{"id":8495,"date":"2026-06-14T18:01:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T01:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec522\/?p=8495"},"modified":"2026-06-14T18:02:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T01:02:53","slug":"8495","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec522\/2026\/06\/14\/8495\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dana Stephenson, Co-founder & CEO of Riipen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Riipen<\/a> is a Vancouver-based work-integrated learning (WIL) platform founded in 2013 with a mission to \u201celiminate underemployment.” The platform connects post-secondary institutions with employers so students complete real employer projects as part of their coursework. The goal is to create a scalable way to give students work-related experience when actual work experience opportunities do not match demand. Riipen currently has more than 700 academic partners and 50,000+ employer partners, and the platform has served more than 125,000 students. Earlier this month, Riipen launched Career Connected Campus<\/em>, which is an enterprise solution that enables PSE institutions to embed WIL across their programs and courses rather than being restricted to a limited number of programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riipen CEO Dana Stephenson, co-founded the company with Dave Savory (VP, Experiential Learning)l. Stephenson has led the company since founding. He holds a BCom from the University of Victoria. Importantly, Stephenson’s mission grew directly from his own student experience. Riipen began as a capstone entrepreneurship project at UVic, focusing on the problem that most students graduate without work experience because co-op spots are scarce and unevenly distributed. Stephenson is not a technical founder. His previous experience was in sales and marketing before starting Riipen. I see this as an advantage given that, especially at the start up stage, the CEO needs to be able to sell the company to investors and customers. I also found that Stephenson is a registered lobbyist in Canada<\/a>, which I take as a sign that he recognizes that the political dynamics of education are just as important as the market forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riipen\u2019s team is a mix of technical and business people, as well as a Strategy Director with experience as both a university professor and a founder. Their board and advisors include education entrepreneurs, founders, experts in enterprise-level technical products, strategy experts, and a representative from one of their funders – the MaRS Discovery District. On Glassdoor, they have a higher-than-average rating of 3.8 and a CEO approval rating of 86%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What inspires me about Riipen is that a non-technical founder tackled a problem of both personal and global significance and created a platform that addresses a persistent gap at a pivot point in people\u2019s lives: the transition from paying for your education to getting paid to do what you\u2019ve learned to do. In my work I see how difficult this transition is and how limited work experience opportunities make it harder still. That Stephenson et al have come up with a novel, scalable solution that has now been in business for more than 10 years is a hopeful sign that this and similar platforms can help to close important gaps that impact new graduates\u2019 employment prospects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dana Stephenson, Co-founder & CEO of Riipen Riipen is a Vancouver-based work-integrated learning (WIL) platform founded in 2013 with a mission to \u201celiminate underemployment.” The…<\/p>\n

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