I was born and grew up in Haiti. My father is a Medical Doctor and my mother is a literature teacher. I spent a part of my teenage years in Togo and Guyana. I inherited from my parent’s love for books, then I chose to study literature in Paris, where I lived for 15 years. I graduated with a Masters of Literature from Université La Sorbonne in Paris; my first career as a professor of literature lasted three (3) years, then the “travel virus” prompted me to leave France for Florida for one (1) year.

From the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Canada via France, I have had the privilege to live on 3 different continents; this allowed me to mingle with people of various origins and enrich my cultural knowledge.

As a marketing graduate who’s passionate about Web Marketing, Social Media and Fashion, I am a career-oriented woman with an entrepreneurial spirit. My prime objective is to help entrepreneurs and small and midsize businesses get more online visibility.

I am a citizen of Rwanda and Canada. I have lived in Rwanda, Uganda, US, France, Canada, China and Japan. I am the third in a family of seven children. I arrived in Canada from France, 25 years ago.  After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with specialization in Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing at École Polytechnique de Montreal, I joined Bombardier Aerospace where I worked from 1995 to 2004. I held various positions at differing levels with Bombardier Aerospace in Engineering, Manufacturing and IT, including technical, analytical and project lead roles. After earning an MBA in Strategic Management of Technology in 2003 at Concordia University in Montreal, I embraced a successful management career either as project manager, Senior Manager Transition, Program manager or Executive Consultant.

I was born in Ghana, to a University Professor (I call him Papa) and a High School teacher (I call her Mama). Due to the political climate in the country at the time, my father decided to move his family first to Kenya and then to Canada where we arrived when I was 5 years old.

If any of you come from a first generation immigrant family, I am sure that you can identify with some of the things that I am about to tell you about my childhood.

I was born in Togo in a family of seven. I was raised there until the age of 15. Because of work, my parents had to move to Senegal, so we all went there. After one year in Senegal and with my high school diploma in hand, I landed in Montreal in 2005. After my undergrad studies in Biological Sciences, I worked for few years in a pharmaceutical company, and then I realized it was not for me. I believe prevention is better than cure, and that nutrition is one of the precious keys to health, so I quit and decided to study naturopathic medicine (currently in my final year)..

I have been living in Montreal, Québec since 2009‎. I’m from Cameroun where I spent 19 years of my life. I had the opportunity to travel for my studies and I chose Canada. Why? Because it was far from what I knew, and this idea of having new challenges enticed me. I started a program in Economics before I changed to a program in Business Administration. The story could have ended there, but something amazing happened in 2011. I started my first company rentable.net a peer to peer platform dedicated to renting everything (houses, clothes, books, cars, audio material…). I fell in love with the entrepreneurial life so in 2013, I decided to create a counseling firm to help entrepreneurs start their businesses and increase their market share.

My name is Marlène Bian Nouafo and I come from Cameroon. I was born in Yaoundé and grew up in Douala. When I was sixteen, my parents decided to send me to France to pursue my education. I lived there for about ten years, and then I decided to come and establish myself in Canada. As a little girl, I always wanted to experience life in North America, so I can say that this is a dream come true. I was studying law in France, and when I came to Montreal, I went back to Law School. Now, I am officially a notary, and I have been running my own business since November 2014.

It is an opportunity to meet new people and to know more about them and what they are all about.  Besides it is fun and interesting to meet new people - and even potentially creating new synergies that could be very productive.

I was a professional that stepped into entrepreneurship from a young age with limited practical experience in business leadership. Taking a necessary “time-out” from this venture to reinvent myself as a leader and constantly seeking the training & mentorship supports required to stay guided and focused on my end goals has been my saving grace through the uncertainty of business ownership.  
 

Montreal, once the commercial capital of Canada, is the largest city in the country after Toronto and a melting pot of different cultures, nationalities and languages. The city’s blend of old European architecture and contemporary design makes it a unique and beautiful place to live. As a predominantly French speaking city, Montreal has now become a most ideal location for WorldRemit as the company handles money transfers to many Francophone countries.

One of the key things which help me moving forward is to revisit my goals and dreams on a daily basis so they stay up front in my heart and mind. In other words, I let myself be led by my dreams. I also re-evaluate myself regularly and stay opened to constructive feedbacks. In addition, I have the chance to be surrounded with family and friends who positively support me, inspire me, and bring out my best.
 

My background had been a great asset in developing my career. I studied in Entrepreneurship and working as a counselor right after has given me the perfect tools and connections to understand Montreal's start-up ecosystem. It has also given me the right amount of information to start my blog and write for magazines such as Les Affaires.
 

My name is Charles Herve Aka, I was born in Dabou, a city in Ivory Coast. I was raised by my grandparents, and I lived there until I was 17 years old. Afterwards, I joined my father in Toulouse (known as the Pink City in France), where I completed my high school and continued to postgraduate studies.

Je suis née au Congo-Brazzaville. J'ai quitté mon pays à 20 ans pour aller poursuivre mes études en France. En 2009, j'ai immigré au Québec où j'ai rejoint mon conjoint et poursuivis mes études de sociologie.... Je pense que le futur nous appartient. Bien que résidente du Canada, j'ai toujours le regard tourné vers l'Afrique et j'ai à coeur son évolution, son développement. Tout est à faire en Afrique. Maintenant, il nous faut saisir les occasions, les opportunités et se tenir ensemble pour changer les choses.

The experience makes our business unique. Our relationships with our clients are not transactional.We are truly a community training for life. I try not to even call it a gym. It really is a strongly supportive community of like-minded people that care about a healthy lifestyle.

Je suis Consultant en Économie numérique et gestionnaire de projets technologiques. J’ai un background d’Ingénieur informatique, expert intégrateur en télécommunications. Ma carrière est marquée par la gestion stratégique et opérationnelle de projets d’innovation technologiques, notamment dans les domaines du sans-fil, de la téléphonie mobile et de l’accès Internet.

Ma passion se résume à aider et outiller les autres à s’améliorer. Mon expertise est liée aux différents attributs des plateformes financières. Pour mes clients, mon intervention vise à leur fournir des informations rigoureusement exactes dans les délais. Pour mes collègues et partenaires, mon intervention vise à les encourager à approfondir le questionnement pour atteindre des solutions créatives.

Bernardson has maintained strong ties with multimedia, which emboldened him to become a leader in this challenging industry. To push his limits and achieve his dream, he founded BLJ FILMS with the ambition of developing Montréal’s ultimate, one-stop shop agency for creative media and marketing projects. He knows to always dream big, to nurture what you love, and to never forget that in life we are always students on the path of learning.