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Our Founder

Our Founder

How Did I Get Started?

Throughout my career, I have mentored many motivated young people entering the workforce looking to change the world. Again and again, I have witnessed the education system’s failure to teach them essential life skills, leaving them unprepared for managing their finances in real life. I wanted to help these young people achieve their full potential by offering my decades’ worth of knowledge and experience. That is when my then-10-year-old daughter gave me the inspiration for Explorer Hop.

In 2017, I left the corporate world to establish financial education programs for youth. We opened our first centre in 2019. Then, when the pandemic hit in 2020, we pivoted online and made our programs accessible to kids all over the world.

Today, over 6000 youth have been through our financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and STEM programs!

About Me, the Founder and CEO

My life in finance started when I was a 12-year-old going to the bank to pay family bills and deposit cheques (back then, there was no online banking!). Having this responsibility early on jump-started my life-long involvement in finance and economics. 

I pursued this passion by studying Economics & Political Science at the University of Rochester and UC Berkeley before doing my Masters of International Economics in Switzerland.

Throughout my professional career, I worked as a Special Consultant on Trade and Finance for the United Nations, managed multi-million dollar projects for the Federal and Ontario Governments, led global teams in Banking, and became the youngest IT director of a major Canadian insurance company. 

Explorer Hop CEO Hasina Lookman

During this time, I also started a family and travelled, became an advocate for education and a strong proponent of women's financial literacy.

Though I’ve since left the corporate world behind, I’m merging my passion for finance and innovation to teach kids about early financial literacy and entrepreneurship to help them become the change-makers of tomorrow.

Building Financial Know-How for the Next Generation

With 20+ years of experience in global finance roles, I have extensive expertise in money management and understanding financial markets, which I apply to the programs I create and teach at Explorer Hop.

Empowering Youth to Become Global Citizens

Having lived in 10 countries and travelled to 45 (and counting!), I believe the next generation of leaders needs to be equipped with a strong global perspective. Our programs are designed to help build an understanding of our interconnected global world, be it through learning how different events impact different financial markets or learning about launching global digital products.

Equitable learning

We encourage the participation of kids who have low attention spans by creating shorter and punchier lessons, welcome kids from differentiated backgrounds with limited technology access by offering low tech alternatives, encourage kids who have concerns with math by creating a very user friendly math program. Over 6000 students have been through our programs, and we have learned from each of them.

Helping Youth & Women Succeed 

I champion the empowerment of youth and women - a passion I apply to Explorer Hop. Every program is designed to engage kids in order to maximize participation and innovation.

Understanding the Parent Perspective 

I am a mom of two kids and this life experience has shown me why it is so fundamentally important to empower this amazing new generation with the real-life, practical and creative skills they need to succeed.

The idea of Explorer Hop was created by my daughter when she was only 10!  Kids need to be comfortable talking and dealing with money. We need to remove all those obstacles that come in the way that prevent them from having a positive relationship with money. 

Explorer Hop CEO Hasina Lookman and Family

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