Age: 16
Faizaan Habib was diagnosed with hearing loss at birth, which made life more challenging, but numbers were always his thing. As a child, he spent a lot of time in the kitchen watching his mother bake, and considers that his introduction to mathematics.
Since 2022, he has volunteered hundreds of hours at the Calgary Public Library, encouraging a passion for math in other youth.
“I’ve helped kids with hearing loss like myself, kids who are newcomers to Canada … maybe they haven’t had the best learning experience in school, and helping close those gaps really brings me a lot of joy,” he says.
Habib prioritizes inclusion as a sports coach at his local YMCA, ensuring children don’t feel excluded as he once was. And, baking remains part of his life. At 11, he founded The Cookie Jar, where he bakes and sells nankhatai shortbread and donates proceeds to charities like the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation.
