Reimagining entrepreneurship through equity and inclusion

Founders, mentors, and community members were on hand at the Accelerator Centre for the first AC:Incubate+ and (Disrupting Gender Bias in Startups) DGBS Showcase on Wednesday, August 20, 2025. The two programs launched earlier this year aim to provide women and gender-diverse founders with the knowledge, mentorship, and community necessary to remove barriers, challenge inequities, and build businesses that are both successful and inclusive.

The Accelerator Centre partnered with the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region (SASC) to offer both programs. Financial support was provided through the Women and Gender Equality Canada’s (WAGE) Women’s Program.

“AC:Incubate+ expands our flagship AC:Incubate program by tailoring resources and supports specifically for women and gender-diverse business leaders. This program is about breaking down barriers, unlocking networks, and accelerating the success of amazing entrepreneurs who often have to work harder to reach their goals simply based on their gender,” said Ruth Casselman, Accelerator Centre CEO

Anna Jones, Workplace Equity Educator at SASC, welcomed attendees to the showcase with a message on the importance of deconstructing traditional business norms.

“These programs are not only designed to support a more equitable future for women and gender diverse people in business, but as a building block to equity globally,” Jones told the crowd.

In Canada, 97.8 percent of businesses are classified as small businesses. But according to data from the Government of Canada, women accounted for only 17% of small and medium-sized business owners in 2020.

“In the business world, we know that equity and diversity are good. People deserve to be treated with fairness and dignity and have access and opportunity, and yet barriers to women and gender diverse people in business are rampant and entrenched. The Disrupting Gender Bias in Startups program was born to support founders in leveraging the power of entrepreneurship as a tool to change this reality,” said Jones.

The first DGBS cohort was an eight-week pilot that took founders through a process to deconstruct the norms and narratives of the traditional patriarchal workplace. Jones said the goal was to understand the origins of these norms and narratives, as well as the power imbalances they maintain.

“We collaborated on imagining something different. We imagined how we might create businesses that don't follow this structure and actually have at the forefront of their goals the creation of equitable places to work and thrive,” Jones told the audience.

The first cohort of the DGBS program consisted of two founders, Shreyonshi Mishra and Francis Coral Mellon. Mishra is the founder of Saaga Events, a community-focused networking platform built for business professionals, freelancers, and startups. In her presentation, Mishra shared her experiences and frustrations as a Southeast Asian woman founder.

“When I started working after my graduation, I believed that if I worked hard, stayed resilient, and delivered results, the system would reward me. But very quickly, I realized something; the system wasn't built for people like me,” Mishra said.

The DGBS program introduced her to the concept of intersectional feminism, a framework that looks at individual identities through the lens of gender, race, class, culture, ethnicity, and lived experiences.

“It gave me the right lens to reimagine not only my business, but also my role as a leader. Now it's our turn to rewrite new rules, rules where everyone is seen and has an equal say in shaping the future. If we lead this way, not just with ambition, but with integrity, then we won't just disrupt gender bias in startups. We will build the feminist economy of tomorrow,” Mishra said to a round of applause.

Uprise Impact and Soundscape.io founder Francis Coral Mellon shared that they were going through a challenging time in their life when they learned about the DGBS program. The experienced entrepreneur said they felt unsure of their place in society when so many people around them were trying their best, yet still suffering.

“I began to feel a lot of empathy for the collective, and so I said, ‘I have to get educated. From day one, I just fully embraced it and allowed myself to learn as much as possible,” he said.

The program’s sessions provided Mellon and Mishra with a safe environment to examine their personal lives and individual biases, discussing how they could reconstruct themselves and their companies.

“I'm still doing that work every day, and I'm going to continue to do that work. Anna has really put in a lot of work on this course, putting in a great deal of heart and soul—and I think cohort two is going to be even better,” Mellon said.

Following the DGBS presentation, Danielle Joworski, Program Manager for AC:Incubate+, took the audience back to the program's first day, February 19, 2025. She said many of the companies have achieved significant milestones that will help propel them onto the next phase of their entrepreneurial journeys.

“The biggest highlight I want to share is that no two founder journeys are the same. They're all very unique, and all of our founders are going to share with you today their journey not only through the AC:Incubate+ program, but also how they've had to overcome barriers, face their doubts, worries, and fears, and come out ahead,” Joworski said.

Christy Lee is the co-founder of PatientCompanion, a platform designed to improve communication between patients and healthcare providers. The system enables patients to specify precisely what they need, allowing nurses and clinical staff to prioritize requests and reduce unnecessary trips.

Before joining the AC:Incubate+ program, Lee and her co-founder, Ethan Alvizo, had completed a pilot project in three hospitals but faced challenges.

“As biomedical engineers, we were focused a lot on features, and we’re very happy and proud about sharing our cool little features with our hospitals. Well, that didn’t really help when we were speaking with the nurses and the clinical managers. We had to make sure that we were storytelling our business to the right audience at different times, which were some of the struggles that we were facing as well,” said Lee.

With the support of AC:Incubate+ mentors, Lee refined PatientCompanion’s value proposition, marketing materials, and customer conversations. The program also helped the team prepare for pilots and research studies with additional hospitals and health systems.

MedZen founder Cindy Do shared how she felt overwhelmed before entering the program. MedZen is a health tracking app focused on medication management, but she initially wanted to build an app that tracked multiple health data points and provided cognitive behavioural therapy tools. With guidance from mentors, she refined her focus, clarified her customer profile, and launched a lead generation campaign that brought new users to her waitlist.

“One thing I really learned is that when creating a startup, there are so many different things to do, and sometimes one of the most important things you can do is to simplify things and know what to really focus on,” Do said.

Saba Oji founded HolisticMindAI, a platform that uses AI transcription and tools to support therapists while keeping human oversight at the center of care. Oji shared how she began with a scrappy MVP and a lot of fear, but through AC:Incubate+ mentorship, she gained clarity, confidence, and connections.

“The AC taught me what the next steps are like, clearly tailored to my problem, to my journey and where I am, and my technical skill and emotional skills. I have the next few steps. I know what I’m doing, so I’m really happy,” she said.

HerSay founder Rebecca Lyons began the program working on an HR platform, but pivoted to launch the AI-powered companion app that helps women advocate for themselves in healthcare. She described how market testing and conversations revealed a systemic problem in women’s health experiences, and how the Accelerator Centre’s support made it easier to embrace a difficult pivot.

“The app truly is built by women for women. HerSay isn't just an app, though. It's the beginning of a movement to close the gender health care gap. And I wouldn't be here today without the wonderful support of the Accelerator Center and all of the amazing mentors that I've been able to work with,” Lyons said.

The theme of women supporting women continued with Stefanie Bruinsma, the founder of AutoCate. The automotive education startup empowers women drivers by teaching practical skills and offering support through both a digital platform and in-person workshops.

During the AC:Incubate+ program, she secured $50,000 in funding, opened a brick-and-mortar training facility in Waterloo, and built recurring revenue streams while connecting with a supportive community of founders.

“The Accelerator Center and this program have helped enormously with that, especially the mentors for always keeping me on track. I mean, that’s pretty hard to do, and they did a really good job doing that,” Bruinsma said with a laugh.

Yvonne Ip, founder of Arise Architects Co-Operative, closed out the presentations by crediting the program for providing both practical and emotional support when it was most needed.

“I'm so grateful for Danielle and the program. She was behind me, pushing me forward. I had those low times every founder does, and this program just kept picking me up.”

Applications for the second cohort of DGBS are now open. Follow the Accelerator Centre on social media or subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to hear about program launches, founder successes, upcoming events, and more!