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Short Biography:

Saadia Muzaffar is a tech entrepreneur, author, and passionate advocate of responsible innovation, decent work for everyone, and the prosperity of immigrant talent in STEM. They are the founder of TGC, a national not-for-profit working to advance a STEM economy where women thrive - and co-founder of Tech Reset Canada, a group of business people, technologists, and other residents advocating for innovation that is focused on the public good. Saadia is featured in Canada 150 Women, a book about 150 of the most influential and groundbreaking women in Canada, and Museum of Toronto’s 2023 exhibit The 52: Stories of Women Who Transformed Toronto. They are on the advisory board for the University of Guelph’s Centre for Advancing Responsible and Ethical Artificial Intelligence (CARE-AI). In 2023, they were recognized as an Immigrant Women of Influence by NEW and served as a Canadian delegate to the United Nations’ 67th Commission on the Status of Women. They are Women in Communications and Technology (WCT | FCT)’s Woman Of The Year 2024 award recipient for Leadership Excellence.
Based in Tkaranto area governed by Treaty 13, Saadia’s pronouns are they / she.

Detailed Biography:

Saadia Muzaffar is a tech entrepreneur, author, and passionate advocate of responsible innovation, decent work for everyone, and prosperity of immigrant talent in STEM. Featured in Canada 150 Women, a book about 150 of the most influential and groundbreaking women in Canada, and Museum of Toronto’s 2023 exhibit The 52: Stories of Women Who Transformed Toronto. They are Women in Communications and Technology (WCT | FCT)’s Woman Of The Year 2024 award recipient for Leadership Excellence.

SThey are founder and CEO of TGC, a national not-for-profit working to advance a STEM economy where women thrive - and co-founder of Tech Reset Canada, a group of business people, technologists, and other residents advocating for innovation that is focused on maximizing the public good. They’re an ambassador for GEM, a mentorship program for high school girls facing socio-economic barriers. They are on the steering committee of Toronto Open Smart Cities Forum, part of Canada Beyond 150: Policy for a diverse and inclusive future initiative, and part of Employment and Social Development Canada's inaugural Advisory Committee on Women in the Economy: Removing Barriers to Employment. They also serve on the advisory board for the University of Guelph’s Centre for Advancing Responsible and Ethical Artificial Intelligence (CARE-AI). In 2023, Saadia served as a Canadian delegate to the United Nations’ 67th Commission on the Status of Women.

Saadia’s work on modern leadership explores big ideas and impactful strategies that address growing challenges for business leaders in today's connected & vigilant markets; and has been featured in CNNMoney, BBC World, Fortune Magazine, Globe & Mail, VICE, CBC, TVO, Hill Times, and Chatelaine.

Saadia is also a Pushcart Prize nominated short fiction writer. In February 2018, their work joined that of Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale), Gabby Rivera (America), Hope Larson (Batgirl), and Amy Chu (Wonder Woman) in Dark Horse Comics' anthology featuring comic and prose stories. In 2017, Saadia and team released Change Together: A Diversity Guidebook for Startups and Scaleups. You can find their contribution to Some Thoughts; a thought-provoking 2019 book on modern day city-building, here.
Note: Saadia resigned from Waterfront Toronto's Digital Strategy Advisory Panel in October 2018. You can learn more about their difficult but necessary decision here.