Carolina Lopez, MIB, tells us that after returning from studying and working abroad in Sydney, Australia, she changed careers and is now in the private investment sector in Ottawa where she works with startup and scale-up companies on fundraising. “Readjusting to life in Canada and undergoing a massive career change during a pandemic has made the last year and a half an eventful one. I am currently waiting for the keys to a new home (first home!) for 2022 and have pending travels to Colombia and California with my boyfriend.”
Alumni Notes
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Chipewyan “Chip” McCrimmon, MMIE, was accepted into NEXT Canada’s Next 36 program in Toronto. The program is comprised of 36 entrepreneurs mentored by successful business leaders. Chip’s company, HeroHub, is a charitable ecosystem that connects individuals to charities and non-profits in order to create greater social impact. He also recently launched Falc0n-X, which helps landfills reduce their pollution by providing an add-on technology that helps capture, separate, and purify their greenhouse-gas emissions.
Published in: Fall 2020
Olusegun Ojeyinka, MMIE, has launched Freshstart Hub, a platform that provides resources for immigrants. “The journey of a newcomer can be wonderful, terrible, exciting, frightening, enlightening, confusing, or a beautiful maze,” he writes. Olusegun is also the host of the Freshstart podcast, a show exploring the stories, experiences and journeys of inspiring people in order to provide newcomers with strategies to succeed. Learn more at thefreshstarthub.com.
Published in: Spring 2021
Jennifer Cabral Poejo, AMBA, has been working as the senior manager of corporate social responsibility at Manulife for over a year. Jennifer says the Certificate in Social Impact she earned at Smith “opened my eyes to a world of possibility, where giving back to the community has become my purpose.” In her spare time, Jennifer sits on non-profit committees for various women’s initiatives, such as Dress for Success and Women in Governance. She is also on the executive board of the Global Women’s Alliance.
Published in: Spring 2021
Tara-Rajesh, MIB’19, got engaged to Tonio Vos on Aug. 29, 2023 in St. Charles, Mo., where they first met nine years ago.
Published in: Spring 2024
Julia Reiter, BCom, tells us that she started a business at the onset of the pandemic. “I used my recruitment experience to coach people through the job-application process. Rewarding!” she writes.
Published in: Spring 2021
Christine Robinson, MBA’19, was inducted to the newly created Canadian Water Polo Hall of Fame as a member of the 2003 Canadian junior women’s team. The 13-player team made history, winning the World Junior Championships—the only world championship title ever won by a Canadian team—with a shootout victory over the U.S. in Calgary.
Published in: Spring 2022
Neelam Sian, MMIE, was promoted to director of strategy and transformation in the technology and operations group at RBC. Neelam had been senior manager of investor relations and recently celebrated her sixth anniversary with the bank.
Published in: Spring 2021
Mohamad Sibai, MMIE, is the founder and CEO of Autoly Inc. Autoly is a mobile app for car dealers, private vehicle buyers and sellers as well as owners. “It’s the single app that any buyer, seller or owner needs,” Mohamad says. With over 20 years of global experience in the information technology industry, Mohamad founded Autoly in 2018 during his time at Smith. Much of Autoly’s development happened with support from the MMIE program. Autoly secured its first seed funding in April, and Mohamad says the firm is growing rapidly, with an official launch later this year.
Published in: Fall 2020
2018
Marley Alles, BCom’18, says she has recently launched Canada’s first peer-to-peer clothing rental app, Rax. Troubled by the ethical, environmental and societal implications of the fast fashion sector, Marley says she “embarked on a mission to enact positive change.” Her app encourages the adoption of the circular fashion economy; lenders have an avenue to monetize their wardrobes, while borrowers gain access to clothing at a fraction of the retail cost. She notes that the peer-to-peer rental model employed by Rax is 60 per cent more resource-efficient than conventional garment production. “Rax is not just an app; it represents a transformative stride towards a more sustainable and conscientious fashion future,” Marley writes.
Published in: Fall 2023