Emad Rizkalla

Emad Rizkalla’s family immigrated to Canada from Egypt when he was seven years old. He grew up mostly in St. John’s, NL and became a serial entrepreneur, starting his first company in 1992 before graduating from Memorial University with a mechanical engineering degree. Emad has yet to land his first job! The innovative companies he has created, and their spin offs, currently employ over 500 people, with the majority still in Atlantic Canada. Today, Emad is the CEO of Bluedrop Performance Learning, based in St. John’s. Bluedrop employs almost 200 people and is a global innovator in workplace e-learning and simulation. The company is transforming the way governments, foundations, unions and companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin deliver, track and manage skills development. Bluedrop appeared in the Profit500 list in 2016 for the third year after posting a 550% growth over a five-year period. Emad received The Globe & Mail’s prestigious “Top 40 Under 40” honours in 2000, when he was still under 30. At that time, he was also profiled in a TIME Magazine cover story as one of “8 Young Dynamic Entrepreneurs Who Will Create the 21st Century”. In 2013, Emad received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Emad has spoken at conferences around the world and has advised several current and former heads of state on how economies can adapt to the current revolution in the nature of work. He has appeared in numerous national and several global media including CBC, CTV, the Globe and Mail, BBC Radio and Bloomberg News. Emad’s views on the revolution occurring in the nature of work is often featured in the Huffington Post. Bluedrop’s international work has brought it to partner with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). Its’ work addressing challenges in global workforce and empowering women entrepreneurs was featured twice on the CGI main stage at its annual conference.