Yusuf Baykal Bozkurt is a Toronto-based entrepreneur and founder of Beonbrand Inc., where he develops AI-driven tools designed to support child development and empower parents with resources to nurture emotional intelligence and resilience. With more than 20 years of experience as a journalist and news anchor—most notably with Al Jazeera—Yusuf brings a unique blend of storytelling, media expertise, and technological innovation to his work. His company specializes in educational and business solutions that harness the power of AI to make early learning more accessible and practical for families around the world.

A recipient of the Fulbright Canada Short-term Entrepreneurship Initiative Award, Yusuf holds degrees in Media and Communication and Public Administration from Anadolu University. He has earned multiple accolades for his contributions to media and education. His work is driven by a deep passion for cultural exchange, creative problem-solving, and meaningful impact across disciplines.

By combining his background in media with forward-thinking technology, Yusuf continues to inspire others and shape innovative solutions to real-world challenges.

Sonali Sharma is a researcher committed to making medical information more accessible through artificial intelligence. She founded Clarifyia, an AI-powered platform that simplifies complex medical content into explicit, patient-friendly content in multiple languages. By leveraging natural language processing and machine learning, Clarifyia bridges communication gaps between healthcare providers and patients, addressing the widespread challenge of low health literacy and helping individuals better understand and engage with their care.

With a research background in medical imaging and over 20 peer-reviewed publications on AI in radiology, Sonali brings deep expertise and a patient-centred approach to her work. Her experience working directly with patients has given her insight into the communication barriers that can prevent people from making informed decisions about their health. Through Clarifyia, she is advancing her commitment to healthcare literacy, using technology to make communication more transparent and improve health outcomes for individuals and communities worldwide.

Cole Scanlon is an author, entrepreneur, and Fulbright Canada Entrepreneurship Initiative grantee focused on strengthening student-led social impact ventures through innovative consulting and technology. As the founder of Banyan Strategy Group, Cole is launching a pilot program at the University of Toronto to provide free AI- and data-driven growth marketing support to eight student-run nonprofits and social enterprises. The program will serve as a model for scalable social impact, with plans to develop a tiered service structure—offering no-cost support to underrepresented founders and market-rate services to others—to ensure long-term sustainability and broaden the initiative’s reach.

With a background spanning education, economic development, and health policy, Cole co-founded the Fair Opportunity Project, an edtech nonprofit delivering free college application advice to nearly every U.S. public high school, and the Lab for Entrepreneurship and Development at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science. His work has earned him recognition on Forbes 30 Under 30 and has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Forbes. He has held roles at the World Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Google and serves on the Advisory Board of Yale’s Center for Digital Health and Innovation. Holding degrees from Harvard and Oxford, Cole continues to drive cross-border collaboration and innovation in the social impact space.

Changxiao Xie co-founded Empowerly, a tech platform and 1-on-1 advising service designed to provide college and career guidance to students, helping them navigate their academic, personal, and professional paths. With a background in engineering, education, and entrepreneurship, Changxiao is leveraging technology and mentorship to make high-quality guidance more accessible to communities across North America. His Social Impact Initiative aims to create strategic public-private partnerships to scale these services and build on proven mentorship models that enhance educational outcomes.

Changxiao’s professional journey spans roles in trading systems on Wall Street, cloud software at IBM, and machine learning at Facebook. After coming to the U.S. from China at age three, he graduated with high honours in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University, where he also earned recognition as a Slavin Fellow and Sigma Xi member. Passionate about using data and technology to improve access to college and career guidance, Changxiao co-founded Empowerly, which has raised over $30 million in venture funding. His work has been featured in outlets like TechCrunch, Inc. 5000, Business Insider, and Forbes 30 Under 30.

Ayushi Sinha is the founder and CEO of Turmerik and a 2025 Fulbright Canada Entrepreneurship Initiative grantee. With a strong foundation in AI-driven healthcare innovation, Ayushi brings a unique blend of technical expertise and entrepreneurial experience to the program. She is passionate about advancing early-stage startups and supporting the development of transformative technologies that improve lives. Through her work at Turmerik and beyond, she is focused on bridging healthcare and innovation to create scalable, patient-centred solutions.

Ayushi holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated cum laude from Princeton University with a degree in Computer Science and a certificate in Cognitive Science. Her diverse experience spans roles in venture capital at Bain Capital Ventures, product development at Microsoft, and startup leadership at Nines, where she helped build FDA-approved AI medical tools used by major institutions like UPMC and Yale. Ayushi co-founded WellPower, a social enterprise delivering clean water solutions in East Africa. Backed by top-tier investors like Accel and 8VC and multiple successful ventures behind her, Ayushi continues to champion innovation with purpose through entrepreneurship and technology.