BMath’10, Business and Math Double Degree
About Karima
Dr. Karima Ladhani is a social entrepreneur, global health expert and innovation strategist dedicated to reducing maternal and newborn mortality. She is the Founder and CEO of Barakat Bundle, a nonprofit that provides life‑saving care, educational resources and sustainable maternal and newborn products for mothers and babies in South Asia. She is also launching a new social enterprise called Kulsum, named after her grandmother, which focuses on sustainable sleepwear for women and gives back to communities.
Dr. Ladhani also works as an independent strategy and innovation consultant supporting universities, incubators and development organizations at the intersection of social innovation and international development. She serves on the Core Panel of the Future of Health and Economic Resilience in Africa Initiative at Harvard University and is an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Georgetown McDonough School of Business.
Her work encompasses research, mentorship and policy engagement across Africa, Asia and the U.S.A. She has received numerous awards recognizing her leadership in public health and innovation. Dr. Ladhani holds undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Business from the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, as well as a Master’s and PhD in Public Health from Harvard University. She was also honoured with the 2022 Young Alumni Achievement Medal from the University of Waterloo.
Karima’s Perspective
As part of our series celebrating women who lead with purpose, we invited Karima to reflect on what fuels her commitment to service, how her Waterloo Math experience shaped her path and the impact she strives to create in her community and around the world. .
The Values That Shaped Me
Giving back has been a core value in my life from a very young age. My parents instilled in me the importance of service and community impact. I’ve always seen volunteering not as something you do for a short period of time, but as a lifelong commitment.
My parents continue to lead by example. My mother has helped establish microbiology labs around the world, most recently in Nairobi, Kenya and Gilgit, Pakistan. My father volunteers to support job creation and help connect new immigrants to Canada with employment opportunities. These experiences shaped my understanding of service and responsibility.
For me, volunteering is not just about dedicating time, it’s about creating meaningful impact. Whether through community service or through my professional career, giving back has been a consistent through line in my life. I’ve always wanted my leadership to reflect on that commitment; ensuring that whatever role I hold contributes positively to my community and to the global community at large.
How Waterloo Helped Me Find My Path
My education in mathematics at Waterloo had a profound influence on both my career path and my commitment to serving others. When I began the Math/Business double degree program I expected to pursue a career in finance with volunteering existing as a parallel part of my life.
It was through the Co-op program that my perspective shifted. I discovered that while I enjoyed applying math and business in professional settings, I wanted impact to be fully integrated into my career not separate from it. For many students, co-op confirms what they want to do. For me, it clarified what I didn’t want to do. That realization was critical, because it gave me the confidence to pivot toward a path more aligned with my values.
Discovering Public Health and Building Something New
As I approached the end of my undergraduate degree, I reached out to several Waterloo professors working in health-related fields, sensing that public health might offer the impact-driven work I was seeking. Professor Geoffrey Fong in the Department of Psychology responded to my email, in which I highlighted the transferable skills I had developed through mathematics. He hired me as a research assistant with the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Project after I graduated.
In that role, I worked on evaluating tobacco control policies being implemented globally under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. It was there that I applied my mathematical and business training in an entirely new context and discovered the field of public health. I saw firsthand how quantitative skills could drive population-level impact and I realized that my Waterloo education had provided a powerful foundation for meaningful work.
This experience ultimately led me to pursue a Master’s and PhD in public health at Harvard. During that time, I began to see how my academic journey from mathematics and business to public health could converge through social entrepreneurship. I founded Barakat Bundle, a nonprofit organization that supports maternal and child health in South Asia which I continue to lead in a volunteer capacity.
I truly believe that it was the layered combination of mathematics, business and public health that made this work possible. Math provided the analytical foundation, business added strategy and sustainability, and public health grounded the mission in evidence-based impact. Together, they enabled Barakat Bundle to grow beyond an individual effort into a collaborative initiative supporting mothers and newborns during the critical first year of life.
Looking back, the openness of Waterloo professors, the mentorship I received and the willingness of faculty to support my transition into public health were pivotal. That foundation not only shaped my career trajectory but also strengthened my lifelong commitment to serving others.
Moments of Impact That Have Stayed With Me
I’ve been fortunate to have numerous meaningful experiences where I hope I’ve been able to make a positive impact. Through founding and leading Barakat Bundle, we’ve supported mothers and newborns in India; particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when access to healthcare was severely limited. The home-based care we provided during that time was especially critical.
Beyond that work, I’ve served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence for students at Georgetown University and as a mentor to entrepreneurs globally, including through a program supporting women entrepreneurs in the Middle East. At Harvard, I’ve developed the Ministerial Leadership Program and the African Regulatory Leadership Program, supporting ministers of health, education and finance, as well as regulatory leaders primarily from African countries in strengthening their leadership capacity. These roles have been deeply meaningful given the far-reaching impact such leaders have on human capital development, public health and economic growth in their countries.
Volunteering as a Part of My Life
Volunteering has remained a constant in my life in both structured and informal ways. One of my earliest international volunteer experiences was at age 16, when I travelled to Chitral, Pakistan, to teach English and science to younger students. During that time, I kept a journal and began reflecting on issues related to global development, education, health and the interconnected social determinants that shape opportunity and well-being.
Years later, as I was finishing my Math degree at Waterloo, I rediscovered that journal and realized that many of the themes I had written about as a teenager, particularly the social and economic factors influencing my students’ ability to learn, were closely aligned with what I would later study in public health. That experience felt foundational in understanding the continuity of my interests and purpose.
Since then I’ve had opportunities to continue volunteering in places such as Nairobi, Kenya and Khorog, Tajikistan. Across all these experiences, whether through my career, structured leadership roles or ad hoc volunteer efforts, I’ve tried to ensure that giving back remains central to my life. I’m deeply grateful for these opportunities and hopeful that they have contributed to meaningful and lasting impacts.
What I Hope Students and Alumni Will Carry Forward
For current students, my advice is to take full advantage of the opportunities in front of you. As life becomes more complex and you settle into your career and other responsibilities, it can be harder to explore new paths or test different possibilities. Early on you often have more flexibility to experiment, reflect and discover what truly resonates with you.
I see life as a series of iterations of chances to try new things, learn what creates impact in the world around you and understand what feels meaningful and fulfilling personally. Many of those formative opportunities arise when you’re a student or early in your career, so embrace them.
At the same time, I encourage students to think holistically. Rather than viewing career, impact, family and friendships as separate tracks, consider the bigger picture: What kind of legacy do you want to leave? How can the idea of building skills, knowledge and experiences to serve others be woven throughout every dimension of your life?
For me, shifting to that mindset changed how I designed my life. It made me more intentional and more open to opportunities when they appeared and even more willing to create them. The first step is setting that intention. The practical details will evolve over time, but clarity of purpose can guide the way.