Amir is a natural connector. Despite COVID-19, Amir has managed to find ways to engage with and lead community events. He has personally hosted a number of connector events at the dealcloser office in the past few months, including a meeting between a group of startup founders, supporters, and senior staff, and Downtown City Council Rep, Anne Stevenson, as well as a startup community network event that was attended by Mayor Sohi. Amir is a natural connector - he looks for ways to put you in front of folks that can help you, or where mutual relationships can be fostered. He is willing to go out of his way to make connections to folks he knows and will help anyone find a resource or person to help them with a question they may have.
For over four years, Cecile has been the sole employee of the NAIT Mawji Centre, NAIT's entrepreneurship incubator. During that time, she has helped guide student businesses to launch. She has been singularly dedicated to positively impacting students' lives through entrepreneurship. Since one person can't do it alone, Cecile is a master connector. She has lined up dozens of businesspeople to work with the students. As well, Cecile constantly brings in guest speakers to talk to the students. Not many people can match her address book. Cecile has also taken a leadership role in the post-secondary ecosystem. Cecile helps plan regular meetings and actively initiates school events for students for both groups. She is one of the driving forces of this collaboration.
Colin seems to know everyone. Many of the external connections that MacEwan School of Business made in the last year were introductions made by Colin. His willingness to connect people with his large network that spans many different areas including tech, energy, social impact, cannabis, indigenous business, investments and the general entrepreneurship ecosystem, has impacted many individuals. His selflessness, and willingness to meet folks for coffee, despite his busy schedule is one of the many ways he ‘pays it forward.’ His willingness to connect aspiring entrepreneurs with key networks is invaluable.
Lan is awesome! She knows everyone, has worked with everyone, and is always looking out for the ecosystem. Her passions run deep for innovative entrepreneurs and loves bringing the best people together. Through her work with multiple accelerators, inventure$, GrowthX, Alberta Innovates, past work with TEC, and her work on Rainforest, she is literally one of the best connectors out there - she is the glue. She is especially passionate about helping folks who have a challenging time entering the ecosystem.
Salem is a newcomer to the startup ecosystem and has made tremendous leads to connect entrepreneurs, social workers, startup founders, city employees, and the Mayor with each other. In his role as Director of Stakeholder Relations and Engagement with the City of Edmonton, he was tasked with creating much-needed communication between city administration and council, and startups. From connecting startups to the right city administrator, to listening to and helping startups get the information they need, Salem has a no BS, cut to the chase attitude that saves time and helps to red tape for startups.
Register to attend the 2022 YEG Startup Community Awards on May 19, 2022. In-person tickets are now SOLD OUT!!!
Fill out the form on any award page before April 21 and they'll be notified if they win before the celebration on May 19.
Voting closed – Nominations open March 31 and closed April 21. Peoples choice voting began April 25 and closed May 9.
Yes. Remember each nomination must be customized to the award criteria for that award.
Yes. We encourage everyone to nominate deserving individuals within the Edmonton startup ecosystem - including yourself!
Yes. Attach as many supplemental documents to the nomination form as you would like. The more information provided the less research required by our volunteer adjudication committee.
Never! Nominate once or all the time - we will never charge our community money to nominate ecosystem champions.
You may express your interest in joining our team as a volunteer for the 2022 YEG Startup Community Awards here.