Executive Positions

Philip La, President

I was in my 3rd year of chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo when I first learned about Nspire. I was at the top of my class and had completed multiple successful co-op terms at companies such as Suncor and Petro-Canada. Although I was not passionate about any of this, I felt good about where I was headed because I didn't know what else was out there, and was afraid of change. This all changed when I went to the 2010 National Business and Technology Conference run by Nspire and competed in the case competition. It opened my eyes to opportunities that I never knew existed and inspired me to change my career direction to an area I was truly passionate about, business and marketing. I applied and gained my role as the NBTC 11' Marketing Director where I further realized what it felt like to be excited about what you did. I was given full ownership of projects at Nspire and room to go above and beyond. This experience then translated to me landing a job at Microsoft Canada as a business and marketing associate even though my background was in chemical engineering. After I successfully marketed NBTC 11' I went on to be President which I am now. All of these experiences and connections I gained then empowered me to gain my current internship at Facebook Canada where I am a market strategist. Being a part of Nspire has truly changed my life for the better.

Yasmin Razavi, Board Member

"To speak with CEOs and founders of the most successful organizations, to negotiate for sponsorship with Fortune 500 companies and to make nationally and internationally impactfull decisions are opportunities that only Nspire can offer at an undergraduate level."

I joined as a volunteer to sell tickets for NBTC'09 and fell in love with the organization. Before Nspire and NBTC, I had no vision, my thoughts were scattered and I had no confidence in my abilities. I owe Nspire not just for the opportunities to have an impact, but for pushing me to discover new limits of my leadership and creative abilities every single day. As a result, I was recently one of the few students selected from across the world to receive early admissions to Harvard Business School's MBA class of 2016. But it didn't stop there, the leadership skills, the team skills, the confidence to be ambitious and the creativity to realize my dreams are all skills that I have developed at Nspire and they went on to help me land my dream job at McKinsey & Company for post-graduation.

Wayne Lin, Board Member

Having always been heavily involved in non-profit organizations and student organizations throughout my academic career, I thought I had experienced it all. From student organized international model UN conferences, to local aid organizations, to student governments. After joining Nspire in 2010, I was pleasantly surprised. Nspire cannot be compared with any other student led initiative as it is a truly unique and life changing experience.

Nspire has and continues to be a whirlwind experience for me – I can never seem to anticipate how it positively changes my life. It has empowered me with new knowledge and insights about the changing world of business and technology. It has been an inspiration, helping me to find my passion in innovation and building teams. Most importantly, Nspire has allowed me to meet the visionaries of today’s world, like Harry Rosen and Isadore Sharp, and given me the privilege to work alongside the most passionate and driven team of innovators, the visionaries of tomorrow’s world.

VP President of Operations

• Collaborate with the President in shaping the overall strategic path of the organization
• Provide leadership, support and guidance to all team members across Nspire
• Ensure all Nspire events are executed with a high degree of quality and align with the overall goals of the organization
• Manage the overall integration of the various Nspire events and initiatives so that they all complement each other
• Drive all organization wide internal activities and initiatives (e.g. social events, team-wide calendar)
• Manage all human resource related projects
• Maintain quality relationships with Nspire’s partners and build new partners

Why?

• Gain amazing leadership skills through mentoring others on the team and helping them grow
• Build strategic management skills from being at the top level of decision-making in the organization, and understand exactly how to execute on high level strategies
• Learn about and become verse in every aspect of a business (e.g. marketing, business development, finance, sales, events, logistics etc.)

VP Finance

• Manage Nspire's budget and ensure financial health of the organization in the short and long ter
• Work with external accountant to handle all tax filings
• Seek and devise innovative cost saving strategies through the year
• Search and negotiate NBTC 12 venues, hotels and catering in collaboration with the NBTC Director of Operations
• Handle all monetary transactions including purchases, reimbursements, sponsorships, and subsidies
• Keep a very detailed and clear record of Nspire financials through spreadsheets
• Administrative work required to ensure Nspire retains its non-profit status
• Background and experience in accounting and finance is very valuable

Why VP Finance?

• Build strong financial management skills through managing a large budget for a national non-profit organization
• Expand your ability to think critically through developing strategies to cost-save

VP Marketing and Communications

• Be the face of Nspire and represent the organization’s values and vision in the various professional and entrepreneurial communities/events
• Determine the overall marketing strategy of the organization
• Manage and integrate all marketing levers within the organization through extensive collaboration with the directors of marketing for NBTC and Nspire DS
• Build relationships and execute innovative marketing campaigns through our strong social media channels (current Facebook page: 1200, Twitter: 300)
• Devise and execute on all Nspire wide marketing initiatives
• Be the point of contact for all inbound inquiries through info@nspire.org and curate our monthly newsletter
• Build sustainable processes for leveraging marketing channels for various events and initiatives
• Manage graphic and web designers for content creation
• Manage Nspire campus ambassadors

Why

• Build valuable and meaningful relationships with everyone that is part of the Nspire community online and offline including professionals, entrepreneurs and students from across Canada
• Be given the budget, resources, and authority to create innovative nationwide marketing campaigns to drive bottom line results for the organization
• Amazing opportunity to build strategic marketing skills through devising the overall national marketing strategy for the organization

VP Business Development

• Lead the strategic means for expansion of Nspire both in the corporate and academic world through alliances, partnerships and sponsorships (past sponsors include RIM, IBM, TD, Deloitte, Microsoft)
• Network with organizations and corporations at events regularly throughout the year to gain support for Nspire
• Sell and negotiate Sponsorship/Partnership deals with companies and organizations
• Be responsible for providing value to our partners and sponsors and following through with our commitments to them
• Devise strategies to attract new partners and sponsors through innovative value adding tactics

Why

• Be the point of contact and build the strongest personal relationships with our partners and sponsors who can help accelerate your career
• Develop strong professional communication and sales skills that are integral for landing and excelling in any endeavours you may wish to pursue
• Learn how to provide value to others through leveraging Nspire resources to provide maximum value to sponsors and partners