Farrah Gray once said: “Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.” I am building my
dreams and my future by achieving academic excellence at school and spending my free time contributing and getting
involved with the Niagara community. In 2018-19, I was a grade 12 student at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary
School, enrolled in the Head Start Program at Brock University. During high school, I have attained 122 community
service hours.
Software development is my passion and I aspire to create software for people to use and enjoy. So, I have been
developing this app-based start-up venture, DGApps. This venture, along with school, events (i.e. Connect
Educational Conference) and competitions (i.e. DECA), have guided me on my way through my entrepreneurial journey.
For the past four years, I have been an active member of many of the local start up incubators, particularly ihub
and Goodman Group Venture Development (formerly BioLinc). Networking has helped me to become an active member of
the Niagara community. My most recent app, LifeAR, won the Most Promising Start-up Award and People’s Choice Award
at Connect 2019, Canada’s largest educational technology conference, in early May of 2019. I try to meet and talk
to as many people as possible, to learn about their ideas and businesses, to share my experiences/knowledge with
them and listen closely to theirs.
The Niagara community has allowed me to succeed and pursue my dreams. My work has been recognized at the Niagara
Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Ceremony on March 1, 2019 when I was awarded the Gene Luczkiw Spirit of Enterprise
Award. Gene Luczkiw defined entrepreneurship, “the taking of initiative to achieve a self-determined goal while
sharing your achievement with others.” His approach to entrepreneurship was communal and I embrace and elaborate
upon it. In my future endeavors, I will uphold and promote his views.