Meet the first recipients of UCC’s new Catalyst Award |
10/30/2026
They graduated. They aspired. They changed things for the better.
The UCC Association Council introduced the Catalyst Award this year to recognize graduates who are early in their careers and already making a significant impact. Presented annually to up to five Old Boys under 40, the award celebrates professional excellence and a genuine commitment to giving back in ways that reflect the College’s values.
“This is a chance to highlight those who are making their mark in different industries worldwide, and whose curiosity and ambition capture the heart of the UCC community today,” says Leanne Gardner, associate director of community relations. “Success doesn’t follow a single, linear route and each of these Old Boys exemplifies that to our current students.”
We asked the five inaugural recipients about their work, their favourite UCC memories and how their time at the College helped lead them to where they are today.
Scott Barter ’04
Addictions counsellor and founder, Scott Barter Counselling
T: Barter works with adolescents, adults and families affected by addiction, many of them professionals whose lives look perfect from the outside. Barter struggled with substance use himself at university and came through it with the support of his community. Years later, working in human resources at a large bank, he was asked to help terminate an employee who had a substance use disorder. He resigned two weeks later and enrolled at McMaster University to specialize in addictions and concurrent disorders. “For the first time in my life, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”
Favourite UCC memory: After 10 years at the College, beginning in Year 3, Barter has trouble narrowing his list of favourite memories down to one. “It’s often the simplest moments that stand out,” he says. “Spending mornings with friends in the Student Centre; attending assembly and sitting with friends from my house; conversations with teachers in the hallways; heading off to practices at the end of the day. At the time, these were simply parts of our daily routine. Looking back, I recognize now just how meaningful those ordinary moments were.”
What UCC gave him: A community that recognized that he was struggling and kept showing up. “I learned about the importance of loyalty, accountability, empathy, compassion and the importance of showing up for people, particularly when doing so isn’t easy.” To give back to that community, Barter regularly returns to the College to facilitate Health Centre groups and speak to students and parents. He was inducted into the Harold A.D. Roberts Circle in 2016.
On the award: “For much of my life, I carried a narrow perception of what it meant to be a successful UCC Old Boy. I hope the Catalyst Award continues to challenge any lingering assumptions about what a successful Old Boy is supposed to look like.”
Ishtar Chandaria ’12
Founding CEO, Ariel Foods FZE
Today: Chandaria runs Africa’s largest ready-to-use therapeutic food facility, built on land that was jungle when he first walked it in Nigeria’s Lekki Free Zone. The fortified peanut paste the facility produces is the frontline treatment for severe acute malnutrition, and has reached millions of children in Nigeria. “It gives a child who has done nothing wrong in their entire life a chance to grow up,” Chandaria says.
Favourite UCC memory: The 2010 CISAA football championship, in which he was the placekicker. Chandaria still remembers the goal-line stand that ended it. “One of our defensive linemen jumped over both lines and immediately tackled the quarterback right as soon as the ball was snapped. And that was the end of the game. We won. It’s hard to top that one!”
What UCC gave him: Support that shaped and inspired him. He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to be at UCC when he arrived in Year 7, but the support of the College’s faculty and staff soon changed that. “There was one teacher in particular who saw the better side of me, and he never gave up on me,” Chandaria says, referring to Donald Kawasoe. In the Upper School, Larry Lajeunesse’s economics classes steered him towards the analytical side of business, and twice-weekly advising kept him accountable, along with mentorship from his football coach, Dave Shaw, whom he still meets regularly.
On the award: Chandaria took the call about the news of the award while he was in his driveway — and then sat there for 20 minutes. “I was overjoyed,” he says. “I was honoured. I felt really proud of the work and the impact. It really has been a combination of the entire team at Ariel Foods — all of us together.”
Akash Pasricha ’13
Journalist and anchor, The Information
Today: Pasricha anchors a daily technology news show that he launched a year ago for The Information, a tech-focused online news publication. The show has drawn 25 million views and close to 400 guests, among them executives from Amazon, Airbnb, Uber and Robinhood. Pasricha got there through a life sciences degree, a business degree, two years in consulting and writing as a side hustle before attending the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Favourite UCC memory: Pasricha spent 10 years at the College, beginning in Year 3, and those years revolved largely around theatre and music programs. As Blue Army General, he ran the pep rallies before the big games. “You were very much taking on an energetic role — being the person who was loudest and proudest,” he says. “There was so much camaraderie in those moments.”
What UCC gave him: Curiosity, critical thinking and the ability to connect the dots — habits he still relies on today. Pasricha has stayed in touch with two teachers who inspired him: Dale Churchward and Peter Smith. “They were so encouraging of us being creative,” he says. “By fostering an environment where we could be creative, it really made sure that we applied that creativity to whatever career path we took down the line.”
On the award: “It’s a huge honour. And at the same time, I feel like I’m just getting started. It’s taken me 13 years to return to the work I got to do at UCC that makes me happiest. I’m still just a theatre kid in some ways, but now I get to make that my day job.”
Malcolm McKenzie ’13
Filmmaker and visual artist
Today: McKenzie was art director on Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie and is production designer on the forthcoming feature Rubberneck. He also wrote Shoot the Messenger, which he is producing and designing and which begins principal photography this winter. McKenzie taught himself 3D modelling, pyrotechnics and fabrication along the way — a recent commission was a seven-foot Twizzler flagpole.
Favourite UCC memory: A Year 8 film class, when teacher Mark Battley broke down a shot and then pointed at a bookshelf in the frame. “He said, ‘Each one of those books is not just a book. Somebody made a decision to put each of those books there for a reason that affects the whole movie.’ It blew my mind,” McKenzie says. “It seemed like such masterful authorship that I remember thinking, ‘What an art form.’”
What UCC gave him: Curiosity, and the room to follow it. McKenzie started the yo-yo club in Year 8 and later ran the science club, building shop-vac hoverboards and exploding watermelons with rubber bands. “If you teach yourself enough things, you learn the meta lesson that you can learn the thing. People think, ‘I don’t know if I can learn that.’ The answer the vast majority of the time is: ‘Yeah, you can.’”
On the award: “It’s such a privilege. It’s such an honour.” What he most hopes winning the award will achieve is a chance to talk to students who feel they don’t fit the mould: “If I can give one kid, maybe even two kids, like me something to hold on to, that’s so cool.”
Hayden Canavan ’20
Forward-deployed engineer and division lead, Ribbon
Today: Canavan leads the customer success division at Ribbon, a Toronto company whose AI-powered platform screens job applicants through video interviews for Fortune 500 clients. He did it while breaking two world records: Between October 2024 and September 2025, Canavan completed six Ironman triathlons on six continents, finishing as the youngest person ever to do so at 23 years and 158 days. He now holds the fastest combined time on record: 69 hours, 27 minutes and 24 seconds.
Favourite UCC memory: His five-year reunion — Canavan’s graduating year had been cut short by the pandemic. “Sitting on that stage singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and looking out at the crowd with all my classmates was one of the more special moments in my life.”
What UCC gave him: When he took his Year 12 math exam, Canavan froze and got a much lower grade than usual. His teacher took him aside, told him she knew it wasn’t his best, and gave him a chance to show what he knew in a less stressful setting. “She really looked at me as a human being. I probably wouldn’t have gotten into the programs I wanted to if she hadn’t given me that grace.”
On the award: “Grateful number one, and humbled number two.” As for how he got here: “Nothing I’ve accomplished has ever been alone, it’s always the people around you who provide the foundation.”
— Derek Blois
