Be your own boss this summer
Drayton Mulindabigwi Jabo has begun a boundless social enterprise
Drayton Mulindabigwi Jabo is a young creative entrepreneur who believes everything is doable. From the very start, he was just bursting with ideas on how he could make a positive change in the lives of youth, something he is extremely passionate about. With a mission and no knowledge of the social innovation world, he sought out help. This is when he discovered the summer company program organized by Invest Ottawa. It was at this time that 20today20tomorrow, his social enterprise was really born. Selling clothing to promote their mission, and with the funds collected, they funded their own projects. They began with a simple podcast to help inspire youth, but quickly evolved and started a mental health initiative that would reach as far as Saskatchewan, for now. Because of Drayton’s unceasing determination, boundless creativity, and passion to help youth, 20today20tomorrow saw the light of day, and will change many young people’s lives.
“Coming in, I had no knowledge of how the business world operates. Through their mentoring, coaching, and constant support, I was able to build something that is sustainable and that I can be proud of. This experience has given me so much confidence going forward.
Furthermore, I was able to understand the importance of networking and broaden my own network. The connections formed during this program will impact my life forever. I hope to continue on this path that they have set me on, and change, positively, as many young lives as possible.”
“Through their mentoring, coaching, and constant support, I was able to build something that is sustainable and that I can be proud of. This experience has given me so much confidence going forward.”
– Drayton Mulindabigwi Jabo, 20today20tomorrow
Program participants receive
Interactive workshops
Hands-on mentorship
A grant of up to $3,000
A digital community of entrepreneurial peers
One of the best summer jobs you can have
Build your business
- Propose a new business idea separate from any current family businesses.
- Prepare a business plan that shows the business can successfully launch and operate this summer.
- Learn what it takes to run a successful business through interactive workshops and hands-on coaching by experienced entrepreneurs.
- Develop skills in sales, marketing, bookkeeping, customer relationship management and online sales.
- Run your business; be prepared to invest 35 hours a week to operate it during the summer.
Leverage the start-up money
A grant of up to $3,000 will be awarded to successful applicants in two instalments:
- The first instalment of up to $1,500 will be provided to cover startup costs at the beginning of the program.
- The second instalment of up to $1,500 will be provided upon successful completion of the program.
Find your community
- Meet like-minded young entrepreneurs like yourself.
- Share your passions.
- Make friends along the way.
Meet more Ottawa student entrepreneurs
Join our waitlist to receive program updates.
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Apply now and be your own boss this summer
Is the Summer Company Program for you?
- Be between 15 and 29 years old.
- Currently a student and returning to school in the fall (proof of enrollment required).
- Be a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant residing in Ontario.
- Are not already running a business.
- Are not working at another job or going to school for more than 12 hours a week during the program.
Applications for 2021 program are open until May 23. Here is how to apply:
- Check to see if you’re eligible for the program.
- Complete the online application inquiry.
- Select your local program provider.
- Assign yourself a password.
- Submit your application inquiry.
- If your application meets the program requirements, you will be instructed to complete the Summer Company business plan template and start up budget calculator.
- Once your business plan and startup budget calculator are complete and submitted, your program coordinator will invite you for an interview.
- After the interview, your program coordinator will let you know if you’ve been approved to participate in the program.
Proud Premier Sponsor of Invest Ottawa
Samuel Jun
What led you to a career in Ottawa? Ottawa is one of the fastest growing tech hubs, booming with many companies setting up shop in town. Despite the pandemic, the job market is buzzing with a good mix of startups and multinationals looking for talent. This plus the lower cost of living and housing led us to decide to take root in Ottawa. Both my husband and I have secured new careers in Ottawa and have been working virtually from Toronto. We haven’t relocated yet due to the pandemic but can’t wait to do so as soon as offices re-open.
How did you land this position?I submitted my interest with Invest Ottawa, and a few weeks later, my profile was shared with Foko Retail, a software startup. After that, the interview process was quick, with constant communication and updates from Invest Ottawa’s talent team. I thank Invest Ottawa for opening the doors to this great opportunity!
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Embedded software engineer
Embedded software in high demand with Crank Software:
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We connect talent with fast-growing tech companies.
Join our talent pool for embedded software engineers and get discovered.
DevOps Engineer
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ivuto helps schools go digital. Kivuto Cloud streamlines the management of educational resources such as e–texts and license keys, saving 20K+ schools an average of $50K. Kivuto partnered with educational giant Pearson in 2019 to bring digital education resources to academic institutions. A passion for education paired with skills in .NET Core Web API, AWS, Azure, React, SQL, and other tools and technologies make Kivuto a great place to grow your DevOps or Fullstack Engineering career.
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We connect talent with fast-growing tech companies.
Join our talent pool for DevOps engineers and get discovered.
Mobile Developer
Mobile developers are in high demand with these companies:
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We connect talent with fast-growing tech companies.
Join our talent pool for mobile developers and get discovered.
Full Stack Developer
Full stack developers are in high demand with these companies:
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Field Effect monitors cyber threats. Amongst many organizations who trust Field Effort to safeguard their cybersecurity, Canadian Internet Registration Agency (CIRA) teamed up with this scaling Ottawa firm to deploy its new API. Talents with an agile and test-driven approach as well as skills in C/C++, Objective-C, and Java are invaluable in helping build and improve Field Effect’s key security products: Covalence, Cyber Range, and Noble. As one of the top Ottawa employers who scored the highest in the Employee Net Promotor Score Initiative commissioned by Invest Ottawa’s Scale-Up program, Field Effect is appreciated by its employees for its commitments to transparency, trust and openness.
Rewind Backups provides automated backup services, so businesses don’t lose their hard work. The development team at Rewind is made up of four teams of two to three people. Developers implement, test, document, and maintain back-end systems for high-traffic back-up services, delivering quality code and improving the development and deployment processes using AWS. A day at Rewind on the development team could look like anything from supporting Shopify’s new bulk APIs to creating Rewind-Connect; a wrapper for AWS SSM for connecting to Rewind staging and production systems. As the winner of the Ottawa Business Journal’s Employee Choice Award two years in a row, Rewind is an ideal place to work and grow.
Recently securing $10M in financing, Tehama is on the cutting edge of developing tools for the remote workforce. Tehama’s service delivery platform enables organizations to easily onboard, manage and scale a distributed workforce in a secure way. 150 companies are using Tehama. 600,000+ hours of IT services delivered. Zero breaches. Under the leadership of VP Engineering, Jacopo Toccacieli, you’ll be working as part of Tehama’s agile development team and immersed in developing new features for its cloud–based solutions. This will include helping define company-wide API standards, working in React and Angular, and having the ability to work with SQL. You’ll have the option to work remotely or at Tehama’s beautiful offices in the heart of Westboro, steps from some of the best shopping, coffee shops and restaurants in Ottawa.
We connect talent with fast-growing tech companies.
Join our talent pool for full stack developers and get discovered.
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