Students sitting around a table with a GBDA water bottle on it.

Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business

The Stratford School prepares students for complex times – it is home to human-centred designers and emerging business leaders with an ability to achieve business outcomes while balancing social, cultural and environmental impacts.

About the Stratford School

At the Stratford School we are proud to be training the next generation of leaders. By blending business, technology, and creativity, our programs drive innovation by preparing students to address real-world issues. Donor contributions are integral to our mission, enabling students to build solutions using leading-edge technologies, connect and network with leaders from across industries, and discover the ways that design impacts society, culture, and the economy. Your support helps students make technology more accessible, create equitable solutions, and design experiences that improve lives. As part of our commitment to building a more inclusive future, we also welcome donations to provide financial assistance for high-achieving applicants from lower income backgrounds to attend our programs. Together, we are creating a more inclusive, sustainable future.

Creating Human-Centered Solutions for Global Challenges

In 2025, Global Business and Digital Arts students in their 4th year Capstone course participated in the Service Design Challenge, an international competition that empowers students to address a global issue by developing locally grounded, human-centered solutions. Supported by mentors from IBM, the challenge tasked student teams to develop solutions to reduce bias in society.

One group’s project, Flare!, earned 1st place by reimagining campus emergency preparedness as a community driven, everyday behaviour—showcasing the impact of inclusive design in creating meaningful value for people, the planet, and the public.

Stratford's Priorities

large group of students standing together at orientation raising their arms excitedly in the air

Every year, the Stratford School sends acceptance letters to students with the drive, ability, and passion to succeed — but they can’t join us because they can’t afford to. Our new GBDA Entrance Award fund helps tomorrow’s design leaders realize their dreams and ambitions by increasing the number of scholarships we can offer to attract and support high-achieving students.

instructor stands before class wearing a virtual reality headset and holding a remote while giving a virtual reality lecture

With this critical fund, the School responds to new needs and opportunities. Whether it’s rewarding excellence with student prizes, ensuring we’re on top of new technologies for our students to work with, or supporting student learning activities such as Capstone, this is the fund that keeps us agile.

students and instructors talking in front of a whiteboard

Help our students get out into the world to network with fellow scholars, build relationships with industry leaders, and try on careers that feed their passions for making change. This endowed fund provides financial support for students to participate in critical learning experiences such as internships in start-ups and not-for-profits, industry conferences, and hackathons.

Students posing inside a cutout frame featuring the letters spelling out GBDA's Creators Collective with additional images of a paint palette, calenda
Our students are full of bright ideas that extend their learning beyond the classroom. This fund supports initiatives for individual students and student groups, as well as clubs like our student-led Creators’ Collective gallery, that build leadership skills, enriches our community, showcases our students’ creative extracurricular work to the Waterloo community, and provides students with a publication credit for their résumés.