On November 20, 2024, Christa Hill was recognized with the Impact Award as part of the 2024 Start Alberta Tech Awards. The Impact Award recognizes a tech company or organization committed to ESG standards, or through their products and services assists other companies or society, in general, to make improvements in one or more areas of Environment, Social (diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging) or Governance.
Christa is committed to increasing diversity in the tech industry. Christa is the CEO and Co-Founder of Tacit Edge a Canadian-based tech education company helping women and visible minorities succeed in product management. She is also the co-lead and Director of Innovation at WTAL, a non-profit organization that connects women with the resources they need to thrive in Canada.
“What I do personally, is I try to walk through this world every day trying to advance the rights and opportunities of those around me, explains Christa. “it’s a blue ocean of opportunity for meaningful work, meaningful change when it comes to the advancements of rights for individuals in our community and around Canada.”
In collaboration with SAIT, InceptionU, Platform Calgary, Athabasca University, and Alberta Innovates, she helped create a standardized product management curriculum to level the barriers to entry in the field. Graduates have a 73% hire rate; over 56% are women and 72% are people of colour. The yearly salary for graduates averages $93,000, and the program has produced 5 startups so far with $17M in total funding.
Christa notes that equity is the key to a thriving economy. “When I think about the future, that’s what I think about, just equity for all. We’ve proven, and the math dictates, the more equitable you can be in your hiring practices, the more valuable your company is, the faster you’ll exit. It’s a time to be very loud about how we feel about equitable rights for everyone in this country.”
Christa’s career in product management started at Benevity, where she launched software programs for employee giving that helped disburse over $2 billion in funds. Her experience helped her recognize the need for a more linear and inclusive pathway to product management, with formal training to help foster diversity in these roles and reduce the risk of product failure.
Today, she’s an outspoken advocate for diversity in Canada. “This is a really proud moment, for just me as a woman, to be sitting here saying that I’m actually doing the work. We are making a difference.”
Since 2018, the Start Alberta Tech Awards have recognized individuals and organizations for their contributions to Alberta’s innovation ecosystem and those significantly impacting the province’s tech sector. The Start Alberta Deal Flow Platform is the most comprehensive database on startups and funding in the province, providing real-time data for founders, investors, corporates and government stakeholders. Start Alberta offers insights on the health of the regional innovation economy while showcasing Alberta’s tech and innovation ecosystem to the world.
View the full list of 2024 Tech Award winners.
