Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders 2021

Adriana Olmos

Production Designer,
Google

Equal parts design researcher and interaction designer. In addition to designing visually-driven interfaces across multiple device types and contexts Adriana has been fortunate to work on audio-based interfaces. She believes the best part is working with a wide variety of communities, from blind people to power plant managers to cardiac surgeons.

Almond Au

Customer Engineering, Manager
Google Cloud

Almond leads a team of Cloud Customer Engineers to serve the national corporate segment in Canada focusing on technology, SaaS/ISV, and digital native organizations. He has worked with clients & partners to design and scale many types of applications in the cloud for the past 3 years. With over 10 years of technical experience prior to Google, Almond held senior systems engineering roles at Commvault and Seagate, and held a number of technical roles at IBM where he worked in data center architecture, databases, and networking.

Bardia Doosti

Software Engineer,
Google

Bardia is a Software Engineer at Google Kitchener office. He has a PhD in Computer Science from Indiana University. Bardia's research focus is on applications of Computer Vision and Deep Learning.  

Besse Gardner

Global Head of Brand Strategy, Devices & Services Marketing
Google 

Besse began her career as brand strategist within advertising agencies spending most of her time working on the Apple brand. She honed her love of hardware as a Product Marketer at Nest doing what she loves best: telling stories about great devices. She now combines both of those passions as Global Head of Brand Strategy: helping inspire and drive world class creative work by connecting consumer and product truths for all of Google's devices and services Marketing. 

Bruno Rodrigues

Field Sales Rep,
Google Cloud

Bruno is a tech professional & aficionado with years of experience working with Founders & at Startups. Background includes HealthTech, FinTech, Gaming, Media & Entertainment, MarketingTech and beyond. He is a certified Google Cloud architect that has onboarded 50+ Startups to Google Cloud across North America, and comfortable with both infrastructure and data layers of tech stack.  

Carlos Paulo

Head of Industry,
Google

Carlos is a 15+ years Google veteran currently leading the Travel industry practice in Google Canada. Before moving to Canada, Carlos worked for some years in the Google European headquarters in Ireland and helped launch Google operations in Portugal where he is originally from. There, besides leading the practice for multiple industries over the years, he was in charge of the engagement efforts with the startup ecosystem in the market. Before joining Google, Carlos launched himself two startups that eventually didn't survive in the wake of the dotcom bubble burst in the early 2000s.

Conchita Diaz

Technical Trainer,
Google

Conchita is the head of Machine Learning and Big Data training in Europe at Google Cloud and trainer of Google's Advanced Solutions Lab program.

David Porter

Lead, Cloud Value Advisory, 
Google Cloud

David leads the Cloud Value Advisory practice for Canada focused on aligning Google capabilities to customer strategy and quantifying business outcomes. David has worked in technology for over 20 years in various roles including finance leadership, sales operations, solution engineering and value advisory. David has volunteered to help shape strategy on value selling and customer success with organizations in the market space.

Drew Bradstock

PM Director, 
Google Cloud

Drew Bradstock is a PM Director at Google responsible for Kubernetes. He is based in Waterloo where Google has a significant engineering investment in Cloud and Kubernetes. Previously he was the SVP of Product at Index Exchange, a Canadian ad tech company. He was also formerly at Google Canada where he helped grow the DoubleClick Ad Exchange.

Prior to joining Google, Drew ran product management for one of IBM’s largest software products. He has been a frequent speaker on virtualization, fraud, online advertising and helping grow publishers thrive online at events run by the VMware, IBM, IAB, Canadian Marketing Association, Google Think! and Admonsters.

Erik Saarenvirta

Customer Engineer, Data & AI Specialist, 
Google Cloud

Erik is a Data and AI Specialist supporting digital native companies in the Canadian region on their GCP initiatives. He has mentored at two of the GFSA cohorts in 2020 and can mentor on topics such as GCP architectures, HPC, Kubernetes, data engineering, analytics, machine learning and security.

Eugenia Figueroa

International Growth Consultant, 
Google

Eugenia Figueroa is an International Growth Consultant at Google where she's been working for 8 years. She's based in San Francisco and focuses on the creation of international growth strategies by providing insights, opportunities, market prioritizations and strategic expansion plans for her clients. She's been advising start ups based in Latin America for the past 3 years.

Fernando Belfort

Head of SMB, Waze Ads,
North America

Fernando is a former business consultant, working in Tech markets since 2005 and with digital media sales since 2014. As a curious, high-energy and results-driven professional, he has exponentially grown the business unit's market shares, revenues, and margins both rapidly and sustainably.

Jason Chase

Technical Lead/Manager,
Google

Jason leads a Chrome team that helps developers understand and control the features available on the web platform. Prior to Google, Jason spent 10+ years leading agile teams that delivered SaaS and enterprise-class systems on the web. Jason has a wide range of experience, from small client consultations up to multi-year engagements with Canada’s largest financial institutions. Above all, Jason wants to improve the lives of users by providing enabling technology.

Jason Scott

Head of Startup Developer Ecosystem, US,
Google 

Jason came to Google in early 2018 as a Global Startup Programs Manager under Google Cloud. Today, he serves as Google's cross-functional US Startup Developer Ecosystem lead - managing Google's U.S.-based Accelerator programs and startup developer engagement strategy. In addition, he also remains an active seed investor, startup advisor, and the founder of FactionSF - a community for creatives, entrepreneurs, and early-stage investors. Prior to Google, he worked at a number of startups in the Bay Area, as well as on the investment team at Highland Capital Partners.

Jay Steele

Software Engineering Manager,
Google 

Prior to joining Google, Jay founded two startups that were both sold to BlackBerry (Plazmic - 2001, and Viigo - 2010). Since joining Google in 2019, he has been leading a team focused on Gmail backend infrastructure.

Jenn Pretti

UX Lead, Entertainment at Nest, Nest Design,
Google

Jennifer Pretti is an experienced UX designer and leader, with a career spanning over 20 years. She has worked with a range of organizations, from startups to Fortune 500 companies, and across wearable, web, mobile, and desktop product design for both consumer and enterprise solutions. At Google, she has led the design of publishing and performance marketing experiences on Stadia, and has recently joined the Nest Design team, focused on Entertainment solutions. This will be Jennifer's third time as a guest speaker for the Google for Startups Accelerator program.

Jonathin Rotchtin

Sr. Account Manager,
Google

Jon has 8+ years of marketing experience in the financial services sector. He has spent the last 2.5 years helping the Canadian banks grow their business in the US. He was also a mentor for the inaugural Google Accelerator cohort. Feel free to ask him about brand strategy and growth marketing tactics.

Justin Pedro

Engineering Manager,
Google

Justin has had a long history of advancing technology within startups and large enterprise settings. As Technical Director of Cloud DX Inc., he was honored with the Ontario Regional Winner for Startup Canada Award for Innovation (2015) and the Qualcomm Tricorder X-Prize Bold Epic Innovator award. Justin is currently a manager for Google Nest and helping build the next generation of Assistant-enabled devices.

Kylie Schmidt

SMB Account Executive,
Google

Kylie Schmidt has been a Googler for the past two and a half years. She started her career in Google Ads where she worked as an account strategist, assisting start-ups and small companies optimize their advertising. She then moved to Google Cloud where she is currently an account executive for start-ups and small/medium businesses.

Lahiru Maramba

Software Engineer,
Google

Lahiru is a software engineer with a strong background in design, prototyping, and Human Computer Interaction. At Google, he works on Firebase Admin SDKs. Lahiru has startup founder experience and has worked at early stage startups on MVPs. Lahiru holds a Master’s degree in HCI from Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. Primary Functional Area Expertise: Development, Prototyping, Research/Testing, Hardware Product Expertise: Firebase, Web Technologies.

Manish Shah

Technical Program Manager,
Google

Manish Shah is a seasoned technical leader having held leadership positions at Lam Research, HP, IBM and recently at Google. He is on advisory board of two stealth startups, one in Recruiting space and one in learning. He holds a MS (CS), MBA and MS (Data Science) and is a tutor at UC Berkeley.

Marie Bantje

Senior Technical Account Manager, Customer Success,
Google

Marie has over 7 years experience in digital marketing and extensive expertise in helping customers and partners grow on Google Marketing Platform. Prior to joining Google, Marie worked at Media Arts Lab, Apple's full-service creative agency planning digital campaigns across the EMEA regions. Marie has earned her Bachelor's degree at The Hague University in the Netherlands and just finished her certificate in Graphic Design from Shillington in New York City.

Mark Swierszcz

Creative Effectiveness Lead,
Google

Mark is the YouTube Creative Effectiveness Lead for Canada and was previously the Site Lead for Toronto's YouTube Space.

Mark drives the Agency Creative Strategy for Canada and acts as a key ambassador for YouTube in Canada, working closely with hundreds of Creators, Artists, Brands, and Key Opinion Formers.

Mark has held a variety of positions driving innovation, growth and partnerships. Before joining Google/YouTube, he was the Director of Digital for Bell Media Specialty, overseeing the digital strategy and rollout of properties including MuchMusic, MTV, E!, The Comedy Network, Space, Bravo and The Loop.

Megan Cackett

HF/UX Researcher,
Google

Megan has over 8 years of design strategy and research experience in a variety of industries including, architecture, aerospace, virtual and augmented reality, and technology; both in startups and corporate settings. She is currently supporting the Google Hardware team as a Human-Factors/UX Researcher. Her primary expertise is in identifying growth or efficiency opportunities for products, spaces, and processes using human factors principles and design research methods.

Mike Walker

AI/ML & Analytics Specialist,
Google Cloud

With over 25 years of software and IT experience including development, architecture, and dev/ops, Mike is able to help startups in a variety of ways. His current role of Machine Learning & Analytics Specialist for Google Cloud focuses on helping companies of all sizes adopt the best tools and practices for powering their business with data. Mike has worked in multiple startups and has many years of experience helping them leverage technology while balancing the often limited resources available to a startup.

Mikhail Sirotenko

Tech Lead,
Google AI

Mikhail is an AI and startup enthusiast. He did his PhD on deep learning back in 2008 and since then worked as a researcher and research manager at large companies (Samsung, Amazon, Google) and co-founded a startup (CVisionLab.com) and served as Chief Scientist on a Dresr startup that has been acquired by Google. Currently he’s an investor and adviser in few AI-based startups.

Osmond Ng

Enterprise Customer Engineer,
Google Cloud

Osmond is an experienced G4S Agent and technical mentor. He has in depth experience with helping startups realize their design and map to cloud/open technology.

Pawel Siarkiewicz

Senior Product Manager,
Google

Pawel is a Senior Product Manager leading the product team responsible for enabling our partners to build and launch games on Stadia. Before working at Google, Pawel was a Technical Director at Electronic Arts, CTO at a boutique quantitative investment firm and co-founder of a startup focusing on enterprise VR applications.

Peter Hand

Brand Strategy Lead,
Google 

Peter is a Brand Strategy Lead at Google with over 10 years of experience working with some of the worlds biggest & most innovative brands.

Aside from his tenure in advertising Peter worked in fashion and beauty photography for years and holds a Masters in Molecular Genetics. 

Sam Legge

Product Manager,
Google 

Sam is a Product Manager working on augmented reality interfaces & experiences. Creativity first, details second. Outside of work, Sam is planning his next outdoor adventure or pursuing his passion for puns.

Scott Thies

Site Reliability Engineer,
Google 

Scott is a Site Reliability Engineer who has been working at Google since 2013 and understands the process of scaling small systems up to millions of QPS. He has experience building teams inside and outside of Google. Scott has also worked with early stage startups as a technical advisor.

Sequoyah Patrick

Global Program Manager,
Google 

Sequoyah Patrick is a Global Program Manager within Developer Ecosystems leading Women Techmakers. This program aims to provide visibility, community, and resources for women to thrive in technology. Prior to joining the Developer Ecosystem’s team, she was a part of the Chrome Enterprise team owning customer first initiatives to drive adoption and scale of the Chrome product. Sequoyah holds two degrees from Auburn University, one in Industrial and Systems Engineering as well as an MBA with a concentration in Information Systems. War Eagle! Above all, she enjoys traveling, working out, food and spending time with her family and friends.

Shauheen Zahirazami

Machine Learning Engineering Manager,
Google 

Shauheen got his MSc and PhD in control engineering in Montreal, Canada. He then worked for a few startups in IoT and Predictive Analytics before joining Microsoft and working in AI Platforms. Shauheen has been working at Google since 2019 as Engineering Manager for Cloud ML Accelerators.

Shyam Sheth

Product Manager,
Google 

Pragmatic approach to solving complex multi-year interdisciplinary problems that require navigating product, engineering, regulatory, privacy, legal, and PR concerns.

20 years of experience ranging from writing the first help desk manual for 2G launch in Canada (1997) to designing USSD Gateways to starting a company building mobile risk management solutions for the DoD to leading anti-malvertising efforts at Google.

International exposure from working in Silicon Valley, India, and Canada and also working on projects that have taken me from Uganda to Rome.

Tim Cruickshank

Senior UX Designer,
Google 

Tim is currently leading UX design for the developer experience of Google Stadia. Originally from Sydney Australia, Tim worked with startups and Fortune 500s to bring their digital products to life. He is passionate about UX strategy and product ideation.

Zlato Fagundes

Account Executive,
Google 

Zlato is a strategic digital media consultant with 8 years experience selling and executing programs to achieve business objectives. Strengths include building strong relationships, navigating organization complexity, and challenger selling. After a career as a ballet dancer cut short due to injury, Zlato worked in arts education and arts policy prior to a pivot to digital media with a boutique marketing firm focused on arts and non-profit organizations.