Our Team | The Forge | McMaster University

Our team is here to support innovators as they grow and succeed.

Gay Yuyitung

Acting Director

Gay Yuyitung is the Acting Director at The Forge and Executive Director of McMaster Industry Liaison Office (MILO). Gay has negotiated license agreements to transfer technology from the university to both large multinationals, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. Gay has also represented the university on the board and provided management support for several McMaster startups and not-for-profit organizations, including ProSensus, Turnstone Biologicals, and Triumvira, as well as the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC). She assists faculty and companies with obtaining government grants or seed investments to support commercialization. Prior to joining MILO, she has had experience with marketing at MDS Nordion and price reimbursement at Eli Lilly. Gay has her PhD in chemistry from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from McMaster.

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Lauren Brown

Business Incubator Manager

Lauren Brown manages the Business Incubator at The Forge, where she works closely with our mentors, service providers, and innovation ecosystem partners, to provide hands-on support to the startups in our Business Incubator program to accelerate their growth. Lauren has 15 years of experience driving special projects and programs for diverse organizations, from startups to Global Fortune 500 companies. She is also a former entrepreneur, herself, having co-founded and built two companies. Lauren is a McMaster University alumni, with an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from the DeGroote School of Business, and also holds an MBA in the Management of Innovation and Technology from Toronto Metropolitan University.

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Mariya Leslie

Manager of Student Entrepreneurship

Mariya Leslie is the Manager of Student Entrepreneurship at McMaster University, where she focuses on helping campus entrepreneurs launch and grow their startups. Originally from Ukraine, Mariya is now a proud Hamiltonian whose mission is to help build and strengthen the local entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. Prior to her role at McMaster, Mariya led the operations of Altitude Accelerator, Peel Region’s hub for innovative technology startups. Mariya received a Master of Biotechnology from the University of Toronto and an Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Waterloo.

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Marissa Principato

Marketing & Communications Manager

Marissa Principato is the Marketing and Communications Manager for The Forge. She is responsible for developing, implementing and evaluating the marketing and communication efforts of The Forge. She facilitates a variety of student-focused events and programs through The Forge, including Startup Survivor and McMaster’s Entrepreneurship Week.

A proud McMaster Alumni with an Honours Bachelor of Commerce, Marissa is passionate about helping other McMaster students achieve their startup dreams at The Forge.

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Stefan Lombardi

Communications Assistant

Stefan Lombardi is the Communications Assistant for The Forge, where he is responsible for supporting the marketing team with social media, outreach, and communications, as well as analyzing existing client data to strengthen metrics for reporting. He also assists with the planning and organizing of events, workshops and community engagement, while supporting various administrative projects for all Forge programming.

Stefan just completed his second year of Commerce at the DeGroote School of Business and plans to continue his education in business. He is excited to be supporting startups and collaborating with The Forge team this summer.

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Jessica Rudden

Program Coordinator (On Leave)

Jessica is The Forge’s office & finance manager and ensures that operations run smoothly. She joined The Forge back in 2015 as one of the first team members and is proud to have helped form The Forge into the successful program it is today. She believes everyone should spend their lives doing what sets their soul on fire and she is delighted to support entrepreneurs doing just that. Prior to her role at The Forge, Jessica specialized in sales in both the hospitality and retail sectors.

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