Ottawa’s Forty Under 40 Awards for Young Leaders

Two Faculty of Public Affairs alumni have been named to Ottawa’s Forty Under 40 list, the region’s biggest business award for young leaders.

• James Nguyen, the co-founder and CEO of tech startup Quantropi, who earned an Economics degree in 2006.
• Director, writer, video editor and story consultant, Christopher Redmond, a Journalism and Film Studies alumnus from 2006.

James Nguyen

“Capitalizing a pre-revenue startup during a global pandemic certainly hasn’t been easy, but we’ve persevered by leveraging technology, marketing and forging strategic partnerships. Closing business deals has been more difficult as a result of all the uncertainty, but I’m happy where we are now.

“My time at Carleton was foundational and inspirational. Yes, I got a great education, but I also learned how to deal with and embrace uncertainty, which has served me well lately. Carleton gave me raw, transferrable skills—organizational, research and communications—that help in everything I do.”

Christopher Redmond

“Professionally, I have adapted very well to the pandemic. Since July 2020, I’ve directed three different TV series—one of which, Stittsville on Patrol, I will shoot a second season for next month—and I also directed my first feature film.

“I received a combined honours degree in Journalism and Film Studies, and they helped me in very different ways. Film Studies gave me the foundation I needed to feel like I know what I’m doing when 30 people are waiting for an answer from me on set. Journalism gave me practical skills in writing and storytelling, which helped me work in advertising, and that paved the way to where I am today. I even taught the Master’s of Journalism course on documentary filmmaking at Carleton one year, so it all came full circle.”

View full list of the five Carleton community recipients in the Carleton Newsroom…