Grab a coffee or tea ☕, head to a PORCH💚, and catch up with us.
46th Edition | January 2025
Kicking Off 2025 with Coaching & Coffee
Tuesday, February 4th | 6 – 9pm | OneEleven
Coaching & Coffee #onthePORCH brings in experts in different functional expertise areas (sales, VC, startup law, mental wellness, marketing, pitching, etc.) to support international entrepreneurs with both the business and personal side of the journey!
The event will have different coaches at each assigned roundtable. There will be 4 x 30-minute discussions with each coach at each table.
Plus, there will be loads of pizza and coffee for everyone to stay fuelled up!
🔥 February 5th | Roast My _____ w/ Everyone – Register Here
™️ February 13th | Getting Started on Brand Building w/ Kathleen Booth – Register Here
PORCH Picks
Some of the latest picks from the members of PORCH!
Tech – Lovey shared about his Stripe vs. Wise decision for his business. Some members shared the pros of using Wise for collecting payments from clients! Check out the discussion.
Entertainment – part of Faulke's Friday Five were a few great TV show recommendations, including Apple TVs Silo. Such a good show!
Random Fact – Bruce shared this random one: The citrus soda 7-UP was created in 1929; “7" was selected because the original containers were 7 ounces. “UP” indicated the direction of the bubbles... who knew??
In the News
Addressing Immigration Fraud
In December, the Government of Canada declared that, starting in spring 2025, Express Entry candidates will no longer receive additional points for having a job offer. This change is intended to prevent and reduce fraud within the immigration system and to attract skilled workers to support economic growth.
These updates reflect Canada's ongoing efforts to balance immigration with economic needs, housing availability, and system integrity.
Some have companies looking for funding, some are looking for support, and some just need to be called out for being great people.
Chloe Toka | Chloe Coko Media ➡️ Chloe recently took her talent and experience and started her own media company!! She already started her first project. She also recently won the “Best Human Interest Film” award and the “Best Short Film” award at the Diversity Film Festival & Table Read Screenplays. Huge congrats!!
Adaeze Edokwe ➡️ This is a special shoutout. Adaeze is looking for her next challenge in project, program, or operations management! She has been a PORCH Ambassador since the early days of the community and she is truly amazing. So if anyone is looking for an all-star to add to their team, this is like prime Michael Jordan being an unrestricted free agent!!
Fey Olusoga ➡️ With the theme of media and production, a huge shoutout to Fey for her ambition to take the leap into the world of entrepreneurship with her own media company! She is currently working with some great companies to build her portfolio and experience. More to come from her!
Marcelo Ribeiro | WeSplit ➡️ Marcelo is one of those people that just makes everyone around them happier. Along with Ronan, Marcelo is our latest addition to the PORCH Ambassador team!! Marcelo is currently building WeSplit, a lending platform powered by a proven collaborative financing. Highly recommend checking out what they are doing!
Nida Ateeq | Anagar Media ➡️ Nida has been a staple of PORCH since the very start. She has been a part of almost every session and event and now leads the #WomenofPORCH group within the community. She is also the all-star of anything marketing!
Community Reminders
2 x $1500 to be Awarded in PORCH Foundation's First Grant!
We have launched our first PORCH Foundation grant with Matrix Venture Studio! We are providing two grants of $1,500 each to support immigrant entrepreneurs.
Only a few weeks left to get those submissions in!
