Canada welcomes thousands of highly skilled newcomers each year—many with decades of experience, advanced degrees, and specialized skills. Yet they, along with professionals from underinvested communities, often struggle to find opportunities that reflect their expertise.
Meanwhile, 80% of Canada’s businesses are SMEs and startups, but many face challenges attracting top talent due to limited brand recognition, smaller hiring budgets, and a lack of connection to these overlooked talent pools.
BReady is built on collaboration—bringing together partners, communities, and resources to bridge hiring gaps, reduce bias, and unlock diverse market opportunities through diverse talent.
“When I immigrated to Canada in 1997, my family had to move to Whitehorse just to find work. I thought we had left the struggle behind, but even in 2025, skilled immigrants still face the same challenges. BReady exists to change that.”
– Usha Srinivasan, CEO & Founder
With 20+ years in talent development and startup incubation, Usha has worked at Frost & Sullivan, MaRS, and Brampton Venture Zone by TMU. She saw firsthand how immigrant professionals and growing businesses struggle to connect. That’s why she built BReady—a platform designed to remove bias, create meaningful connections, and make hiring faster and fairer for everyone.
Newcomer and underinvested talent on the platform
Employers actively hiring
Are BIPOC
Are newcomers
Are youth (under 30)
Job placements secured
Inaugural Board of Directors
Usha Srinivasan is the Founder and CEO of BReady.ai, an AI-enabled talent platform connecting newcomers and underrepresented communities to meaningful employment. She previously led the Brampton Venture Zone at Toronto Metropolitan University, launching and managing the incubator for five years. A seasoned innovation leader, she held senior roles at MaRS Discovery District and Elevate Tech Fest. Usha has co-founded ventures in foodtech, retail, and music, and is an angel investor and LP at Flair Ventures. She holds a PhD in Environmental Sciences, a BSc from the University of Bristol, and has completed business education at the Stanford LEAD Corporate Innovation program.
Grace Lee Reynolds is the CEO of MaRS, leading the organization through its next phase of growth and impact. With nearly 30 years of experience across the public, private, and philanthropic sectors, she is deeply committed to advancing economic opportunity and social impact through innovation and placemaking. A long-standing MaRS leader, Grace previously served as CFO and President of MaRS Discovery Enterprises, playing a central role in building the MaRS Centre into a globally recognized innovation hub. She has also served as CEO of Toronto Artscape and held senior finance roles at leading academic hospitals. Grace began her career at Ernst & Young and brings deep expertise in strategy, finance, partnerships, and organizational leadership.
Jaipaul Massey-Singh is a seasoned entrepreneur and executive with over 25 years of experience across manufacturing, transportation, healthcare, and cannabis. He has founded and successfully exited multiple startups, including ventures in healthcare and food technology, reflecting a strong track record of innovation and execution. In addition to his entrepreneurial work, Jaipaul has held senior leadership roles in highly regulated industries, where he has brought new products to market by combining deep consumer insight with strategic and operational discipline. His career spans both early-stage company building and scaled operations, with a consistent focus on growth, compliance, and market relevance.
Shoaib Ahmed is the CEO of SCOOTY and has over seven years of experience in the micromobility and transit sectors. He founded SCOOTY in 2019 to extend the reach of public transit through innovative micromobility solutions and has since been a leading voice on micromobility policy and best practices in Canada. Prior to this, Shoaib spent more than a decade at Toronto Metropolitan University, where he co-founded the Ryerson Leadership Lab and led strategic initiatives in the Office of the President. He holds an MBA in Global Management, a BComm in Management and Entrepreneurship, and has studied at Harvard’s Kennedy School. He is a graduate of York University’s Smart Mobility Technology Accelerator and a recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal (2025).
Thelma Reuff is a seasoned human resources executive with 20 years of experience shaping people strategy and organizational culture across Canada and the United Kingdom. She currently serves as Vice President, Talent and Culture at Futurpreneur, a national non-profit supporting young entrepreneurs with financing, mentorship, and resources to start or acquire businesses. Since joining Futurpreneur in 2020, Thelma has led transformative HR initiatives that advance inclusive, high-performing workplaces aligned with organizational growth. Previously, she held senior HR leadership roles within a pan-Canadian education organization. Thelma holds a Master’s degree in Human Resources from the University of Westminster, a Bachelor’s degree from Oxford Brookes University, the CHRP designation, and is a certified leadership coach.
A senior executive with decades of experience leading large-scale economic development, innovation, and investment initiatives across Ontario’s public sector. Known for designing and delivering high-impact strategies that strengthen competitiveness and drive long-term growth across priority sectors including life sciences, automotive, advanced manufacturing, cleantech, AI, ICT, aerospace, and financial services. This leader played a central role in developing Ontario’s Life Sciences Strategy and the automotive strategy Driving Prosperity, positioning the province as a globally competitive jurisdiction for investment and commercialization. They have led the creation and operationalization of key ecosystem agencies and funding programs providing equity, grants, and loans, and bring deep experience working with senior government, boards, and partners to translate policy into execution.
BReady would not exist without TMU’s Office of Zone learning, which supported the program’s initial incubation. In addition, the City of Brampton’s funding of Brampton Venture Zone, the Ontario government funding through Brampton Board of Trade, and the GTAA’s uplift grant all placed a critical role in the formation of BReady. Apart from the programs, BReady’s AI-enabled talent matching platform was originally developed for TMU by 316.ai, a startup company incubated in BHIVE. BReady.ai would not exist without these mavens who believed in our vision.
