Hello there! You might be wondering, who are we?
Waterloo Region Polling was started by Jay Shah. He's been a resident of Waterloo Region since 2006. Jay has worn many hats over his years in Waterloo Region: student, intern, founder/entrepreneur, Product Manager at Google, local tech investor, Director of Velocity, Board Member at Waterloo Economic Development Corporation. These days Jay's primary hats are: founder (of Waterloo Region Polling), Dad, Board Member at Communitech and generally trying to be of service within our community.
Why are we doing this? What is our purpose / goal?
Waterloo Region Polling is in its early stages (we got started in May 2022). Our goal is to develop local polling techniques/methods to the point that they can be scaled across many cities/geographies to enable increased levels of civic engagement, community participation & data driven/informed decision making;
tech for good. Waterloo Region Polling is the testbed from which we aim to make a platform with impact far beyond our region.
How are you funded?
We are currently
bootstrapping with no external funding. We have several ideas that we'll be testing in the coming months on how to achieve sustainability in order to fund local polling efforts in perpetuity.
Media/News
November 22 2022:
Discussion of Housing Policy, Homelessness & Local Air Travel poll results on CityNews The Mike Farewell Show (starting at the 1:03:06 mark)
(For ease of access, audio clip can also be found
here)
September 29 2022:
The Record cited our polling data in "30 km/h speed limit roils Waterloo election race"
September 23 2022:
CityNews "New polling shows residents' thoughts on speed limits, public school board"
September 23 2022:
Discussion of poll results on CityNews The Mike Farewell Show (starting at the 1:25:00 mark)
(For ease of access, audio clip can also be found
here)
August 11 2022:
CityNews "Kitchener startup tracks public opinion on local issues to help inform policy decisions"
August 10 2022:
Discussion on CityNews The Mike Farewell Show (starting at the 1:25:00 mark) (For ease of access, audio clip can also be found
here)
August 7 2022:
The Record "Kitchener startup entrepreneur builds polling platform"