Celebrating alumni achievement

Over the past two decades, a range of accomplished alumni – from Isadore Sharp (architectural technology ’52) to Eric McCormack (theatre ’85) – have been recognized and celebrated at the Ryerson University Alumni Achievement Awards.

This year, Alumni Award of Distinction recipients who have made their mark in the world of entrepreneurship and filmmaking will be honoured on May 4, as part of Alumni Weekend.

Emily Mills, journalism ’05, award-winning founder of How She Hustles (external link) , a networking and career-boosting organization for diverse women, has remained involved with Ryerson since she graduated.

Mills hosted this year’s Viola Desmond Awards and narrated a short film on Mary Ann Shadd (external link) , the first Black woman to publish a newspaper in North America. The film was produced by the Rella Braithwaite Black History Foundation (external link)  and the Transmedia Zone.

“There’s a real appetite now to diversify the entrepreneurial landscape,” Mills says. “A community and platform where diverse women can learn, share and connect is key to more of us becoming leaders.”

Whitney Rockley (business management ’92) is changing the entrepreneurial landscape in Canada’s venture capital field. The co-founder of McRock Capital (external link)  is the first woman chair of the Canadian Venture Capital Association and sits on the boards of a number of tech companies.

“When I retire, I want to be able to look back and see far more female partners leading venture capital firms in Canada,” Rockley told The Globe and Mail (external link) . “I want to hear about the women who founded and ran successful tech companies that rivalled the tech giants of our time. I know we can get there if we do our part to encourage them to stay the course and simply never give up.”

Maayan Ziv (radio and television arts ’12, master of digital media ’15) founded a successful venture, AccessNow (external link) , an app that uses crowdsourcing to determine the accessibility status of hotels, restaurants, businesses, and more. The initiative grew from Ziv’s own experience as someone who uses a wheelchair and was often unsure if city spaces were accessible.

Ziv developed AccessNow through Ryerson’s Social Ventures Zone and the DMZ.

“I tried to access as much of Ryerson as I could while I was there. I connected with entrepreneurs at Ryerson, and pitched and applied for grants,” she said. “In 2015, a week before I graduated, AccessNow launched. More than three years later, we’re still going strong.”

Jeremy Podeswa (image arts ’84) also made the most of his time at Ryerson. The award-winning film and television director has directed such programs as Game of Thrones, Homeland, Dexter and Handmaid’s Tale.

“Ryerson really encouraged us to develop our own voices as filmmakers. And the community of people that I met at Ryerson – my fellow students – many of them are still friends with me, and many are in the film business. In addition to developing our own voices, we were also really encouraging of each other, and we all really learned a lot from each other in an unconscious way, just watching each other work and develop.”

Podeswa credits Ryerson for giving him a strong start in the industry. “In the third year, I made my thesis film. It was a film that was adapted from a one-man play that I saw at an experimental theatre festival, and it was called David Roche Talks to You About Love. The film ended up winning a lot of awards—it played at the Toronto International Film Festival – and it actually kind-of launched my career.”

Abdullah Snobar (hospitality and tourism management, ’09, MBA ’18), executive director of the DMZ at Ryerson University, is the recipient of the 2019 Isadore Sharp Outstanding Recent Graduate Award. “I feel honoured and grateful to receive this award,” he said. “It gives inspiration to continue doing what I love – changing entrepreneurs’ lives to help make a more prosperous Canada. It also confirms that if you are doing something wholeheartedly and are open to collaborating on ideas with a greater purpose, you will be rewarded one day.”

Under his leadership, the DMZ has been ranked as the number-one university-based incubator in the world.

“The most rewarding part of my work as executive director of the DMZ is positively impacting the world by preparing the top tech startups for global expansion, which enables them to foster more made-in-Canada jobs and build technologies that change lives.”

All members of the community are warmly invited to join in the celebration for these illustrious alumni on Saturday, May 4 from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m., as part of Alumni Weekend.