
oversubscribed
$1.25M
seed
round
with
participation
from
Sand
Hill
North,
MaRS
IAF,
and
Capital
Angel,
Maple
Leaf
Angel,
and
Georgian
Angel
networks,
including
six
women
investors.
Prior
to
founding
LearnExperts,
Sarah
held
a
number
of
executive
positions
at
technology
companies
such
as
Cognos,
IBM,
PTC,
and
Kinaxis
and
lead
large
multi-million
dollar
learning
businesses.
Sarah
is
a
known
thought
leader
in
the
Learning
Industry
holding
board
positions
on
prominent
associations
such
as
Customer
Education
Management
Association
(CEdMA)
and
Technology
Services
Industry
Association
(TSIA),
speaks
at
many
events,
and
has
won
several
industry
awards
for
innovations
in
learning
and
learning
products.
She
is
also
an
Executive
Advisor
for
the
Scale-up
Program
at
Invest
Ottawa.
