A venture established by Angela Onuora, a 2018 graduate of Conestoga’s Broadcasting Performance and Digital Media graduate certificate program, has been selected to receive a Digital Greenhouse grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. The $50,000 grant -- a digital innovation initiative for Canadian individuals, groups and organizations -- supports projects that leverage digital technology to address sectoral and digital challenges.
A venture launched by Conestoga graduate Angela Onuora has received a $50,000 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Onuora’s venture, The RISE Class, is a free film and video production course aimed at addressing problems like underrepresentation, lack of inclusion and the inability to access formal training due to language and culture barriers and costs faced by our community's most underserved groups in the media and broadcasting field.
The grant will go towards the design and building of an e-Learning platform for The RISE Class -- a nine-week intensive course in video content production.
“I was very relieved and excited when I received the email notifying me that my grant application was successful,” said Onuora. “I was relieved because the fund is supposed to go towards building an accessible, user-friendly e-Learning platform upon which The RISE Class will be delivered to our clients/users. I am excited about what The RISE Class can grow to become and its potential impact on the community.”
In its initial launch, The RISE Class had five participants which Onuora said provided learning opportunities on how best to deliver the program with optimal focus. This gave birth to the e-Learning platform initiative. The goal is to have 10 participants each program run with as many as five runs each year.
The launch of The Rise Class was supported by Onuora’s participation in the college’s Venture Lab. Delivered through the Conestoga Entrepreneurship Collective, the Venture Lab is designed to support the development of early-stage start-ups. The program includes four months of one-on-one coaching with a venture coach, a customized development road map for each company, workshops and targeted sessions with subject matter experts and access to industry mentors as well as college and community new venture development resources.
“Working with the Venture Lab helped The RISE Class grow through concept development, business development and definition, understanding my niche market segment and so much more,” added Onuora. “The Venture lab has had the biggest impact on The RISE Class and its journey to impact.”
In addition to the Canada Council for the Arts grant, The RISE Class was also awarded the Equitable Life of Canada Community Venture Award last year. The award recognizes entrepreneurs for their passion, perseverance and dedication as they strive to successfully launch businesses that seek to strengthen the community and improve quality of life for those living in Waterloo Region.
The Conestoga Entrepreneurship Collective empowers and inspires students and alumni to successfully participate in the Waterloo Region entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem by providing multiple pathways for engagement that include developing a new business, becoming a corporate innovator and providing support systems to the ecosystem. In addition to the Venture Lab, the collective also offers programming through the Sales Lab and the Gig Lab.
Students in Conestoga’s Broadcasting Performance and Digital Media one-year graduate certificate program, delivered through the School of Creative Industries, learn how to shoot and edit high-quality video content, write engaging copy and perform on and off camera with confidence. Taught by faculty with direct industry experience, courses in research, interviewing, on-camera performance, and storytelling give students the skills to work as a multi-media journalist or news anchor.