Symend’s CEO and Co-Founder, Hanif Joshaghani, proudly mentors with Plato’s Circles of Inclusion program to give back to the technology ecosystem.
Hanif is passionate about his role as CEO and believes in giving back to the tech community as a mentor. As a serial entrepreneur who has founded multiple software companies, he is excited to join Plato Circles of Inclusion to help others learn from his success, avoid some of the pitfalls that come with leading start-ups and coach underrepresented members of the tech community who may not have the resources or access to information.
Plato Circles of Inclusion is a free mentorship initiative that places over 150 global technology leaders into mentoring roles to support people of color working in tech. Plato believes that there is currently a gap in what is offered to people getting into technical leadership. They also believe that one of the best ways to learn soft skills is through experience sharing.
“My family fled Iran when I was young and we lived in refugee camps for more than 10 years before settling in Toronto,” says Hanif. “My vision is to create a force for social good and I had an idea – Symend. My role as CEO is to drive the vision of Symend by clearly articulating the values and shaping the culture. This includes giving back to the technology community that supported, coached and motivated me on the journey to make Symend one of the most successful technology companies in Canada.”
Symend prides itself on having an inclusive and diverse culture that embraces the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of all employees and works hard to make everyone feel included and valued within the company.
Visit the Plato Circles of Inclusion website to learn more about:
- Mentors in product and engineering, women in tech, diversity and inclusion and more
- How to get matched with a mentor with specific expertise
- How to become a mentor
- Available podcasts, articles and stories
Plato is on a mission to help engineering and product leaders learn soft skills and build better teams. Plato does this through a powerful mentoring technology, where new leaders connect with seasoned professionals for 1:1 sessions, live Q&A and a comprehensive knowledge base. Plato Mentors have extensive experience in management, and come from top tech companies like Google, Facebook, Lfyt, Slack, Netflix and Spotify.
