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Ranjini Jha

Inspiring young minds

From becoming the first member of her family to graduate from university, Ranjini Jha now educates other students as a professor of finance at the University of Waterloo.

Jha grew up in Jamshedpur, India. Her father worked job at TELCO (now Tata Motors) and her family lived in a unique community called the TELCO Colony. “The company didn’t pay very high wages, but they had a lot of amenities for its employees,” she recalls. From low-cost housing to medical facilities and even school. Jha attended the Little Flowers School in the TELCO Colony, run by Jesuit and Catholic nuns. “I was in the first cohort that joined the school in grade 1 and completed my education there,” she says. Jha was always top of her class and was the first of her family to graduate from university, completing an undergraduate and a master’s degree in physics.

Jha saw a lot of potential for growth in the finance sector. She moved to Philadelphia and completed an MBA with a specialization in finance. Her journey to Canada happened when she decided to continue her studies by working toward a PhD. Academics, she felt, provided a good combination of research and teaching, two areas she felt passionate about.

In September 1993, Jha arrived in Alberta to pursue her studies. “I think with coming to Canada, I won the lottery. I got a great education and was mentored by outstanding faculty at the University of Alberta,” she says.

“I started my academic career at the University of Waterloo in 1998 where the work environment has been stimulating, exciting, and inclusive. I work with a terrific set of colleagues. Working with students has been rewarding. I met my partner here and made many friends. Finally, I live in a beautiful and vibrant city. I have enjoyed traveling across Canada from east to west.”

Jha was the Associate Director of Finance at the University of Waterloo from 2010 to 2017. Her primary task was to grow the school’s finance program. “We were primarily a school of accounting, and now we’re a school of accounting and finance.”

Jha and her colleagues introduced experiential initiatives to get students interested in finance. The Student Investment Fund was set up in 2012, providing students with hands-on experience in equity valuation and portfolio management of publicly traded stocks with guidance from industry experts and supervision by finance faculty. The funds are supported by a university donor but provide students with real world experience, with an access to investment funds.

As she gets ready to retire next year, Jha says she will continue to use her knowledge to give back to the community and is planning to be involved in the boards of not-for-profit organizations in the Waterloo region. It seems Jha will never stop learning. – By Lisa Evans.

Mehrsa Raeiszadeh

Empowering consumers

“ I’ve always been a problem-solver and want to figure out a way to fix the problems that we have,” says Mehrsa Raeiszadeh, who has utilized that trait to find success. The 39-year-old is the cofounder (along with Mike Wood) and chief operating officer (COO) of Vancouverbased MintList, an online marketplace that enables consumers to buy, sell and trade their cars at the touch of their fingertips.

MintList was designed with a clear goal in mind: “I wanted to make an inclusive product that makes it fair and safe for female-identifying people, new immigrants and minorities struggling with language barriers to buy and sell cars,” Raeiszadeh says.

The entrepreneur has used her financial management skills to create a product that makes it possible for consumers to harness theirs.

“MintList changes the way cars are bought and sold by empowering people with data to make better decisions,” she says. “Cars are the second largest asset for most people and MintList helps them get the most money for their vehicles. The platform equips them with knowledge so they can navigate the cost of buying, the going prices in the market, and the best time to sell. With all this information they can save upwards of 1 to 2 per cent and that can translate to thousands of dollars.”

After graduation, Jha says she felt burned out and wanted to try something different. She got a job working at the State Bank of India. “I got promotions each time I was eligible and got exposure to retail banking, then small business and agricultural lending,” she says.

After 11 years in the banking sector, Jha decided to pursue a formal education in business and finance. “I saw firsthand how finance can help the economy and the community,” she says. “Finance can be a force for good for the community. The primary objective is to serve as an intermediary and keep the economy going.”

“Students don’t usually get this experience until after they graduate,” says Jha of the uniqueness of the program. She considers the program as one of her greatest professional accomplishments as an educator. “I’m very proud of having been involved in setting up these funds,” she says.

Jha is also a faculty mentor for Women in Finance, a student-run initiative that works to bridge the gender gap within the finance industry. “For the longest time, I was the only female faculty member,” says Jha, who is happy to see more women enter the field of finance.

Thanks to Raeiszadeh’s financial knowhow, her startup has partnered with Carfax and more than 200 car dealerships across B.C. and Alberta.

A year after MintList launched in 2020, it racked up more than $20 million in transactions and over $1 million subscription fees. The company began with a handful of dedicated staff members and has grown to a team of more than 20; 75 per cent is made up of women and visible minorities.

Raeiszadeh has also raised over $1 million in non-dilutives and $5 million in dilutives.

How did she do it?

“You need to develop a strategy that includes knowing how to look for investors, what to look for in investors and how to channel funds to get the most impact,” she explains. “You need to be cautious with every dollar.”

She is also thankful for the government support her business has received and encourages newcomers to research government-related grants, subsidies and grants in order to take their company off the ground.

“As an immigrant, it’s fascinating to see the opportunities that exist for female entrepreneurs and I’m extremely grateful,” she says.

The startup was inspired by Raeiszadeh’s personal experience. Upon receiving her PhD in Process Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, she decided to buy a car.

“It was going to be a celebratory gift,” she recalls.

But that initial excitement was tempered when she walked into a car dealership and told the dealer she was interested in buying a vehicle.

“He asked me where my dad was,” she remembers.

The seed was planted. “I grew up as a fighter in Iran where you have to fight for your basic human rights and where women are told what to wear and how to act and who they can speak to. I don’t give up and that was shaped by growing up in an environment that can be very challenging for women.”

Raeiszadeh, who immigrated to Canada in 2016 and lives in Vancouver, B.C., says that although she’s encountered obstacles along the way, she’s remained determined and encourages others to continue on the path toward their goals.

“I started thinking about what makes me unique and what I’m really good at. That was my ‘aha’ moment. Think about what makes you unique and then put a laser focus on that.”

That unwavering vision has paid off. “Our first client was a 70-year-old grandmother who called me to tell me how proud she was that she was able to sell her car without having to ask anyone for help,” Raeiszadeh shares. “That moment was all worth it. When I see people using my product to solve a problem, it’s an amazing feeling.”

– By Rita Simonetta