Episode Overview

Beginning his career in the non-profit sector as General Manager for AIESEC (PRON: eye-sek) in Morocco, Naoufel provided young people with leadership development and cross-cultural global internships. He later transferred to the AIESEC United States in New York City and managed the expansion to Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE through a US government grant of over $1 million. He then took on the interim COO’s role and managed a team of 10 people with a budget of $4 million.

Naoufel joined Microsoft Middle East and Africa as Regional Program Coordinator, managing the Microsoft Software Donation Program for internet safety and security. He also managed relationships with crucial Microsoft partners in the region, like the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development. After two years at Microsoft, Naoufel moved to Montreal to join tech startups. He started at TandemLaunch Technologies, where he built relationships with university tech transfer offices around the world. At his last company, Naoufel was Head of Business Development at Local Logic. 

Today, Naoufel is the Co-Founder and CEO of QueerTech, an organization that aims to Queer The Tech Ecosystem by breaking down barriers, creating spaces, and connecting communities to support and empower LGBTQ2S+ people to thrive.

“You want to start your diversity strategy on day one.” 

In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Scotiabank, Naoufel Testaouni tells the story of QueerTech, why he started it and where their programming is at today. Paige, Rick and Naoufel also discuss why representation is so needed in the tech industry. This episode is in partnership with Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce in celebration of Pride Month

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