Lilian Gao, Marketing and Research Intern, UC Berkeley

Coming from the University of California at Berkeley as a summer exchange student, Lilian Gao is currently working as a Marketing and Research Intern at the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada. Majoring in Applied Math, she is focusing on actuarial science, involving both math and finance. 

As a student at UC Berkeley, Lilian has worked as a member of the finance committee in a non-profit organization aimed mainly at helping children in poverty. She has had experience runningg fundraising and marketing campaigns and also acquired a solid understanding of business development, sponsor outreach, and building corporate networks. From her current academic program at University of Toronto, she is also gaining a better understanding of the Canadian markets and business ecosystem.

She is interested in how crowdfunding, a new but booming industry, is going to creating even deeper and broader influences on both traditional financial structure and online business development.

“Crowdfunding is a sustaining innovation, an evolutionary change that puts business financing within reach of everyone with an Internet connection, representing a true democratization of business capital access.”

The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with both social and investment crowdfunding stakeholders across the country.  NCFA Canada provides education, research, leadership, support and networking opportunities to over 1100+ members and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding industry in Canada.  Learn more About Us or visit ncfacanada.org.