Khalil Kassam ‘11

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Where is he now: Senior Strategy and Planning Associate at Uber Europe, Middle East and Africa

"Meadowridge was like a second home to me. It’s where I met so many great people that are still some of my closest friends to this day. Not a lot of people can say that they had that kind of experience for 13 years"

A lifer at Meadowridge, Khalil Kassam moved back East after graduation to pursue the dual degree program at the University of Western Ontario. As a part of the 2+2 Ivey Dual Degree Program, Khalil earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Management and an Honour’s Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the Ivey Business School in five years. Khalil pursued his love of hockey by serving as the President of Hockey Night at Western. In his final year at Western, Khalil travelled across the Atlantic to do a semester abroad at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

Following his graduation from Western in 2016, Khalil joined Citigroup where he had previously interned at to work within the firm’s Corporate and Investment Bank for two years. After realizing he didn’t want to pursue a long-term career in banking, Khalil transitioned into Business Strategy and Operations at Uber prior to the company going public. He focused on identifying growth opportunities for this rapidly growing tech company like expanding their popular Uber Eats platform to deliver new product lines including alcohol and pharmaceuticals.

Just under three years after joining Uber, Khalil transitioned to their Europe, Middle East and Africa Division (EMEA) where he currently serves as a Senior Strategy and Planning Associate based out of Amsterdam. In this role Khalil helps set business goals and priorities for Uber in 30+ countries which includes some of their biggest markets like the UK, France, South Africa, and Egypt. One of the projects that Khalil is currently working on is identifying opportunities for Uber throughout EMEAss to partner with transit authorities to increase integration between public transit and their ride sharing service.

“Being a lifer at Meadowridge, there’s a special bond that stays with you, and that you have with many of your former classmates” Khalil recalls. His experiences outside the classroom like WWOW Week Trips to Barkerville, leading his house on Spirit Day as Whonnock House Captain, playing on the Senior Boys Basketball team, and the 2011 Grad Year in general are just some of the memories he made that allowed him to build lifelong friendships with his fellow grads, many of whom he has stayed close with 10 years later.