All posts on October, 2025

A few weeks ago I was invited to a high school basketball game. I sat riveted in the gymnasium, totally amazed at the level of intensity in which the majority young Black youths were playing. Both teams displayed a strong desire to win and the level at which they competed demonstrated that it was the desire to be victorious that pushed them to learn the game. I left the game impressed, full of hope but somewhat inwardly perturbed. I kept pondering as to how a group that has so many problems succeeding in the classroom , could excel at a …

When Alexis Maniatis thinks back on her childhood, the kitchen is where her memories gather. “My grandmother always was teaching me how to cook,” she says, smiling. “We were always in the kitchen baking. She really just showed me the ropes, and I fell in love with it.” Today, the 26-year-old Montrealer is the founder of Pressed and Pretty Cookies, a bakery that has quickly built a reputation for its elegant embossed cookies and nut-free creations. But just three years ago, Maniatis was working as a team leader in human resources at IKEA. The turning point came while she was …

On April 17, 2025, it was announced that the registered charitable organization MindFuel, which is committed to developing STEM innovation for kindergarten to Grade 12 and post-secondary youth in Canada, received $500,000 in funding over two years from the RBC Foundation. The funding will support its technology platform, Connect2Innovate, which connects youth ages 15 to 29 across Canada to partners and supports the innovation journeys of aspiring entrepreneurs. Cassy Weber, CEO of MindFuel, said that through Connect2Innovate, participants meet mentors and experts and work in teams to develop projects tackling real-world problems such as carbon capture, genetic engineering to promote …