Student Showcase: Farahana Jobanputra

Farahana Jobanputra

Born in Kigali, Rwanda, Farahana Jobanputra was a toddler when her parents brought her to Canada. Her mother was widowed shortly after they arrived, leaving her to raise two small children in a foreign country. “We really are a boot-strapping family,” she says. “My mom became a serial entrepreneur, developing new technological solutions. Her businesses really were my introduction to using technology and to accessing new opportunities.”

After blazing a trail as the first girl in her family to earn a BA and then an MBA, Farahana has consistently set newer, higher bars with her professional achievements. Now Program Manager for digital projects at BMO, she’s earning her GPLLM. “One of the gaps in a traditional MBA program is you don’t learn literacy in the law,” she says. “As a practitioner developing new technologies; navigating privacy, legal and compliance concerns are part of my everyday life. As a digital specialist, this program allows me to build on my business and cyber security background to deliver better quality solutions.

The GPLLM fills those gaps, she says and builds an appreciation for client experience concerns. “How do you balance commercial interests with ethics and social responsibility?” she says. “I feel like that’s what we’re getting with some of the discussions we’re having. The grounding in law combined with business leaders makes us more thoughtful practitioners.”