By Gabrielle Cooper-Saint-Cyr & Josie Hu | September 25, 2026
On September 24, Glendon GENIAL hosted its annual Student Entrepreneurship Competition, proudly sponsored by Desjardins. This event is part of the final phase of the Entrepreneurial Skills Passport (ESP) program, which helps students develop essential skills to identify, discover, and exploit business opportunities. The ESP program is a 15-week bilingual program designed to prepare students at the early stage of their entrepreneurial journey.
This year, we had a new addition to our event, the 60 second elevator pitch. This first category had two students competing against each other. The second category had longer presentations by three students pitching their business idea to the panel of judges and the audience.
Kiara Jaunai-Holder, founder of Kairah鈥檚 Kitchen, won the first-place prize of $500 in the first category. Charlene Bikun, founder of Ngweha, took home the participation prize of $200.
Nathan Bawa, founder of Arkiteks studios, won the first-place prize of $1,500 and the Public鈥檚 Choice Award of $500 in the second category. Chelsee Maravilla, founder of French For Friends, earned the second-place prize of $1,000. Anika Vats and Kayla Lin, co-founders of EEVA Smart Cleanup, received the third-place prize of $500.
The Glendon ENtrepreneuriat et Innovation A L鈥檌nternational (GENIAL) Initiative was launched in 2018 by Dr. Angelo Dossou-Yovo, Associate Professor in Management and Entrepreneurship. This initiative is comprised of 4 pillars: a bilingual extracurricular entrepreneurship program, experiential courses in entrepreneurship and innovation, a research program in innovation and entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship events and workshops.
Glendon GENIAL is an initiative that aims to support and engage entrepreneurs in the Francophone and Francophile community within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
This year GENIAL's students also used the new crowdsourcing platform for problem solving and innovative solution development in collaboration with online crowds of targeted market segments. The same platform was also used for the public choice vote, allowing the broader public to engage directly and vote for their favorite presentation.
If you are interested in providing solutions and feedback for student opportunities you can join the platform as a collaborator to help student entrepreneurs.
This year GENIAL had the pleasure of welcoming keynote speaker Jennifer Ai, Founder and CEO of Leopard AI Inc. Her inspiring speech, in which she emphasize that "no one is truly ready when they start, no one is born with a road map鈥 was a great source of motivation for students to engage in entrepreneurship as the future generation.
Students also gained useful insights and feedback from a panel of judges made up of Hermine Mbondo, Founder and President, B4brand, Benoit Fortin, Vice-president International Development, Africa and India of SkyPower Group and President of the Viamond School Board, Peggy Harvey, Founder of AperoChic, and Serge Paul, Founder and director of Frencheck Consulting.
The learning achievements of students who completed the ESP program are evident in the testimonials below:
鈥淚t was an incredible experience to participate in the GENIAL program as a French studies student. I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity, and I thank the program team for their support, from the initial development of our ideas all the way through to the day of the competition.
I learned a great deal and gained skills throughout this process that I wouldn鈥檛 have been able to develop otherwise, especially since I have no formal training or experience in business. Professor Dossou-Yovo gave us the space to explore our ideas while teaching us entrepreneurial strategies and skills.
It was a very rewarding experience to develop these ideas alongside other passionate students who want to make a positive impact on our society. I鈥檓 grateful for the opportunity to present our startups to investors and receive feedback from the audience. The GENIAL program has shown me that the ideas I鈥檝e always had in mind can become a reality!鈥
- Chelsee Maravilla, founder of French For Friends
鈥淗onestly, this experience allowed me to meet some wonderful people and discover different paths and ideas that inspired me. Above all, I鈥檝e learned to keep moving forward even when I have doubts. The most important thing for me was being able to advocate for a cause that鈥檚 truly close to my heart and present a project that has real meaning for me. I鈥檓 leaving this experience with wonderful memories, immense gratitude, new connections, and an even greater desire to keep going.鈥
- Charlene Bikun, founder of Ngweha