The purpose of the CDL Apprentice program is to address the gender gap. CDL provides experiences for young women 14–18 years of age to foster an entrepreneurial mindset and encourage individuals to challenge themselves and current statistics. Women represent 51% of the population yet continue to be underrepresented in technical studies and careers, women-led startups, and only 3% of all venture capital is deployed to women. Students who participated in this year’s program committed to achieving the CDL Apprentice Badge by attending theme–focused modules between February and May 2021.
Led by CDL–Montreal, students participated in discussions on defining AI and understanding how a prediction machine works. Students had a chance to capture insights from members from the CDL Community including founder Rupal Patel (CEO, VOCALiD), and mentors Alexandre Le Bouthillier (Co-founder, Imagia), Inès Holzbaur (Co-founder & Managing Partner, AmorChem), Elaine Kunda (Founder & Managing Partner, Disruption Ventures), Laurent Charlin (Associate Professor, HEC Montreal), Ludovic André (Managing Director, Credit Mutuel Equity), Milad Alucozai (Venture Partner, Entrepreneur First), Frantz Saintellemy (President & COO, Leddartech), and Chris Neumann (Founder & CEO, Commonwealth Ventures).
Rhiannon Davies also joined the conversation. Rhiannon is a Managing Partner at Sandpiper Ventures, a platform where women investors can radically disrupt the venture capital environment. Rhiannon was asked the question: “You’ve had a successful career growing companies, bringing them to new markets and managing acquisitions. What’s the best piece of advice someone has given you that you’d like to share with this group?”.
Led by CDL–Rockies, students were guided through a narrative about the current problem and the various opportunities for innovation through the agriculture value chain – securing our food chain, minimizing waste, managing carbon, etc. Students had the opportunity to meet founder Angela Kouris, CEO of Synergia Biotech, a clean technology company that has created the world’s only ‘green’ natural blue – a climate-friendly blue pigment from cyanobacteria for use in the food and beverage, health and wellness, and personal care industries.
CDL mentors joined the conversation, including CDL Ag Founding Fellow, Alison Sunstrum (Founder and CEO, CNSRV–X, a company researching and applying blockchain tech in agriculture) who helped answer the question: “Most of the innovation in the agricultural sector is happening in developed countries. There is huge potential in countries like India yet so little is being done in terms of innovation. Is there a way to focus on such markets?”. Vincent Chahley (Chair, UCalgary Student Fund Investment Committee), Judy Fairburn (Co-founder & CEO, The51), Keith Driver (CEO, Enterra Feed Corporation), Patricia Hume (CEO, Canvas GFX), Jim Baker (President, Cultura Technologies), Ray Price (President, Sunterra Group), and Kristina Williams (CEO, Alberta Enterprise Corporation) also invested their time in mentoring the CDL Apprentice students.
Oceans cover over two–thirds of the earth’s surface and 97% of its water, and take up more carbon than all of the world’s rainforests combined. Led by CDL–Atlantic, students discussed how disruption in the ocean economy is driven by digital technologies and sustainability, including shipping and logistics, sustainable fishing and aquaculture, etc. Students met CDL founder Nisha Sarveswaran, CEO of Kraken Sense, developing the world’s first real-time automated pathogen detection platform. The students also heard from CDL mentors Anya Waite (CEO & Scientific Director, Ocean Frontier Institute), Catherine Blewett (Chief Strategic Engagement Officer, Ocean Frontier Institute), Marlon Lewis (Professor Emeritus, Dalhousie University), Melanie Nadeau (CEO, COVE), Erika (Montague) Heine (Chief Technologist, Schmidt Marine Technology Partners), Justin Manley (Founder & Principal Consultant, Just Innovation), Nicole LeBlanc (Partner, Platform @2150.vc), and Cathy Bennett (Founding & Managing Partner, Sandpiper Ventures).
Led by CDL–Paris in its inaugural year, the CDL Climate module highlighted science and technology innovations tackling natural resource and climate challenges, including renewable energy/alternative energy, landfill waste, power storage, manufacturing, transportation, etc. CDL founder Shivani Shah, Co-founder of Samp, a SaaS company leveraging machine learning techniques to generate data-enriched 3D models of large industrial facilities, was asked: “Were there significant events or people that led you to the career path you are on?”. The students also met CDL mentors Anne–Marie Roussel (Former Corporate VC, Microsoft & Sharp), Antoine Delafargue (Managing Director & CTO, Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures), Neil Wainwright (CEO, UpHabit), Bill Brown (Chairperson, 8 Rivers Capital), Eugénie Rives (Director, Early Stage Projects, X), Jason Blackstock (Founder & CEO, How to Change the World), Adam McNamara (Founding Partner, Ramen Ventures), Andrew Nutter (Co-founder, Westwing), and Scott Saxberg (CEO, Icebook Investments Corp).
Led by CDL–Toronto, students received an introduction to advanced materials, a horizontal technology with major applications across many verticles including automotive, aerospace, electronics, energy. CDL founder Shannon Nangle, Co-founder of Circe Industries, developing CO2 based microbial fermentation technologies for sustainable chemicals, joined a fireside chat along with CDL mentors Sarah Applebaum (Partner, Pangaea Ventures), Michael Helander (President & CEO, OTI Lumionics), Andrew Fursman (CEO, 1QBit), Jeff Green (Managing Director, Rusheen Capital Management), Ken Nickerson (CEO, iBinary), Mike Biddle (Managing Director, Evok Innovations), Laurie Menoud (Partner, At One Ventures), Marty Reed (CEO, Evok Innovations), Neil Cameron (Director, Emerald Technology Ventures), and Phil De Luna (Program Director, NRCC). Christine Tovee, CTO at Wyvern and a CDL fellow, was asked: “How has your leadership style changed over time and what advice do you have for young women growing into leadership opportunities?”.
Led by CDL–Vancouver, the CDL Health module asked students to answer: “What do you envision to be the three top problems in science and medicine that will be the key focus of society over the next decade and that you will want to play a major role in solving?”. Students learned from CDL founder Alla Zamarayeva, CEO & Co-founder of CellFE, developing a microfluidic device for efficient delivery of gene-editing molecules into cells. CDL mentors also joined the discussion, including Ray Muzyka (CEO & Founder, ThresholdImpact), Julia Levy (Founder & Director Emerita, QLT Inc), Natalie Dakers (Founding President & CEO, Accel–Rx), Lana Janes (Venture Partner, adMare Bioinnovations), Brenda Irwin (Managing General Partner, Relentless Venture Fund), Sacha Mann (Entrepreneur in Residence, Novateur Ventures), Dawn Bell (Global Development Head, Strategic Partnerships, Novartis), Allyson Tighe (Co-founder & Associate, Amplitude Ventures), and Patrick Lor (Managing Partner, Panache Ventures).