Founder and CEO

Arundati Dandapani, MLitt, CAIP, CIPP/C., CIPM is the founder and CEO of Generation1.ca, a social enterprise platform and community she created that places North America’s newcomers at the forefront of data and insights innovation globally. She is also a Professor of business, data, analytics and insights at Humber Polytechnic and University of Guelph-Humber, the Vice Chair of the Program Advisory Board at Algonquin College’s Marketing Research and Analysis program and leads on the Certification Advisory Board of the IAPP, the world’s largest community and resource for information privacy professionals and was part of the group that launched the world’s first AI Governance Certification Program.

Arundati was a key overseas member of the ad-hoc strategic planning committee for AAPOR’s Vision 2025 and was recognized by ESOMAR and Insight250 as one of the world’s top 75 data and insights legends at ESOMAR’s 2023 Annual Conference in Amsterdam, where her name was honoured with a star on their Avenue of Excellence, the industry’s equivalent of Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Since the inception of the Insight250, she has also served as a judge and has also often judged the Canadian Marketing Association’s Annual Gala Awards. An accomplished author of two published books with more upcoming, and editor of several other works, she has contributed extensively to the industry. Arundati has presented, chaired, or reviewed numerous presentations for AAPOR, WAPOR, ESOMAR, Market Research Institute International (MRII), and the University of Georgia (UGA), among other prestigious forums. In 2024, her paper, Voicing the New Global Realities: Empowered Insights for an Underserved Market, won the Best Paper of the Year Award at Congress 2024, surpassing thousands of other submissions globally. She also presented her paper, Rediscovering the Immigrant Journey: Mapping the Potential of Synthetic Data in Global Immigrant Stories, at Congress in Athens in 2024, further cementing her role as a leader in the data and insights community.

Find her on Twitter at @itadnura.

Arundati’s first story “The Free Mango” appeared in The Hindu‘s weekend edition, followed by several years of varied publications including her first book’s release in April 2002 that earned global coverage in prime publications, television and bookstores. Her e-book proposal won her the second prize from the Scottish Sunday Herald in 2012. Since the age of eight and to date, her work has appeared often in local and global media.

Arundati is pictured below with the 11th Indian President the late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam below at his official residence exchanging signed copies of each other’s books– only a few months after she first met with the 39th American President Mr. Jimmy Carter during a work-assignment for C-SPAN’s BOOKTV channel in Washington DC.

A seasoned non-profit association leader, Arundati had served as the Founding CIO Chief Editor & Intelligence Officer of Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC) and Founding Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Certified Analytics and Insights Professionals of Canada (CAIP-PAIM), both roles she created when identifying a gap in the industry marketplace to consolidate the national industry. She is also a designated analytics and insights leader (CAIP recognized by CAIP Canada), Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/C) and CIPM as recognized by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) and leads on the certification advisory board of the global IAPP’s governing board for its entire certification program accredited by ISO and ANSI standards and has contributed to the launch of their AI Governance Certifications, the very first credential recognizing accomplishment in this discipline that is embedding every fabric of the worlds of work into the future. Arundati is also a proud member of The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC), the national organization of professionally published writers founded in 1973 to work with governments, publishers, booksellers, and readers to improve the conditions of Canadian writers.

Since moving to Canada, Arundati has earned various global data analytics and insights industry honours such as being featured in the 24th Edition of the GreenBook Research Industry Trends Report  for receiving their inaugural industry awards recognizing trailblazers and industry leaders or the GRIT 2019 Future List Honourees. Generation1.ca’s video pitch “Disruption by Design” was also selected to be an ESOMAR YES Award finalist for their LATAM-APAC Conference in Macau 2019. She also earned the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) 2020 Burns Bud Roper Fellow and the QRCA Young Professionals Grant in 2020, numerous other notable features and honours. She also won the Best Paper Award for her prize winning work and paper based on her book about immigrant integration that she presented at ESOMAR’s Art and Science of Innovation Conference in Chicago in 2024.

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She is a passionate advocate for innovation in business and social research with specific success leading non-profits, legal cannabis and newcomer integration initiatives. She is a data, analytics, insights C-exec and strategic advisor instrumental in the visioning, execution and launch of successful member-driven programs, research, platforms, publications, events and certifications including the development of educational and instructional exam resources for the ongoing support and growth of the industry’s professionals and resilient organizations. Arundati is often invited to partner, present at, chair and review key industry conferences, judge prestigious awards, advise or pilot boards and committees, and is well-published nationally and internationally.

Thank you for stopping by! We hope you will keep returning 🙂  

Arundati Dandapani (extreme R) with Dan Quirk (C) and Esther Bolt (L) at the Quirk’s NYC exhibition hall. Photo by Nelson Davis.
IIeX Feb 2019 in Amsterdam above and IIeX North America 2019 in Austin below.
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You can connect with Arundati on Twitter, LinkedIn, or via the contact form.

In 2022, Arundati was named an Insight250 Judge for the 2022 global competition.

Arundati was also selected to be a judge for the Canadian Marketing Association’s Annual Awards for 2022
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The lion and giraffes pictured above are a reminder of the jungle truth (and business metaphor) that the kick of a giraffe is strong enough to kill a lion, unless the lion gets at its neck first. This only goes to say that showcasing one’s strengths and playing to their advantage drives a lot of sound strategy, success and sustainability. No matter your “spot” in the jungle you will blaze new trails with that awareness in place.