2024 Girls in Tech Conference Speakers
Naina Gazula
Naina is a Director in the Canadian Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) practice at KPMG in Canada, leading the Canadian Digital Infrastructure portfolio. She advises clients on bridging the digital divide through strategic rural connectivity programs, defining the value of emerging technologies such as 5G, IoT, and digital twins across various sectors with a focus in all levels of government (federal, provincial, municipal). Naina also has substantial experience working on digital and customer experience initiatives – especially within the telecommunications sector. Naina has directly worked within the Canadian telecommunications sector across various roles including program and capital governance, customer experience strategy and operations, data and analytics. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree specializing in Strategic Management, as well as a Certificate in Brand Management, from the University of Toronto.
Anamika Ahmed
Anamika Ahmed is a Software Engineer at Amazon, Canada. She is the Founder of She Thinks Code, an organization that empowers women in technology and programming. She is also the Global Champion of World's Challenge Challenge (WCC) 2022 and has been recognized for founding Mitro, a digital safety application to protect the victims of intimate partner violence. Anamika was a judge of British Columbia's largest All-Women Hackathon "cmd-f 2022". She has been featured by CBC News, Unicef, Protidiner Bangladesh, the Daily Star, Dalhousie Computer Science Faculty, etc for her outstanding accomplishments in the tech industry.
Sonali Salins
Sonali is a Product Manager at KPMG in Canada, specializing in leading the development of innovative solutions using AI, machine learning, RPA, and other advanced technologies. With 14 years of global experience, she's known for successfully launching products, driving digital changes, and sparking innovation. She's currently heading the evolution of KPMG One Port, an exciting product empowering tax practitioners with an all-in-one platform for managing tax data and applications. Beyond work, Sonali loves travel, exploring diverse cultures and foods to fuel her creativity and personal growth.
Gira Chawda
Gira is a first-year student in the Digital Technologies program at York University and a Dev Degree intern at Shopify. Currently dedicated to backend engineering with the Shopify Plus Growth Team, Gira began her tech journey as a self-taught programmer and later founded "Cracking the Code," a platform focused on teaching coding skills to youth across the Greater Toronto Area. As a cohost of the upcoming podcast "Cooking Code," Gira is excited to explore the multifaceted world of technology. With a passion for inspiring others to embrace the world of coding, she leverages her experiences to contribute meaningfully to the tech industry. As a panelist at this conference, Gira looks forward to sharing insights, lessons learned, and engaging in discussions that explore the intersections of technology, education, and innovation, all while fostering collaboration within the tech community.
Dalia Shanshal
Dalia Shanshal is a Senior Data Scientist at Bell Canada, where she leads and develops data-driven solutions for network optimization and proactive network disturbance resolutions. She has a Master’s of Science in Data Science from TMU University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from McGill University. Dalia’s research interests are in data science and machine learning. She is particularly passionate about data mining and knowledge discovery. She has extensive research experience working in various domains such as public health, law enforcement, and communication. Dalia was the recipient of the Bell Excellence and Innovation Award in 2022 and in 2023 as well as the Bell Gold Merit Award in 2021. Dalia is also an active educator, mentor, and speaker in the data science and AI community, teaching and participating in various events and platforms.
Isra Zahid
Isra Zahid is a fifth year software and biomedical co-op student at McMaster University. Throughout her 5 years at McMaster, she spent a lot of her time mentoring younger students through TAships and helping them get involved in events as the VP External on the McMaster Engineering Society and VP Professional Development on the Software Engineering Society. Outside of school, she’s completed 4 internships as various degrees of a Software Engineer at RBC, Intellijoint Surgical, and Coinbase. After graduation this April, she will be working as a Software Engineer at Coinbase, a platform built for buying, selling, and storing cryptocurrency. In her spare time, she enjoys hanging out with friends, finding new restaurants and coffee shops, and attending live concerts from her favourite artists.
Parastoo Baghaei
Parastoo is a robotics and AI enthusiast. She is part of the General Motors Canada team as a Machine Learning Specialist, and these days she gets to look at a lot of data and code, which she loves. Parastoo has her BEng in Computer Engineering from YorkU and MASc in Computer Engineers, specializing in pattern recognition and machine intelligence for Uwaterloo!
Snehali Patel
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the relentless pace of technological change? It seems the way we connect, work, and even think is constantly shifting. It’s Snehali Patel, Solution Consultant from Google Cloud Canada who helps us to navigate this ever-evolving landscape. Her groundbreaking support to the Global Business functions is to understand customer needs and proactively identify opportunities to improve business and customer outcomes. Through her insights, we can understand both the potential benefits and challenges of these groundbreaking technologies.
Apart from being a Googler, She is a passionate pageant winner and a model, always ready to make a splash when all the judges are watching me. Despite never being the girl with the traditional pretty face, I managed to become the one who stands out from the crowd, either with my sunny personality, quirky answers, or maybe my curly hair. In addition, I’m a Girl Guides leader where my main aim is to inspire the next generation of girls. I encourage them to take chances today by trusting their instincts and going with them. And also never letting a fear of failure keep them from doing what they know is right.
I strongly believe the ability to persevere along with a “never give up attitude” is what ultimately makes a difference. While talent and luck are important, I believe there is no substitute for an unwavering, positive attitude. Persistence is what separates the successful from the wishful thinkers. Distinguish yourself by staying motivated even in the toughest of circumstances.
mackenzie clark
Mackenzie (she/her) holds a degree in Robotics Engineering from the University of Toronto's Engineering Science program. She is currently a Senior Software Engineer on the Cloud Healthcare team at Google, working to make healthcare records more accessible to patients around the world. At Google and within her community, she is working to build an understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and to encourage more women and girls to explore careers in STEM.
Carole au yeung
Carole is a Senior Manager in Deloitte Cyber practice that focuses in Data Protection. She has over 10 years of experience in Cyber working with clients in several business sectors specializing in the Healthcare and Public Sectors to improve their security posture. In her free time she likes to go on an adventures such as hiking, and trying new Cafés, restaurants around town.
Manpreet sandhu
Manpreet Sandhu is currently working as a Virtual Electromagnetics engineer at General Motors. She did her Master’s in Electrical Engineering at the University of British Columbia.
Her current research interests include autonomous systems and machine learning. She hopes to continue to contribute to General Motors’ vision of "Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions and Zero Congestion."
Her hobbies include photography, painting and exploring new trails.
Helen Li
Helen Li is a third-year Computer Science and Statistics student at the University of Toronto. She is passionate about leveraging technology as a force for social good and impact. Helen has explored the world of innovation at Microsoft, AI4Good Lab, Computational Health and Interaction Lab, Citadel, Jane Street, and more. At school, she is currently a Women in Science and Engineering executive, Department of Computer Science ambassador, and peer mentor for first-year students in Statistics.
sophie sun
Sophie Sun is an Engineering Science student specializing in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto. She is currently on her co-op year at Intel building software tools to design low-power chips while also conducting research at U of T related to control theory. Sophie hopes to make technology simpler and more accessible through her previous research at UHN in affordable medical technology and her role as software engineer at Slack. Currently she is the Co-President of Women In Science and Engineering at U of T, a member of Women at Intel, and a paddler on the Iron Dragons Dragon Boat team.
Megha Swargam
Megha Swargam is a Business Analyst in Metrolinx’s IT division, where she helps design and optimize the data strategy for the rail corridor operations team. She has her BSc in Environmental Science, specializing in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) at McMaster. Over the past 3 years, Megha has experience working on cloud migration projects, data migration projects, data analytics and strategic roadmap planning. She’s best known for being a tech-savvy communicator. Megha is excited to share her experiences as a business analyst specializing in data and explain how she got started in this area! In her free time she loves swimming, reading, making and eating food, and binge watching TV!
Safia Mirza
Safia Mirza is a Cloud Engineering Manager at KPMG in Canada, where she builds and maintains solutions using Azure currently using Generative AI and prompt engineering in her latest projects. She studied Law at university, and started her career as a Paralegal then moved to Financial Compliance for four years before starting her tech career at KPMG UK. Whilst at KPMG UK, Safia created an Introduction to Python course to make the tech sector a more diverse place by teaching people skills needed to enter. She has taught this course at KPMG, charities, schools, to groups of women and in prisons, as well as live-streaming it during the pandemic to over 17,000 views in 30+ countries and territories.
Dr. Dafna Sussman
Dr. Dafna Sussman is the Director of the Maternal-Fetal Imaging (MFI) lab at the iBEST institute, St. Michael's Hospital. She is also an assistant professor in Biomedical Engineering and Biomedical Physics at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), and an affiliate scientist at the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Sciences at St. Michael's Hospital.
Dr. Sussman's current research focuses on the development and clinical applications of novel techniques that facilitate maternal, fetal, and placental imaging.
Pardis Talebian
Pardis is a Senior Consultant in KPMG in Canada’s Cybersecurity practice. She has obtained her master's degree in Information Systems Security and started her first job as a consultant. Over the past five years, she has experience advising and assisting her clients in different cybersecurity areas and supporting them to conquer their challenges. She believes cybersecurity requires you to always be thinking three steps ahead of attackers because cyber breaches can happen at any moment! Pardis is excited to share her experiences in the cybersecurity field and explain how she started her first career in this area. In her spare time, Pardis enjoys go hiking or relaxing through watercolor painting.
Stephanie brenham
Stephanie Brenham is a 3D Lead Programmer at Ubisoft Toronto, where she is responsible for the visual fidelity and performance of the graphic systems in a video game. Stephanie most recently helped release Far Cry 6, which won the 2021 Navgtr Award for Outstanding Graphics. In 2021, she was named to the Game Awards Future Class, which recognizes the inspiring individuals who represent the bright, bold, and inclusive future of video games. Stephanie holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Toronto.
Komal Dhawan
Komal is currently a Dev Degree Intern at Shopify where she applies her passion for coding to create impactful backend solutions on a Shopify Capital team. She has an Honours Bachelor's degree in Global Business and Digital Arts from the University of Waterloo and currently is at York University for their Digital Technologies program. Coding for Komal is another form of creative expression, a way to build and create solutions that can make a difference in how we experience the world and shes always looking for new things to learn! Komal is eager to inspire young girls to explore opportunities in tech and empower the next generation of female tech leaders to make significant contributions. Outside of work you'll find her booking her next flight and traveling, reading books, lifting weights, creating art, and drinking lots of coffee.
Tracy Primeau
Tracy is one of the few women to become a CNSC licensed operator at Bruce Power and was the first to do so at Bruce A. She is the only woman to ever work her way up to Shift Manager from the shop floor where she started as a nuclear operator in training in 1990 at Pickering. She worked shift for most of her career and before retiring in 2021 led multiple teams in operations and maintenance. She is a current member of the Women in Nuclear Canada Board, the United College Board of Governors and the Ontario Power Generation Board. She is also the Founder and Principal of Agile Bear.
Raising her two boys with her husband Dave, Tracy has always been active in her community. She has years of volunteer and board experience both in the energy industry and in various other organizations.
She is a proud member of the Nipissing First Nation and strives to use the Seven Grandfather Teachings in her leadership.
Marissa Shiwdayal
Marissa is a Cybersecurity Transformation Lead at CAE, who excels at aligning cybersecurity objectives with business imperatives, catalyzing organizational change, and nurturing a culture of security awareness. Previously a Cybersecurity Program Manager, she has a demonstrated expertise in developing and implementing comprehensive cybersecurity initiatives.
Beyond her professional achievements, Marissa is a passionate advocate for inclusivity in the tech sector, particularly championing the advancement of women in technology. Her dedication to nurturing the next generation of technology professionals is palpable through her outreach initiatives aimed at promoting STEM among youth.
Marissa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a Certificate in Cybersecurity Architecture and Management from Polytechnique Montréal. She is currently pursuing her Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Université Laval, solidifying her as a versatile leader poised to navigate complexities of cybersecurity transformation.
Harjit kaur ghuman
Harjit Kaur Ghuman is a cloud specialist with 10 years of industry experience and a passion for exploring new opportunities in tech. Harjit's own journey overcoming challenges fuels her belief that technology can be a powerful tool for transformation and positive change. Her motto is "Dream big, and don't be afraid to break down barriers," a philosophy she embodies in her work and advocacy.From humble beginnings, her journey, bolstered by a bachelor's degree in computer science engineering, demonstrates that embracing possibilities is the real power.She's committed to empowering other women to reach for their own stars in the tech world.
Katherine Quan
Katherine is a Manager in Deloitte’s Financial Services Transformation team, where she helps clients design solutions for their operations. She joins the firm after having spent a decade in technology consulting, first at a software company and later at a boutique consulting firm. She’s passionate about advancing women in the field of consulting and leads the Ontario Consulting chapter of the Women’s Impact Network ERG.
samantha pramanick
Sam (UTS '12) graduated with a BASc in Nanotechnology Engineering from the University of Waterloo. As part of the co-op program at Waterloo, Sam learned how to code in order to increase her chances of landing a co-op job every semester. Upon graduation five years later, Sam chose the tech consulting route so that she could combine her experience in tech with her desire to build products that make people's lives better. Currently, Sam is a product manager at Thoughtworks Canada. Outside of that, she loves lifting weights, being active, reading, making and eating food, and spending time with her friends/family.
Anne Chow
Anne Chow is a computer engineering student on her PEY year at the University of Toronto. Currently, she is working as a pipeline developer for Spin VFX and she has previously interned as a software engineer at Electronic Arts for the upcoming SKATE game. Anne is passionate not only about cultivating spaces that foster creativity but, most importantly, ensuring there are safe spaces that allow for diversity, inclusion, and individualism to flourish. She is currently the conference co-chair for the Women in Science and Engineering National Conference and an executive on the University of Toronto Robotics Association team.
Armita Khashayardoost
Armita Khashayardoost is an Engineering Science student majoring in Energy Systems at the University of Toronto. She is currently on her PEY (or co-op) at Alphawave Semi working as a Digital Verification Engineer. Armita hopes to use her knowledge in electrical engineering and energy systems to help with the integration of renewables into the electrical grid system to create a greener future. She is currently the Co-President of the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) club at UofT, a mentor for high school students in the Women in Computer Science (WiCs) club, and working towards starting a chapter of Stars for Scholarly Youth (SSY), a non-profit organization working towards bridging the educational gap for youth, in Toronto.
Torie joy-warren
Torie is an engineering manager with over 8 years of experience in tech. She currently leads the growth team at Felix Health, and has previously worked at Wealthsimple and CareZone. Having studied economics in university, she transitioned to software after working briefly in economic research. She's especially passionate about health tech and using technology to reduce inequities. Outside of work, Torie loves books, playing squash and soccer, and biking.