Everyday Heroes for September 2019

Everyone who works at Mohawk College is eligible to be nominated for an Everyday Hero Award. Nominate someone today, visit: https://www.mohawkcollege.ca/employees/employee-recognition/mohawk-everyday-hero

Natalie Reid

For making entrepreneurship approachable and achievable for Mohawk students and alumni, Natalie Reid is a Mohawk College Everyday Hero. Natalie's approach to developing programs and coaching students and alumni has been crucial to the growth and success of SURGE, Mohawk's entrepreneurship hub. SURGE has grown to serve more than 110 aspiring entrepreneurs, up from 15-30 a year ago, which is a remarkable 382% per cent growth in clients. Students frequently cite Natalie's support as being critical to starting and launching their business. Last year, her personal coaching of a SURGE client led to their business idea being awarded funding from the City of Hamilton's Starter Company Program. This year, one of her clients was the successful winner of the Niagara College Pitch Competition (which is open to Niagara and other post-secondary students). Her involvement in initiatives such as Creator Jam, Creator Camp and the Collective has elevated Mohawk's reputation for developing creative entrepreneurs, and she has been instrumental in establishing Mohawk as a destination for digital entrepreneurs. Natalie also launched Enactus Mohawk, which allows students to gain hands-on experience starting not-for-profit businesss focussed on solving one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. She also organized this year's sold-out Startup Crawl, which took 40 students on a tour of Hamilton’s Innovation Spaces, including the IBM Innovation Exchange and Innovation Factory.

Recognize someone who's making a difference at Mohawk with an Everyday Hero Award at www.mohawkcollege.ca/everydayhero