About

Who we are

Your stepping stone to creating your own opportunities. 

Introduced in 2017, the JR Shaw School of Business Mawji Centre for New Venture and Student Entrepreneurship aims to build entrepreneurship into the DNA of NAIT. Our centre is a student-centric movement that promotes an environment of creativity and entrepreneurial thinking.

Whether you're a student looking to start your own business, take over a business, or create change within an existing organization – we have the advice to help you grow. 

The Mawji Family

Ashif Mawji (Computer Systems Technology ’92) and his family made the largest donation from an alumnus in NAIT’s history to establish the Mawji Centre for New Venture and Student Entrepreneurship. Ashif  attended NAIT before going on to become one of the city’s most successful entrepreneurs, founding a series of IT companies, including Upside Software, which he sold in 2012. 

 “The entrepreneurial spirit in Edmonton, I think, has a lot to do with NAIT. I found that at NAIT everybody was really creative, very innovative, and very much thinking about what the market needs."   – Ashif Mawji