Our Journey Towards Excellence: A Vision for Education

We are often praised for our unique approach to pursuing our vision and frequently asked about the reasoning behind it. Here is the story of how it all began.

When I was in grade five in India, my teacher asked me what I wanted to become. I replied, “A social worker.” The teacher responded, “First, become capable of providing for yourself before helping others.” This advice resonated deeply with me, especially as someone raised by a widowed mother from a humble background. Thanks to a good education and financial support, I was able to pursue engineering graduate studies in Canada. Upon turning 50, I felt a renewed desire to give back to society, particularly through financial assistance in education—a form of support that had once enabled my own aspirations. Our approach to this initiative has been profoundly shaped by these life experiences and our surroundings.

In 2015, a local newspaper in Kingston featured an article about a mining engineering graduate who had taken a job as a city bus driver. Kingston, being hundreds of miles from any mines, seemed an unusual place for such a program. This story led me to question why the city’s university was offering a degree so disconnected from the local environment, economy, and job market. By contrast, mining programs are more naturally suited to cities like Vancouver, Sudbury, or Saskatoon, which are hubs of mining activity.

This incident highlighted a larger issue: many educational institutions stretch themselves too thin, trying to offer something for everyone. With limited budgets, this often can result in mediocrity across the board rather than excellence in select fields. Building world-class programs requires focused resources to attract the best students, faculty, facilities, equipment, and infrastructure. A more pragmatic approach would encourage institutions to concentrate on their core strengths, collaborate with others, or defer to institutions better equipped to lead in certain areas.

Determining an institution’s areas of excellence, however, is not straightforward. A simple online search often yields vague descriptions such as: “This university is known for its strong tradition of scholarship, discovery, and innovation, with beautiful buildings and a green campus.” Similarly, inquiries about which universities excel in specific fields often point to a handful of large, well-known institutions. Even university administrators frequently claim their institution is the best in all areas, making it difficult to discern true distinctions.

To address this challenge, we approached leading universities with a proposal to establish scholarships. We asked them to identify their top five areas of excellence and explain why they are world-class. We evaluated their responses based on factors such as unique geography, specialized infrastructure, synergistic ecosystems, state-of-the-art equipment, long-standing traditions, past accomplishments, market perception, and branding. Using this input, combined with our own research, we identified three unique areas of strength for each university. Scholarships were then established in these areas, ensuring that no two universities overlapped on the same disciplines.

After successfully implementing this initiative at most leading Canadian universities, we expanded the approach to colleges in skills development, and in high schools for post secondary education. We believe that excellence cannot inspire society in anonymity; it thrives when it is sought, recognized, promoted, and celebrated.

Our foundation is a humble attempt to encourage educational institutions to reimagine, refocus, and revitalize higher education and research. We hope this butterfly effect inspires them to build global reputations in key areas based on merit, excellence, and innovation. Our ultimate goal is to nudge institutions to create new knowledge, drive societal growth, and achieve global recognition as leaders in specific fields of study and scholarship.

-Samit Sharma