Meet the Founders of Student Support Canada, an organization caring for students

Student Support is a Canadian for-profit social enterprise created for students founded by Ajamu Attard (National Director and CEO)  Scott Braddon (COO and CFO) and Brent Colby (Director of Marketing).

The group were recently students themselves, having attended Carleton University together, and each had a passion for helping their community and their peers.

Dedicated to extracurriculars and community involvement outside of their academics. Attard, Braddon and Colby come from diverse backgrounds.

Attard was the recipient of the Top 20 Under 20 Award and the Lincoln M. Alexander Award among many others, and had created a scholarship for students in the early days of his entrepreneurial journey.

Scott Braddon started paddling at the age of eight at the Rideau Canoe Club, and eventually went on to race for Team Canada as a canoe sprint athlete.

“It was really what sparked my competitive nature from a young age,” says Braddon.

“It translated to my competitive nature in business and in this venture, and it allowed me to really know and manage my time wisely.”

Brent Colby was also an athlete in his own right. An avid freestyle skier, when he wasn’t tearing up the ski slope, he was busy working on the construction site. It was shortly after facing an injury that Colby would go on to start his own marketing business.

Each of the young co-founders has a unique story about how they met, and their meeting would translate into a successful social enterprise advocating for students and making essential services affordable to them.

Brent Colby remembers first meeting Attard in his second year at Carleton University.

“I had switched my concentration from finance to entrepreneurship, and it was in my first class,” says Colby.

Colby recalls seeing somebody walk into the class before it had started and begin talking to the professor.

“I thought to myself this person must be doing something cool if the professor knows them and is talking to them and they’re having a friendly conversation before the first class has even begun.”

“That person was Ajamu.”

Later in the class, the professor asked students to put their hand up if they were running a business.

Only Brent Colby and Ajamu Attard put their hands up, which prompted them to later have a discussion after class.

It wasn’t long before the two would become close friends, share their passion for business, and decide to go into business together, even before the money was coming in.

Attard recalls meeting Scott Braddon when the two of them were working in a Carleton University residence building together.

“Scott used to be my residence fellow at Carleton,” says Attard.

“When I met Scott, he was extremely and wildly motivated. I thought, ‘I wish I had his drive, his passion, his acumen and his openness to try new things.’”

“He was a national champion in sprint kayaking, so you could tell right off the bat he’s disciplined,” says Attard.

At the time Attard recalls Braddon came to him and inquired about the business he was working on and asked for guidance. That was when Attard recommended a few books he could read.

“Most people don’t do anything. I didn’t think he was going to do anything,” says Attard.

“Then next week he came back and asked what’s next.”

“He read all the books. What the heck?”

Attard says, “I didn’t know much about him but I knew I needed him on my team.”

It was in 2021 when the three decided to launch Student Support officially as a corporation when they for the most part had graduated.

Flash forward today and the three young founders of Student Support have made essential services available to thousands of students across the country, partnering and providing services from Calm, Udemy, Aaptiv, Nimbus Learning and more, the young entrepreneurs have bright hopes for the future of the enterprise.

The team has grown even more to-date, and now has six employees and counting.

When asked about the future of Student Support, Ajamu Attard said, “It’s all about lifting people up to thrive, not just when they’re down.”

The group plans to continue expanding their services across the nation, and improving their partnerships and offerings.