The second episode in our two-part series about Diversity and Inclusion, Marlon Thompson, an angel investor and startup founder who has spent the past five years creating pathways to success for underrepresented leaders in the startup ecosystem. He founded Future Capital to support ambitious, driven and diverse leaders who are ready to play a bigger role in their industries. He believes now to be a crucial time to create lasting change by enabling and equipping a new cohort of investors: minorities, women, and LGBTQ with the necessary tools to bolster economic empowerment.

The first episode in our two-part series about Diversity and Inclusion, Savior Joseph shares his journey from his early childhood days in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia to meaningful dialogue on how to achieve greater inclusivity in the workplace.   Savior is currently the President and a Member of the Board of Directors for Breathing Green Solutions (BGS) Inc., one of Canada’s leading premium cannabis licensed producers. He has successfully led the launch of SKOSHA, BGS’s recreational Cannabis brand, which currently is the number one local brand in Nova Scotia by market share and dollars sold. He’s also been able to support the launch of the   SKOSHA brand in seven other key markets across the country to ongoing success. He is the incoming board Chair for TRIBE Network, as well as heavily involved in the basketball community and runs a program at Ambrae - basketball leadership academy.    This is only a snapshot of what Savior has accomplished, tune in to hear more!

On the ONSIDE podcast, we want to share the stories of our brightest innovators, to learn about their journeys along the way. The ups, the downs and to open a conversation around who’s participating in and benefiting from our innovation economy, and to think critically around the kind of innovation based ecosystem we want to build together. In our next season, which will focus on our culture of innovation and take deeper dives with our guests. We’ll be covering topics like diversity and inclusion, leadership, philosophy, women in our innovation, economy, and more. Some of our early guests will be Savior Joseph, president of Breathing Green Solutions - a leading cannabis company in Nova Scotia, and Marlon Thompson, CEO and founder of Future Capital. We can’t wait to get the conversation going. Join us on Season 2 of the ONSIDE podcast.

That’s a wrap on the first season of the ONSIDE podcast! In this episode we look back on the first season, where we discussed innovation driven entrepreneurship through the lens of the person journeys of many great entrepreneurs.  We continue to wonder, is the entrepreneurial mindset cultivated or innate? In the next season, we will be diving even deeper into specific topics in the innovation driven entrepreneurship space. Stay tuned for Season 2, coming soon!

In a very special episode of the ONSIDE Podcast, we present a live innovation panel co-hosted by Alex McCann, Executive Director at ONSIDE and Martha Casey, Chief Executive Officer at Volta.   This conversation includes special guests Saeed El-Darahali, Founder, President & CEO at SimplyCast and Ross Simmonds, Founder & CEO at Foundation Marketing. We take a deep dive into topics related to changes in funding & investing, EDI and overall reflections over the last year throughout the COVID pandemic.    For more information: https://onsidenow.ca/ https://voltaeffect.com/ https://www.simplycast.com/ https://foundationinc.co/

Our guest today is Tim Rice, CEO of The Rounds, who is a recognized leader in the Life Sciences sector and devotes his time modernizing how physicians consume and share crucial information. Tim leads a passionate team driven by the mantra that sharing knowledge saves lives. Through his role, Tim focuses on establishing a sustainable and scalable business model for the organization, helping the company‘s rapid growth while positively impacting the community. With over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Tim has developed advanced skills in sales, medical education, marketing, and leadership roles.

Dr. Darren Burke is a global leader in the upcycling movement. As a celebrated science-based entrepreneur focused on plant-based and social impact ideas to save the planet. He created Outcast Foods, a company using his proprietary technology and localized food supply chains to upcycle surplus fruits and vegetables into high purity, nutrient dense, long shelf-life natural health products. Burke is also an award winning business leader and a frequent presenter on the topics of nutrition, the circular economy and climate change solutions. This is just a snapshot of his accomplishments, tune in to hear more!  For more information: https://outcastfoods.com/ https://onsidenow.ca/

At a young age, Barbara Manning was told that “whatever you can imagine for yourself, is what you could be”. Her journey as not only an entrepreneur but a business leader reflects this advice. Barbara is the founder of Miller Manning and the past CEO and president of an award-winning international leader in digital advertising and software development, Genieknows.  She centers her focus on driving change and accelerating diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Barbara was making moves right here in Nova Scotia with her entrepreneurial spirit at the beginning of the internet, when most of the world had no idea what it was. This here, is just a snapshot of her story. Tune in to hear more! 

Saeed El-Darahali fell in love with computers as a child. At 16, he joined the Canadian Armed forces and after a tragic event, decided he would create a company that allows seamless and quick communication. In 2009, he founded SimplyCast, the only platform company in the world that combines communication, engagement, marketing and emergency response.

Darren Rowles believes that entrepreneurs must create opportunities for themselves. The Chief Scientific Officer and President of Halifax-based Sona Nanotech has been entrepreneurial all his life. In this episode, he tells us about growing up in Wales, UK; writing a business plan on the back of an envelope and becoming the CSO and president of a nanotechnology life sciences firm; developing a COVID-19 antigen test, skyrocketing stocks and everything in between.