Off the Cuff: MaRS client Anisa Mirza, CEO of Giveffect
Winston Churchill once said: “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
With years of experience working in the charitable sector, Anisa Mirza is passionate about making a positive impact on society. It was this passion that led her away from the corporate world and toward starting her own company, Giveffect, a MaRS client, and it’s as co-founder and CEO of Giveffect that Anisa has found her true vocation as an entrepreneur.
Anisa describes Giveffect’s crowdfunding platform as a social innovation that helps cultivate philanthropy online, while also offering organizations a valuable tool that fosters corporate social responsibility. Whether it is through a campaign to raise awareness for mental health or a campaign to end world hunger, Anisa is confident that Giveffect will encourage individuals—millennials like herself, in particular—to make positive changes in society.
In fact, it already has. Dozens of charities have signed up, including the United Way, and thousands of dollars have been raised for campaigns like MentorNation, which aims to support aboriginal entrepreneurship. Even corporations like Royal Bank of Canada have pitched in, collaborating with MentorNation through Giveffect’s online platform.
Anisa confesses, however, that as she has strived for perfection as an entrepreneur, her personal life has changed, too. Her social life now equates to spending time with her cats and statutory holidays no longer exist. Watch Anisa’s video to learn how life has changed for her as she tries to change the world with Giveffect.