Kariann Aarup

Director Partnerships & Program Development, Aqua Forum

Kariann Aarup has been with Aqua Forum since 2017, focusing on scaling its flagship program, the AquaHacking Challenge. Motivated by sustainability-focused outcomes, especially those that engage stakeholders from multiple sectors, she enjoys finding the sweet spot around which partners can collaborate to amplify impact. Originally from Montreal, enjoying the freshwater lakes of the Laurentians, Kariann grew up in a family enterprise and holds an MBA from McGill University. Passionate about youth-led change-agency, Kariann has brought her penchant for social innovation to all of her work -as founder of a national cross-sector internship program, instructor at the Desautels School of Business,  and 10 years of community and external relations in the mining sector. She is very happy to be back in the non-profit world, making use of her business background to advance on freshwater issues. Kariann has been in BC since 2013 and now lives in Victoria, with her husband Christopher and two children, Kai and Miah. The silver lining of COVID has meant less travel and more hyggelig home-time, for which the whole family is happy. In her spare time, Kariann enjoys dog walks by the sea, cooking, garden-beautification projects, and yoga.  She also really enjoys baking sourdough bread for family & friends.