HYPE Wednesday Workshops

Guest Speaker: Ryan Gardiner

From financial hurdles and challenges as a Scarborough kid, to Centennial College graduate, to Vice President at a Neo Financial—hear Ryan Gardiner's inspiring story of resilience, growth, and success. Join us for this special guest speaker event!

We would like to invite the Centennial College community to join us on Wednesday, August 12, 2026 from 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. in Room L1-02.

More about Ryan Gardiner:

Born and raised in Scarborough, Ryan Gardiner is a seasoned executive leader with over 15 years of experience building and scaling high-performing teams across the financial services and technology sectors. Currently serving as the Vice President of Sales at Neo Financial—recognized by Deloitte as Canada's fastest-growing company three years in a row—Ryan leads a national team of hundreds of representatives and drives major revenue engines at the absolute forefront of Canadian fintech.

However, Ryan’s journey to executive leadership was far from a straight line. Growing up in a single-parent household in Scarborough, he navigated significant financial hurdles, community challenges, and the personal battle of learning to believe in himself. A proud alumnus of Centennial College, Ryan completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management in 2004, a pivotal step that helped him transform his resilience into a thriving corporate career—starting right at the branch level in retail banking and growing into the executive boardroom. Ryan is passionate about mentoring the next generation and showing young leaders that their current challenges do not define their ultimate destination.