Events

Inspire Series with Robert Young and Fennella Bruce
Inspire: Breaking Down Barriers to Success This event is the launch of the new Hub series meant to inspire, enlighten and educate participants on how to approach and break down barriers to success as they apply to women, people of colour, and other underrepresented groups in the world of entrepreneurship. This event is your opportunity to meet an extraordinary entrepreneur and media producer, Fennella Bruce. Learn more about her extraordinary journey in media and entrepreneurship, from journalist and media creator to producer for CTV News Channel, Your Morning, and Canada AM.

Inspire Series with Sylvia Chan & Asia Nelson
Inspire: Breaking Down Barriers to Success This event is the second in the new Hub series meant to inspire, enlighten and educate participants on how to approach and break down barriers to success as they apply to women, people of colour, and other underrepresented groups in the world of entrepreneurship. This event is your opportunity to meet two extraordinary women entrepreneurs: Sylvia Chan and Asia Nelson.  Sylvia is the founder of Sylvia Chan Art, a business that is focused on art education and which has expanded during the pandemic, achieving great success. 

Inspire Series with Jasmine Williams
The Hub’s Inspire series aims to enlighten and educate participants on how to approach and break down barriers to success as they apply to women, people of colour, and other underrepresented groups in the world of entrepreneurship. In the fourth session, Fennella Bruce will interview Jasmine Williams. She is an award-winning writer, content marketing expert, and the founder of Jasmine Williams Media, a boutique content marketing consultancy serving a global roster of industry-leading companies and visionaries. She’s also the founder of Click-worthy Creatives, an education hub and community for freelance creatives. Jasmine helps creative entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, and growth-stage startups scale their businesses with strategic storytelling.  

Inspire with Michael Chambers and Robert Young
Fennella Bruce interviews innovative artists Michael Chambers & Robert Young About this event

Fireside Chat with Chef Robert Rainford
Donovan Dill interviews Chef Robert Rainford. About this event

Inspire Series with Melisa Ellis and Itah Sadu
Fennella Bruce Interviews Community Influencers Melisa Ellis & Itah Sadu About this event

July 2022
Events: Book a Consulting Session (https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/thehub/book-your-coaching-session) Join a Drop-in Session*Calendar Invitation Join Board of Trade Event*Calendar Invitation Featured: Mounib Real Food Only, Founded by Iman Mounib (https://mounibrealfoodonly.ca/) Wellnamic, Founded by Edina, Nicola and Ronesca Bijvoet (https://www.wellnamic.com/)

August
Events: Book a Consulting Session (https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/thehub/book-your-coaching-session) Join a Drop-in Session*Calendar Invitation Join Board of Trade Event*Calendar Invitation Featured:

Welcome to the Hub with Gray Graffam
Former director of The Hub, Gray Graffam, welcomes the new term to The Hub. Gray is an entrepreneur, mentor, and coach with a background in tech development.  Connect with Gray, The Hub and it's surrounding community of innovative entrepreneurs. 

Branding Your Business Using Video Workshop with David Cowdery
David’s commercial directing career spans over 25 years, working for brands such as HP, P&G, Kelloggs and Canadian Tire. David is also the founder of Nine Hundred Pictures Inc. a boutique corporate video production company. His experience spans beyond the entertainment industry into education and the start-up ecosystem – as a co-founder of Fixtimate (an early stage platform app in the automotive space). David’s passion for designing and delivering winning pitches and his love of helping entrepreneurs across all industries, including the arts, serves as an invaluable asset to those seeking to add value to their businesses.

Inspire with Mark Stoddart (Host: Fennella Bruce)
Fennella Bruce Interviews Artist, Activist & Visionary Entrepreneur, Mark Stoddart on Inspire: Breaking Down Barriers to Success Fennella Bruce, FKB Media is an extraordinary entrepreneur, writer, media producer and mediator of the Inspire Series. Throughout the series, she shares her stories as a journalist and media creator to the producer for CTV News Channel, Your Morning, and Canada AM. She is also the founder of FKB Media Solutions, a company that helps businesses, startups, professionals, and others develop powerful and successful media strategies.

Sales Workshop with David Cohen
Professional sales master, David Cohen leads a workshop on the essentials to succeed in sales and grow your business!   David Cohen is an author, business coach, and facilitator and the former host/producer and creator of the small business big ideas radio show heard weekly for over 9 years. David has taught thousands over the years in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors and has coached business owners to sell, plan and market their ventures successfully. He specializes in helping business owners mine their strengths, get clear on their value, their markets and then begin to develop a sales and marketing game plan that gets results.

Video Pitching Workshop with David Cowdery
Award-winning International Commercial Director, David Cowdery leads another interactive workshop on pitching your business with video!   David’s award winning, international commercial directing career spans over 25 years, working for brands such as HP, P&G, Kelloggs and Canadian Tire. David is also the founder of Nine Hundred Pictures Inc. a boutique corporate video production company. His experience spans beyond the entertainment industry into education and the start-up ecosystem - as a co-founder of Fixtimate (an early stage platform app in the automotive space). David’s passion for designing and delivering winning pitches and his love of helping entrepreneurs across all industries, including the arts, serves as an invaluable asset to those seeking to add value to their business’.

Women Building Women with Arbre Founders: Kristina Knox and Stephanie Tien
The Women's Inititative sponsored by Elina Chow, Founder and CEO of Jot Tech is an inclusive initiative to support Women founders in business, research and innovation. We have a Women Building Women focused event featuring entrepreneurs involved in our community! For the first event, meet the duo Stephanie Tien and Kristina Knox, the co-founders of Arbre and scientists by training. They’re passionate about educating consumers on sun care and its many benefits for their long term health, as well as providing them with an environmentally friendly product. They’ve also been backed by a number of subject matter experts in dermatology, the Health Canada regulatory space, and consumer packaged goods. Their mission is to develop sustainable, innovative, and inclusive SPF products.

The Art of the Pitch Workshop with Donovan Dill and Gray Graffam
Donovan Dill and Gray Graffam Hosts a Pitching Workshop in Preparation for the The Hub's Annual Startup Intake Competition! Donovan Dill, Interim Director at The Hub, an established mentor working with young entrepreneurs. Gray Graffam, PhD, former Director of The Hub, entrepreneur, mentor and coach with a background in tech development.   

November Events
Events:

Inspire with Gavin Mohan, Marketing Consultant
Fennella Bruce Interviews Marketing Consultant Gavin Mohan on Inspire: Breaking Down Barriers to Success Fennella Bruce, FKB Media is an extraordinary entrepreneur, writer, media producer and mediator of the Inspire Series. Throughout the series, she shares her stories as a journalist and media creator to the producer for CTV News Channel, Your Morning, and Canada AM. She is also the founder of FKB Media Solutions, a company that helps businesses, startups, professionals, and others develop powerful and successful media strategies.

Sales Workshop with David Cohen
Professional sales master, David Cohen returns for another workshop on sales and growing your business!   David Cohen is an author, business coach, and facilitator and the former host/producer and creator of the small business big ideas radio show heard weekly for over 9 years. David has taught thousands over the years in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors and has coached business owners to sell, plan and market their ventures successfully. He specializes in helping business owners mine their strengths, get clear on their value, their markets and then begin to develop a sales and marketing game plan that gets results. David has worked with the City of Toronto, The Toronto Public Library, the City of Mississauga, The Alterna Savings, ACTA, Transat Travel Group, and our very own Small Business Enterprise Centre in Orangeville.

Entrepreneurship Association: Shark Tank
Shark Tank is a very popular show where ambitious individuals take a chance to pitch their ideas to top investors. Likewise the Entrepreneurship Association replicates that same format for students who need a platform for their ideas to be heard. There would be 3-6 judges with entrepreneurial experience who would judge and critique your business/idea/startup. They would ask questions and dig very deep into the roots of your ideas and into you as a person. Prizes They are 3 prizes given to the individuals or teams with the best ideas/business/startup. The 1st place is given a prize of $1000 that they must put into business/idea/startup. The 2nd place is given $500 that also must be deposited into the business/idea/startup. 3rd place is given $250 that must be deposited into the idea/business/startup. The ideas you present can be either brand new or existing. Spectators

Building Women Founders with Wendy Kauffman
Join us for an interactive conversation with Wendy Kauffman, founder of Wendolyn Reputation Management. In this discussion, she will share her professional journey and advice gained from along the way. Wendy will also provide tips on how to master your message and communicate effectively. Wendy Kauffman has provided media and spokesperson training to over 200 executives, advocates and politicians, teaching them how to be effective communicators. Her courses combine her experience as a national news journalist and 20+ years of protecting corporate reputations, from start-ups to global brands. Today, her consulting practice focuses on crisis communications, ESG communications and a range of specialized spokesperson training programs.

Building Women Founders with Elina Chow
Meet Elina Chow, she is an Alumna of UTSC. She is a serial entrepreneur with 15+ years of experience working with private and publicly-traded companies in Healthcare, Tech and the Metals and Mining. Between 2010 and 2020, Elina founded and operated a boutique marketing and investor relations agency in Toronto that saw a number of clients go public and achieve successful exits for shareholders.

Building Women Founders with Suzette Ramcharan
When is the right time to consider M&A and what do investors look for in a pitch book? Suzette Ramcharan shares the answers and discusses her professional journey and tips/advice gained from along the way. Suzette N Ramcharan is a seasoned capital markets professional with over 20 years of experience mainly in the metals and mining sector, having worked for mid-to-large cap companies. Her expertise includes investor relations and brand management, business development and M&A transactional experience.

January 2023 Calendar
Events: Jan 11 - Inspire with Toni Miceli Jan 18 - Pitch Practice with Donovan Dill Jan 22 - The Hub Startup Intake Competition Jan 25 - Building Women Founders with Maggie MacDougall Featured Hub Founder:  Iman Mounib, Mounib Real Food Only

Inspire with Toni Miceli
Fennella Bruce interviews Toni Miceli on How to Be A Boss as Woman in Business for Inspire: Breaking Down Barriers to Success   Fennella Bruce, FKB Media is an extraordinary entrepreneur, writer, media producer and mediator of the Inspire Series. Throughout the series, she shares her stories as a journalist and media creator to the producer for CTV News Channel, Your Morning, and Canada AM. She is also the founder of FKB Media Solutions, a company that helps businesses, startups, professionals, and others develop powerful and successful media strategies.

UTSC Startup Competition
Take part in the annual competition for intake into The Hub. Startups pitch in hopes of winning up to $10,000 in seed capital. Come take part in the annual competition for intake into The Hub. The competition begins with the submission of a video as part of a qualifying round. Semi-finalists and Finalists who qualify and go through are then invited to make a pitch presentation. PRIZES Five awards of $5,000 Top prize of $10,000 sponsored by Elina Chow, UTSC alumni, CEO and Founder of Jot Tech. (Requirement: Award for teams with at least one women founder) HOW TO APPLY

Building Women Founders with Maggie MacDougall on Capital Raising for Startups
Maggie MacDougall assumed the role of Vice Chairman, Head of Research at Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc. in March, 2020. She has over 18 years of experience in financial services, and has been repeatedly ranked as a TopGun Analyst in the Brendan Wood International’s Worldwide Equity Capital Markets Performance Canadian Equities Report. At Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc. Ms. MacDougall built and managed a high-performance team of over 35 people while implementing a structured approach to technology and processes improvements, advancing the Canadian teams institutional ranking from #12 to #9 overall and from #3 to #1 small cap in less than three years. She also led the integration of the Canadian equities business with the Global organization, architecting strategy and cooperation agreements foundational to Stifel Financials expanded Canadian and Global Capital Markets operations.