Venture for Canada Launches 2024-2025 Alumni Council

Jennie Wedd Updated: November 6, 2024

TORONTO, ONT./ November 6, 2023 – Venture for Canada proudly welcomes the newest members of its 2024-2025 Fellowship Alumni Council. Now in its sixth year, the Alumni Council continues to drive meaningful impact and foster connections among VFC’s community of over 500 Fellowship Alumni across Canada. This year’s council brings together a diverse group of leaders from various sectors, committed to amplifying the power of community and supporting each other’s growth as the next generation of Canadian entrepreneurs and startup leaders.

The VFC Alumni Council is an application-based, volunteer-driven advisory group dedicated to creating meaningful programming for Fellows across Canada. This includes planning the annual VFC Alumni Summit, organizing mentorship and peer-support initiatives, and hosting both virtual and in-person regional gatherings to strengthen alumni connections.

"This Alumni Council benefits from the lessons of the Councils that came before, and the growing energy of VFC's Alumni Community. Together, their efforts will raise the bar on what's possible with meaningful and data-driven community building work."

– Anna Smith, Director of Learning Design, Venture for Canada

This year marked the highest number of applications ever received for the Alumni Council, highlighting the growing energy and commitment within VFC’s alumni community. The 2024-2025 council introduces new functional roles, such as Marketing Director and Community Operations Director, to bring specialized expertise to the team. Additionally, Regional Directors are now positioned in major cities—Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary—to strengthen local engagement. These updates enable the council to better meet the evolving needs of VFC’s alumni network, fostering a more connected community from coast to coast.

Meet the 2024-2025 Alumni Council

Calla Mclachlan, Co-Chair

Calla Mclachlan is a member of the 2020 VFC Cohort and has served on the Alumni Council for the last two years as Summit Co-Director. She has worked in the digital health space for the last four years, first overseeing Customer Support at Inkblot Therapy and now working in Quality Assurance for mental health products at Green Shield Health. Calla previously studied Psychology and French at the University of Guelph and enjoyed spending time in Quebec and France during her degree. Outside of work, she loves to dance (currently focusing on ballroom styles) and create music with friends. Calla feels inspired by and grateful for the Alumni Community and looks forward to taking on a new role as Co-Chair.

Mateo Peralta, Co-Chair

Mateo Peralta is a 2019 Fellowship Alumni who works at a mentorship technology company called Together that supports organizations such as the United Nations, Disney, and Kellogg’s in building mentorship programs. Having previously worked in Customer Success for 4 years, he recently made the jump into sales as Account Manager. He hails from the jagged peaks of Bogota, Colombia and grew up in Ottawa where he received his Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University. Mateo is currently based in Toronto, where he spends his free time reading fiction, making collages out of old magazines, and biking through new neighbourhoods. Mateo served as Programming Director on the Alumni Council last year to successfully launch VFC’s first scaled Alumni mentorship and networking program, and is thrilled to be returning as a Council Co-Chair this year.

Maria Denk, Community Operations Director

Maria Denk is a trilingual, multi-passionate professional celebrated for her versatility and problem-solving prowess. With a background in chemistry, she’s adeptly maneuvered through various roles across industries, from pharmaceutical research to SaaS account management, showcasing her excellence in diverse settings. Maria’s innovative approach is evident in her ability to handle tasks spanning from synthesizing molecules to coordinating community events. Driven by a fervent passion for advancing human health and sustainability, Maria is dedicated to tackling complex challenges and fostering positive change in her endeavours.

Paula Nalbaru, Marketing Director

Paula Nalbaru, self-proclaimed pet pun queen, is passionate about all things communications, what makes people people, and above all else, learning. Her passion (or pawssion) for social impact combined with a love for four legged friends, helped her find her calling – giving a voice to the voiceless. She is a 2021 Fellow, who learned that entrepreneurship is embedded everywhere, and now uses it to help pets in need as a Communications Coordinator at Nova Scotia SPCA. And when she isn’t helping pets in shelters from behind a screen, she is playing referee to her own pets, reading in all possible places, collecting coffee mugs and Legos, and trying new possible hobbies.

Andrew Nguyen, Alumni Summit Co-Director

Andrew Nguyen is an aspiring serial entrepreneur, who values community and people above all. With a positive mindset and a fun-loving spirit, his curiosity drives his growth and ambition in the start-up world. He thrives on fostering connections, sparking innovation, and building impactful relationships. Currently, he’s a small business owner and working in an AI-powered legal tech startup, driven by his entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to positive impact. Andrew is returning to the Alumni Council after a successful year as Community Co-Director in 2023-24.

Gavin Resch, Alumni Summit Co-Director

Gavin Resch started with career aspirations of playing basketball, but despite a decent amount of heart, and due to a lack of talent, his bouncy ball dreams fell short. After graduating from Carleton University (go Ravens!) with a BSc in Math/Physics and a stacked basketball camp work experience resume, he thought it best to add a hireable skill to his repertoire. He returned to Carleton for computer science. With sufficient peer pressure, he found himself in the student government, where he heard of the nascent VFC Fellowship Program. After a gruelling selection period, he was deemed sufficiently funny to join the legendary 2018 cohort. After training camp, he started working as a software developer at OTI Lumionics, and later as a machine learning engineer. After roughly two years, getting paid to do things just didn’t seem enticing enough. He returned to pursue graduate school in computational physics at the University of Ottawa (boo Gee-Gees). His current research leverages simulation to better understand the relationship between liquids under extreme pressure and their other states of matter. He collaborates with the National Research Council of Canada and the better-funded Lawrence Livermore National Lab in California. His favourite chocolate bar is Crispy Crunch and he is disappointed in ChatGPT’s inability to generate an adequate bio (it made him sound too professional and competent).

Sarah Singh, Regional Director | Toronto

As a 2019 Venture for Canada alum, I’m excited to take on the role of Regional Director for the Alumni Council. While I have a background in health sciences and kinesiology, my interest in the start up world was sparked after working on a project to tackle food insecurity in rural and northern Canada. I’ve worn many hats in the startup world, from gov-tech to maternal health, however, always gravitating toward client-facing roles. Now, as a Customer Success Manager at Klue, I help product marketing and GTM teams strategically win deals through competitive intelligence. In my role, I’m looking forward to connecting with local Toronto alumni and creating engaging opportunities to strengthen our community.

Zuzana Navratil, Regional Director | Montreal

Zuzka is a 2023 alum who joined VFC with a background in economics and educational psychology. Professionally, they served as a large-group facilitator for a Civic Engagement Pilot Program under the federal government and built back on its feet a social impact initiative for primary school students aimed at equipping them with conflict management and resolution skills. After completing the VFC Fellowship, they began exploring the startup ecosystem through a BDR role, which helped them lead the outreach efforts for the Slovak President’s Business Mission to Canada in early 2024. During this mission, they were a keynote speaker and facilitated roundtable discussions between Slovak and Canadian founders. Big enthusiast of parkour, crafts, and languages, Zuzka is currently working on embroidery commissions and attending part-time classes for professional pastel artists. They are excited to meet the other Council members, and contribute to VFC’s future impact on its community members.

Madison Foran, Regional Director | Ottawa

Madison is a 2017 Venture for Canada Fellowship Alumni. She currently works as a Communications Designer at Invest Ottawa, bringing experience from multiple startups, a marketing agency, and educational institutes. Alongside her full-time role, she runs her own video and graphics agency, working with clients such as Oxfam Canada, Community Foundations Canada, StartUp Canada, and numerous small business owners. She has served as the Director of Design on the Women in Communication and Technology National Capital Region Board, where she championed initiatives to support and elevate women in the tech and communications sectors. In addition, Madison contributes to the 1000 Voices, 1000 Stories podcast, shooting and editing episodes that highlight diverse narratives from various women in Canada’s history. Madison is based in Ottawa where she lives with her partner and 3 cats.

Nhat Vu, Regional Director | Calgary

Nhat is currently a Relationship Manager at Technology Helps – a social enterprise that empowers non-profit organizations to excel in their missions by providing friendly and affordable IT services and cybersecurity systems. He has worked extensively with the non-profit sector in Calgary towards advancing the local tech ecosystem, and it is this unique connection between the private and non-profit sectors that excites him about joining a mission-driven team contributing to social good. He also volunteers at local non-profits to help seniors with their use of technology and software. Outside of work, Nhat can be found wandering around Calgary looking for hidden gems, trying out a new restaurant or taking photos of people and places. He loves the Rockies and hikes regularly to marvel at the majestic scenery.

Aranyah Shanker, Programming Director

Aranyah here! I’m a passionate community builder committed to creating spaces where people can connect, learn, and grow. I established a Women Who Code Chapter that now boasts over 5,000 members; check out our legacy group too! Additionally, I lead the Codecademy and Figma community chapters, empowering individuals in tech to enhance their skills. My journey into tech and community building began with a deep-rooted passion for sustainability, which sparked during my university days. I participated in diverse hackathons as both a builder and organizer, developing innovative prototypes to solve real-world problems. One of my proudest achievements was creating machine learning tools to improve waste management in hospitals and campuses, earning recognition and several awards. This passion extended beyond hackathons, leading me to work on SteriShield—a reusable sterilization container aimed at reducing plastic waste in hospitals and tattoo parlours. Securing second place in a national sustainability competition solidified my drive to pursue entrepreneurship more seriously. If you aren’t catching me talk about numbers 24/7, I run data visualization workshops and focus on strategic decision-making that drives sales operations in the dynamic tech startup industry. However, outside of trends and patterns, I’m an adventurer at heart. You’ll often find me mountain biking, bouldering, baking (not super sweet) desserts, or running Spartan Races. If you’re interested in chatting about hackathons, the power of data, fictional reading lists or upskilling/career development, feel free to reach out—I’m always excited to connect and share experiences!

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About Venture for Canada:

Venture for Canada is a national charity focused on accelerating the careers of Canadian youth through immersive opportunities at innovative startups and small businesses. Through our programs, young Canadians gain the skills, experience, and networks they need to lead more entrepreneurial and impactful careers.

To learn more, read our 2023 Impact Report.