DISRUPT with Ravi Ravindran

Manjula Selvarajah is a Toronto-based journalist, a technology columnist with segments airing on CBC Radio's 20+ radio stations across the country and a guest host on CBC's Ontario weekend show. She is a frequent emcee and moderator, with repeat speaking appearances at Elevate, Collision and #MovetheDial​. In her former role, she was Vice President of Marketing at Eloqua, and holds an Engineering degree from Queen’s University.  She is an avid community volunteer and co-founder of the non-profit Tamil Women Rising. She loves talking about current affairs, technology, books, the Tamil diaspora, marketing strategy and entrepreneurship.

Muraly Srinarayanathas is an entrepreneur, educator, and changemaker who is fully committed to the process of composing his life's symphony – as a son, husband, and father thanks to The Maestro Mindset™ that he has created. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of Computek College, a leading private career college that has been providing newcomer students in the Greater Toronto Area with practical education for nearly 30 years in order to transition into the Canadian labour market.

Ari Laniado serves on the leadership of Colliers International’s Tech Advisory Services where he advises the Canadian tech sector on their workspace. Ari works closely with ventures to navigate the challenges of aligning workspace to the unique requirements of tech companies, creating strategies that are optimized to growth, operations, and talent attraction. Ari’s passion for innovation stemmed from his experience working with startups across Canada and Israel.

James Borst brings with him over 20 years of experience in marketing, software development and sales, graphic design, website development and management. He grew up in a small city in Washington State and from early age was fascinated and intrigued by computers and software. At the age of 12 years old he began programming and continued developing his software and computer skills all the way through college. Today he is the co-founder and COO of 3D City Scapes, which creates cutting edge 3D interactive software for showcasing new property developments and whole cities. James is also a music composer and musician and has been part of a charitable organization since 2002 which he is very active in.

Unsuccessful drug mule. Federal prison survivor. Advocate for second chances and founder of Cons and Kernels.   

A former inmate at Kitchener's federal prison, Emily is using a new business as a platform to talk about how easy it is for women to get dragged into the illegal drug trade. Emily O'Brien landed in Grand Valley Institution for Women early in 2018 after she and her partner were caught bringing drugs into the country.   

Popcorn so good, it's criminal.   

We broke the law, but we fix good snacks!  We blend unique ingredients to make compellingly delicious recipes that offer a fresh take on gourmet popcorn, made with conviction.  From outlaws to outreach, spreading the truth one kernel at a time!  

Cons & Kernels believes in second chances, and will provide reintegration opportunities and educate the public through a variety of fun and educational awareness campaigns.

Serena graduated from the University of Toronto with a Master’s degree in Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering. Her research focuses on biomaterials for immune system activation and wound healing.  

Together with her professor, she is commercializing the biomaterial as part of a new start up company, Quthero. The company takes inspiration from nature, and is trying to change how we heal wounds with their wound gel, which accelerates healing and reduces scarring.  

Quthero is committed to disrupting the ways we treat wounds today – from passive ‘dressing’ of wounds to active, rapid, healthy wound management.   

They have developed novel, effective and safe treatments for all types of wounds including wounds from cosmetic procedures, surgical wounds, burns, and chronic ulcers to effectively manage wounds and reduce complications and risks associated with slow healing (infection, pain, amputation and mortality).  

Quthero’s patented platform technology enables full epithelial restoration, helping to close wounds quickly and with minimal scarring.  Their novel wound management gel treats wounds in a potent, paradigm-shifting way with only a single application. This has been demonstrated in multiple pre-clinical animal models and human skin, where Quthero-treated wounds healed with minimal scarring and 60-200% faster than the wounds treated with currently marketed products.  

Quthero’s platform technology effectively manages wounds in tissues other than skin as validated in cardiovascular, endothelial, cutaneous tissue, osteoblasts and hiPSC and published in 9 peer-reviewed articles.

Swob™ was designed to make job searching for students easy and recruitment even easier. Through the use of technology, students looking for a job can now search in the comfort of their own phone.   

Swob is the first of its kind to target students in high turnover industries such as retail, and food services for part-time, seasonal and full-time employment. With Swob, employers are able to experience the benefits of securely filtering through the best possible candidates, safely and efficiently.

If you're a founder, investor, or a professional who works with startups we'd love to have you on to talk about your experiences and your thoughts about the innovation economy.

Jennifer Wilson is the President & CEO of DAREarts, a non-profit organization that provides leadership development opportunities through arts-based education to children and youth in under-served communities across Canada.

Jennifer has 15 years experience in the non-profit sector in Executive Director and Director capacities. Under her leadership, organizations have significantly grown funding and programs, in addition to securing a four-star Charity Intelligence rating. She is a dynamic leader with a strategic mindset and strong sectoral competency.

Jennifer has committed her career to organizations that support marginalized communities. Deeply passionate about leadership development for children and youth facing barriers, Jennifer has a clear vision for DAREarts’ future that is rooted in continuity and comprehensive service for children and youth most in need of a turning point in their life.

At DAREarts, we provide children and youth from under-served communities with the opportunity for a turning point. Specifically focused on working with young people who are facing significant challenges to reaching their full potential, our programs serve as a critical intervention point for young people - giving them the chance to hit the reset button in a supportive, accessible and skills-focused environment. Through exploring and creating with the arts, students develop their own unique voice, share and connect with their peers and build their capacity to create positive change in their lives and in their communities. Since 1995, we've helped over 20,000 young people find their inner leader and we're just getting started. With partnerships with over 50 schools coast to coast and programs designed to support young people from early learning to high school graduation, we are committed to making sure under-served youth across Canada have the support they need to thrive.

Sunjit Khamba holds both B.Eng and MBA degrees. He brings 10 years of experience in strategic development, and 5 years of experience in stakeholder / community engagement. He has developed a particular focus over the past several years on non-profit organizations, and regularly takes on consulting contracts for organizations requiring his services. He specializes in developing strategies that help non-profits uncover new revenue-generating strategies, while maximizing social impact. Sunjit is also a certified Human-Centred Design practitioner and facilitator, which transfers over quite well in his work with Jelly Social.

JELLY is a community of over 3500 GTA entrepreneurs working together to help each other succeed. Our mission is to make the GTA the best place to start and grow a business. We want to make sure that any entrepreneur in need of help with their business can tap into the JELLY community and get the exact support they need to succeed. Want to join the JELLY community? We invite you to attend our next monthly community events in Mississauga or Toronto.