Yamila Franco
Co-Founder, Nyoka Design Labs & AfroHub Market
Yamila is a Scientist, Innovator, Artist and Entrepreneur who has been helping STEM students and businesses realize their potential for nearly a decade. Graduating from the University of Victoria with a Bachelors Degree in Biology, Yamila’s passion for science led her across the globe, studying entomology and genetics abroad in Switzerland before returning to Canada to share her passion with teachers, parents and students through her work in STEM Outreach with the University of Victoria’s Science Venture program. Since her Graduation in 2018, Yamila has gone on to co-found two innovative companies: Nyoka Design Labs, a clean technology social enterprise focused on leveraging advances in sustainable biotechnology and material sciences to design regenerative, innovative products following the circular economy model, and AfroHub Market, which focuses on supporting the global community of entrepreneurs of African Descent by focusing on business sustainability and helping them access new markets. A proud Afro-Indigenous womxn, Yamila was recently awarded the Representation, Engagement, Participation Youth Award by HERE Magazine in Canada due to her leadership, advocacy, and anti-racism work in the community and was a recipient of both the regional and national 2020 Startup Canada Canada Export Challenge.