HeForShe Keynote with Saadia Muzaffar, Founder of Tech Girls Canada
Join us on March 19
Please join us for the HeForShe at the University of Guelph keynote on Tuesday, March 19th with Saadia Muzaffar, founder of Tech Girls Canada.
Saadia's keynote will focus on how women can pave the way to build their own success stories and how they can hold the door open for others in the future. Despite women's representation in senior business leadership, STEM, politics, and sports remaining unacceptably low, they are the fastest growing demographic in these areas and this conversation between women and their allies is as urgent as it is necessary.
This event will also celebrate gender equality initiatives of the Guelph community, including presentations of student scholarships and an award for a local business.
HeForShe at U of G partners: Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, School of Engineering and Gryphon Football. For more information about the HeForShe at U of G initiative, please visit: www.uoguelph.ca/lang/heforshe/
At the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, we are committed to using business as a force for good. Our students, staff, faculty and alumni are committed to taking transformative action towards the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.
HeForShe is a solidarity campaign for the advancement of gender equality, initiated by United Nations. Its goal is to achieve equality by encouraging all genders to partake as agents of change and take action against negative stereotypes and behaviours. Grounded in the idea that gender inequality is an issue that affects all people—socially, economically and politically—HeForShe is an invitation for people of all gender identities to stand in solidarity with marginalized groups to create a bold, visible and united force for equality.
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Saadia's keynote will focus on how women can pave the way to build their own success stories and how they can hold the door open for others in the future. Despite women's representation in senior business leadership, STEM, politics, and sports remaining unacceptably low, they are the fastest growing demographic in these areas and this conversation between women and their allies is as urgent as it is necessary.
This event will also celebrate gender equality initiatives of the Guelph community, including presentations of student scholarships and an award for a local business.
HeForShe at U of G partners: Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, School of Engineering and Gryphon Football. For more information about the HeForShe at U of G initiative, please visit: www.uoguelph.ca/lang/heforshe/
At the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, we are committed to using business as a force for good. Our students, staff, faculty and alumni are committed to taking transformative action towards the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.
HeForShe is a solidarity campaign for the advancement of gender equality, initiated by United Nations. Its goal is to achieve equality by encouraging all genders to partake as agents of change and take action against negative stereotypes and behaviours. Grounded in the idea that gender inequality is an issue that affects all people—socially, economically and politically—HeForShe is an invitation for people of all gender identities to stand in solidarity with marginalized groups to create a bold, visible and united force for equality.
Location
Cutten Hall at Cutten Fields
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cutten+Fields/@43.5375043,-80.2266565,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xc59a3508d604b2e1?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPo-K1mNGEAxWtmokEHYaZDhAQ_BJ6BAgREAA
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cutten+Fields/@43.5375043,-80.2266565,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xc59a3508d604b2e1?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPo-K1mNGEAxWtmokEHYaZDhAQ_BJ6BAgREAA
Date & Time
March 19, 2024, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Speakers
Saadia Muzaffar
Keynote speaker & panelist
Saadia Muzaffar is a tech entrepreneur, author, and passionate advocate of responsible innovation, decent work for everyone, and the prosperity of immigrant talent in STEM. She is the founder of TGC, a national not-for-profit working to advance a STEM economy where women thrive - and co-founder of Tech Reset Canada, a group of business people, technologists, and other residents advocating for innovation that is focused on the public good. Saadia is featured in Canada 150 Women, a book about 150 of the most influential and groundbreaking women in Canada, and Toronto museum’s 2023 exhibit The 52: Stories of Women Who Transformed Toronto. She is honoured to serve on the board of Women’s Shelters Canada and the advisory board for the University of Guelph’s Centre for Advancing Responsible and Ethical Artificial Intelligence (CARE-AI). In 2023, she was recognized as an Immigrant Women of Influence by NEW and served as a Canadian delegate to the United Nations’ 67th Commission on the Status of Women.
Julie Vale
panel moderator
Julie Vale received her Ph.D in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo. She joined the University of Guelph in 2012 as a teaching focused faculty member and is currently Associate Director Undergraduate Studies for the School of Engineering. Originally trained in electrical engineering as a systems and control theorist, Dr. Vale’s current research focuses on engineering education and pedagogy. Her research has two aspects. The first focuses on the development of a tool to assist instructors in building assessments that promote problem solving skills rather than promoting memorization. The second is about how and why values-based learning outcomes should be scaffolded into STEM curricula and capstone experiences.
Dr. Vale believes that building student and faculty appreciation of the intersections between social justice and engineering is crucial to empowering engineers to fulfil their mandate to serve the public. She brings this view to the classroom, to curriculum design and development, and to her research.
Dr. Vale believes that building student and faculty appreciation of the intersections between social justice and engineering is crucial to empowering engineers to fulfil their mandate to serve the public. She brings this view to the classroom, to curriculum design and development, and to her research.
Mark Surya
Panelist
Mark Surya took on the role of head coach for the University of Guelph football team in December 2023 after a successful term as the team's offensive coordinator from 2019 to 2023. Prior to his time at Guelph, he refined his coaching abilities at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Toronto in the capacity of an offensive coordinator. Coach Surya's blend of football strategy prowess and academic expertise positions him as an asset to the University of Guelph. His dedication to promoting leadership, teamwork, and gender equality in sports through his involvement in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) efforts within the Athletic Department highlights his significant contributions to creating a more inclusive and diverse athletic environment. Mark Surya's multifaceted skill set and dedication to athletics, academics and student experience make him a noteworthy figure within the University of Guelph community.
Kristina Kupferschmidt
Panelist
Kristina is a computer engineering PhD student at the University of Guelph, where her research focuses on applied artificial intelligence (AI). Kristina's interests lie in responsible AI deployment and improving the real-world translation of machine learning (ML) technologies. She has co-founded 2 companies, worked as a biomedical engineer and ML developer in both small startup and industry environments, and is currently the Lead Scientist-in-Residence for the NEXT-AI accelerator program. In addition to her work Kristina serves as the co-chair of the CEPS Indigenization, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee and is actively conducting research on inclusivity within the field of AI.