Quadbridge renews commitment to women pursuing business and tech with $60,000 gift

Montreal-based tech firm Quadbridge has renewed its support for women studying business and technology at Concordia with a $60,000 gift to the Campaign for Concordia: Next-Gen Now.

A portion of the funding will go towards the annual Quadbridge Scholarships for Women in Tech that were established in 2021, as well as new scholarships for women from Iran pursuing their MBA.

Quadbridge founder PJ Emam says this gift is all about trying to get more women involved in tech, diversifying leadership roles within organizations and giving a boost to women from Iran, which the World Economic Forum recently ranked as one of the least gender equal countries in the world.  

“We want to be part of the solution to gender equality,” says Emam. “We don’t want to sit on the sidelines, and we think this funding can help, even in a small way.”  

The company’s gift includes $45,000 for continued support of its two annual $7,500 scholarships for female undergrads. One is awarded to a student entering business technology management at the John Molson School of Business. The other goes to a student starting a software engineering or computer science program at the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science.

An additional $15,000 from Quadbridge will fund new scholarships for Iranian women enrolled in the John Molson MBA program over the next three years.

‘A huge opportunity’

Quadbridge CEO Steve Leslie says that while there are obvious ethical reasons behind this gift, there are also practical business motives.

“One of the things that drives innovation in tech is diversity of thought, and the perspective of women is so underrepresented right now,” he says. “So, it’s a huge opportunity if we can help unlock that potential.”

Emam says it was important to include the MBA scholarships because the perspective of women is also severely underrepresented in leadership roles, particularly in countries like Iran, where he was born.

According to a UN report, in 2023 only 24 per cent of managers worldwide were women. In Iran, that number falls to just 19 per cent.  

“It’s no secret that Iranian women are having a tough time, they’re being undermined,” says Emam. “But I grew up in Iran with two great role models in my mom and sister, who were always fighters. With these MBA scholarships, we want to try to give an extra boost to Iranian women to keep fighting, to not give up.”

‘A great partnership’

Supporting women is nothing new for Quadbridge.

The company has a Women in Tech TEAMS communication channel, for instance, as well as a Women in Tech group, where female employees meet monthly to brainstorm ideas that could help bridge the gender equality gap at Quadbridge.

The company will also soon be hosting a “Women in Tech” lunch and learn that will welcome Concordia students and feature a full day of female speakers from Quadbridge and a few of its partner organizations.  

Quarterly seminars on financial health and wellness are also being planned. So are regular revisits of the company’s benefits program to ensure it is inclusive of women, says Quadbridge HR manager Justin Zaccaro.  

“We’re actively reviewing policies and processes to ensure we have gender equality top of mind,” he says. “Overall, this is not only about getting women into the workplace and the tech sector in particular, but keeping women in our industry and in our workplace.”  

Now Emam is hoping this latest gift to Concordia will help attract and retain even more women in business and tech.

“We had such great success with our first gift, and we want to keep building on that,” he says. “I really like the diversity at Concordia, which, again, helps create innovation. So, this is just a great partnership on all levels.”