Insightful. Dynamic. Enterprising. Compassionate.
Raj Manek was born in the small village of Ol Kalou, Kenya in 1943, to parents who had left their native India the decade before, to seek better economic opportunities. Raj Manek learned and fluently spoke Gujarati (a dialect of western India) and attended University of Bath, England, before returning to Kenya, where he worked as a food product manager.
Years later, in 1974, at a time of political unrest in nearby Uganda, Raj Manek feared for the safety of his young family and so relocated to Inuvik, Canada. Raj, along with his wife (Kanchan Manek) and young son (Raj Manek, Jr.) lived in Inuvik for six months. The family then moved to Yellowknife, NWT, where Raj Manek was in charge of supervising 34 different projects for the Government of the Northwest Territories. He subsequently relocated one final time to Saskatoon in 1979, to the city and business community that he came to love best.
Raj Manek's work as a mentor to many entrepreneurs was evident in all his career initiatives:
- Formally lectured for the University of Saskatchewan Business Certification Program
- Raj Manek served as the Regional Director for the Department of Economic Development.
- He served as advisor to the Business Consulting Program in the College of Commerce (University of Saskatchewan).
- He served as a voluntary Advisory Board Member (ABM) for the university-based Centre for International Business Studies and for the local chapter of Association For the International Exchange of Students in Economics and Commerce"(AIESEC).
- Raj Manek contributed and participated in joint missions with the University of Saskatchewan in facilitating strong business relations with Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.
- Raj Manek volunteered in leading local Saskatchewan-based companies to India, to create valuable trading contracts.
- Raj Manek is best remembered for his talent in creating business mentorships and fostering cohesive business development.