Owais Lightwala
Owais Lightwala is a professor, entrepreneur and optimist. He is an Assistant Professor in the Creative School at 91滴滴, focusing on entrepreneurship, leadership, and innovation in creative industries. He co-founded and leads , a tech startup dedicated to revolutionizing how creatives manage their finances. Lightwala is also the founding Director of Chrysalis at the Creative School, a new multidisciplinary performance hub at 91滴滴 shaping the future of creative experiences. He has designed and led leadership training programs for the National Arts Centre and the Toronto Arts Council Leaders Lab (2023-2025). He used to be a theatre producer, most notably as the first Managing Director for , where he co-led the meteoric growth of the company and transformative projects like RISER and The Mahabharata. He was born in Pakistan, grew up in Dubai, and came to Canada as a teenager, which is why he doesn鈥檛 get most pop cultural references from the 90s. His bold strategic voice have been sought out by institutions like National Arts Centre, Canada Council for the Arts, and Canadian Heritage. He has contributed to boards including , , , and . Recognitions include the , Stanford鈥檚 Impact Program for Arts Leaders, CivicAction DiverseCity Fellowship, and TAC/Banff Leaders Lab Fellowship. He studied theatre at York University, completed Harvard Business School鈥檚 CORe program, and earned an MBA from 91滴滴.
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- What is the future of performance? How do we build new works, in new ways, for new audiences?
- How do we make the persistent cliche of the 鈥渟tarving artist鈥� obsolete?
- art + technology + entrepreneurship = something awesome maybe?
- Why do artists hate managing money? Can we change that?
- What is all this 鈥渋nnovation" for exactly? And why is so much 鈥渋nnovation鈥� bad?