Missed this week's Summer Impact? Here’s a recap!
Who joined us this week?
Swish Goswami
Swish Goswami, 24, is the CEO of Trufan, an audience engagement platform helping brands generate, segment and activate first and third party data. His company has made two acquisitions, raised over $4.1M to date (from several NBA players and venture firms) and has clients like Sony Music, Netflix, NBA, NFL, Procter & Gamble and a plethora of small to medium sized businesses.Swish has given three TEDx talks, secured a publishing deal with Kogan Page and a sneaker deal with K-Swiss, and set up an angel fund called AGEX Capital. Through AGEX, he is an advisor/investor in popular social companies like Upstream, FaZe Clan and Ashare. Swish has a personal following of over 200,000 and enjoys speaking around the world under North America’s prestigious bureau Speakers Spotlight. For his entrepreneurial and philanthropic achievements, Swish was inducted into Plan Canada's Top 20 under 20 and Bay Street Bull’s 30 under 30, recognized as LinkedIn’s Top Voice and Startup Canada's Young Entrepreneur of the Year and awarded the United Nation’s Outstanding Youth Leadership award
Yamila Franco
Yamila was born and raised in the Dominican Republic. As a proud Afro-Indigenous entrepreneur, she co-founded Nyoka Design Labs, a clean technology social enterprise focused on leveraging advances in sustainable biotechnology and material sciences to bring eco-friendly, clean & innovative products to market. Her role has recently shifted to focus on strategy, scaling impact initiatives and laying the base foundation to build sustainable social enterprises. In her journey, Yamila also co-founded AfroHub Market, an e-commerce and networking platform which focuses on supporting the local community of entrepreneurs of African Descent in British Columbia and actively works as a financial literacy educator and strategist supporting entrepreneurs in navigating financial systems and establishing healthy financial habits. Yamila enjoys being and learning with the community, advocating for financial literacy and inclusion & volunteering to create safer and more inclusive spaces for all.
"My goal is to raise more leaders in the community so we can break cycles of intergenerational poverty, create more opportunities for leadership & building sustainability at different levels of community and business"
Simran Dhillon
Simran Dhillon is a student at the University of Alberta studying psychology within the faculty of science and exploring facets of advocacy, community engagement, research, and innovation. Simran’s experience utilizing her advocacy and passion for innovation and entrepreneurship has placed her on public platforms including a conference held at the United Nations headquarters in NYC, in front of city hall, a TEDx event, channelled through her local newspaper, through serving her university, and an invitation to the 2020 Peace Summit at the UN centre in Thailand. For the past year, Simran has dedicated herself to entrepreneurship and her innovative start-up FentaGone; FentaGone’s mission is to reduce the amount of fentanyl-related overdoses occurring on the street level. Her team has received $10,000 worth of initial funding by winning the World's Challenge, through the Global Education program at the University of Alberta. Most notably, FentaGone garnered the support of Telus and Alberta Innovates by winning first place at the Telus Innovation Challenge earlier this year where they received $120,000 worth of financial support and ongoing mentorship and support by these affluent organizations. Simran and her team are currently in the process of verifying their design through research collaborations with two labs located at the University of Alberta specializing in biochemical and opioid-related research. Simran’s experience advocating, outreaching and learning from her community has inspired an immense motivation for entrepreneurship and to innovate to create a brighter future for all.
“Almost a year ago, I was in your position listening to Swish talk and now we are on the same panel” - Simran
James Lau
James Lau is a Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) certified personal development coach whose passion is to build a tribe of high performing dreamers. He had been trained under coaches who’ve worked closely with world-renowned leaders in the personal development space like Mindvalley, Tom Bilyeu and Tony Robbins. Quickly after graduation, he became one of the youngest mentors at the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.
Since founding Apologue in 2018, James has impacted the lives of over a thousand students through his signature workshops and seminars in South East Asia and North America. He works with millennials around the world to navigate and change the way they look at their lives and their future. One of his latest achievements is the launch of Apologue's mentorship program - The Growth Accelerator Program, which currently has a 100% success rate in helping students land summer/full time opportunities.
James Lau - Apologue’s Signature Purpose Workshop
Apologue's signature Purpose workshop helps young adults around the world to take that first step in better identifying their purpose so that they can accelerate their growth and live a more fulfilling life. This hands-on workshop will equip you with a game plan that will guide you as you move into different chapters in life.
More info + application form here!
LOI students can get a special discounted rate at only USD500 for the entire year. (USD$1800 original pricing)
Don’t forget to check out the toolkit here!
What did you miss?
Big Themes
- The origins of entrepreneurship
- Why impact entrepreneurs do what they do
- Discover what you feel connected to, and dive into your values and goals
Cool Panel
The Future of Entrepreneurship
- How the world of entrepreneurship is changing and how it shows up in the future work
- what it means to democratize entrepreneurship
- The importance of being a mission-driven entrepreneur
Breakout Rooms
- What is your takeaway?
- What does entrepreneurship mean to you?
- How can it show up in your life?
Interactive Workshop with James Lau, Apologue
Finding your “why”
- Self reflection workshop to identify your why, problems you feel connected to, and think about your values and goals
James ran the Purpose Workshop during the session and the Growth Accelerator Program was developed after interviewing over 100 students asking them what they really need. This is our most complete mentorship/coaching program designed to help young adults to develop themselves personally and professionally. It has three pillars - community, accountability and coaching which allows students to overcome pitfalls and leverage opportunities by elevating their growth and building strong relationships with industry professionals. We are currently at a 100% success rate in helping students land opportunities (summer and fulltime!)
Mentorship Session
Live sessions with fellow peers and learn straight from entrepreneurs to support your journey. You can expect all the mentors to share their experiences and knowledge with you as well as expand on specific topics or challenges that you may encounter.
Click here to join the Mentorship hour!
Don’t forget to check out the mentorship guide here!
Reflection Question
What’s your reason for being a changemaker and who do you feel inspired by?
What can you take away from this week’s Summer of Impact?
- Inspiration to get started on your journey as an entrepreneur and changemaker
- Understand yourself, values, skills, and more
- Discover why you want to pursue entrepreneurship
Here are some words of encouragement
“That passion is going to be what keeps you going. Obstacles are hard to triumph but passion is what helps you to overcome it.” - Simran
“I had to work on my mindset to be open and find people to help me solve problems” - Yamila
“To be happy, you must practice gratitude” - James
“Just because you are good at starting something doesn’t mean you are good at managing people. These are things I had to learn on the fly.” - Swish
“It is not about you knowing how to do everything, it is about surrounding yourself with the right people and giving yourself grace.” - Jeremy
Get connected on Facebook
The League of Innovators’s Youth Entrepreneurship Community allows you to connect with others, network, and be involved with a supportive community!
We'll share resources all week on Facebook and reminders for our Innovation Challenge - submissions are due August 5!
How to join:
- Join the group here!
Answer the questions that appear in order for us to approve your request:
- Enter Eventbrite confirmation OR e-mail used to sign up
- Confirm you are between the age of 14-25
Want to join us live? It’s not too late to sign up and join us weekly. Click here to register!
Can’t wait to see you next week for Week 2: Spark Change!
