Issue link: http://georgiancollege.uberflip.com/i/1226064
Rishi Ghuldu came to Georgian as an international student, and in 1999, graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Technology, Automotive Manufacturing program. His father was an engineer, and Rishi recalls a childhood fascination of trying to be just like him. As a student, he was an active varsity athlete, and he credits this experience with helping him to transition as an international student at Georgian, noting, "It felt amazing to be a part of a team." He credits two co-op placements with Honda of Canada Mfg. and one with GSW Thermoplastics for providing a foundation to build a career on. "The co-ops were an advanced look into what the workplace would be," he recalls. "They really influenced my approach to learning, and as a student, I became better at translating my learning into efficient methods of working." Rishi continued to pursue learning opportunities and in 2013, graduated as Valedictorian of the Kellogg- Schulich EMBA class. Today, Rishi is the founder and CEO of Zerv Inc., and his career has had many highlights since graduating from Georgian more than two decades ago. At 31, he became the youngest global functional leader for Barrick Gold Corporation as director, business improvement. He has also held the positions of vice president, operational excellence & supply chain, vice president, supply chain & asset management, and vice president, business transformation with Newmont Goldcorp. Rishi's employment with Barrick Gold involved travelling to very remote parts of the world, and these experiences led to an experience in 2010 that would change his life. He came across a school that was built with the help of the company, and there were students who wanted to pursue an education but couldn't because of financial barriers. Soon after, Rishi and two other individuals filed an application with the Canada Revenue Agency, and CanEducate was born. The charity supported 158 children in Tanzania in its first year, and is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2020. In addition to Tanzania, the charity now supports children in Zambia, Guatemala, India and there is a new chapter in Haiti. It sends 3,300 children to school every year, and requires that at least 50 per cent of a community's sponsored children are female. To date, more than 17,000 students have attended school. RISHI GHULDU MECHANICAL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY, AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING, 1999 FOUNDER & CEO, ZERv INC. December 2017. CanEducate inaugurated the CanEducate - India program, sponsoring children at the Pragati Wheel School, near the outskirts of New Delhi. This became the fourth country that CanEducate would operate in. TECHNOLOGY CATEGORY 2019 PREMIER'S AWARD NOMINEE 28 GEORGIANVIEW 2019-20 WINTER PREMIER'S AWARDS