Jamie racing in Belgium. Photo by Benjie Fabella.
Jamie Gilgen is known to many as an engineer, world-class athlete, and entrepreneur. However, at Crowdmark we also know her as a mentor and teammate whose insatiable curiosity and contagious commitment to lifelong learning pushes us to reach our full potential.
Growing up in London Ontario, Jamie spent her days mountain biking with friends alongside the Thames River and tinkering with Linux by night. Always precocious, it wasn’t until she was 13 when Jamie discovered her competitive nature and passion for bicycle racing while browsing through the mall with her mother. After seeing a poster for a mountain bike race taking place the next day, Jamie registered, raced, loved it, and by the next year was competing on the Ontario Cup Mountain Bike Circuit.
Today, Jamie is a member of the Canadian National Team for road and track cycling, earning gold at the 2016 Pan American Track Cycling Championships in Mexico and bronze at the Omnium in the 2015 Canadian National Road Race Championships.
Jamie at the 2016 Pan American Track Cycling Championships in Mexico
While balancing her athletic pursuits with her undergraduate studies in computer engineering, Jamie cut her teeth in professional software development as an intern at IBM. Naturally, Jamie was hired by IBM out of school and spent the next five years developing her skill set and securing a patent.
Eventually Jamie left IBM to freelance and focus on her athletic aspirations; it was the best decision she ever made. Immersing herself in the Toronto Tech Community, Jamie experienced exponential professional growth through exposure to emerging ideas and exciting organizations. One of these start-ups was Crowdmark, where Jamie joined the team in 2013.
Small team environments suit Jamie, who says “the professional world is shrouded in fog. Large companies act as a lighthouse, leading you through a linear career path. Smaller companies like Crowdmark must make due with lanterns but this allows us to illuminate our own path while remaining more nimble and strategic.”
As a lifelong learner, Crowdmark’s mission of improving the way students learn resonates with Jamie. Understanding more than most, that perfect practice makes perfect, Jamie is proud to have a role in developing and continually improving Crowdmark so that students may learn more effectively.
About the Author: Dustin is a senior account manager with DesignedUX, providing communications and marketing strategy to organizations in education and technology. Dustin is also a part-time faculty member at Centennial College and serves on the board of the Canadian Public Relations Society.