Meet Christy Prada, CEO of Future Fertility. She is a purpose-led leader passionate about finding innovative solutions to the world’s toughest healthcare challenges. Christy leads the Future Fertility team in its mission to empower fertility doctors, specialists, and patients with AI-driven insights. Previously, she served as VP of Business Development at Maple, Canada's leading virtual care provider, where she was an early employee instrumental in scaling the company.
What was your first job and what did you learn from it?
My first job was part-time at an Adidas outlet - selling running shoes and sports apparel starting in grade 10. I also grew up doing ballet and jazz dance - probably about 20 hours a week. (My mom was a dance teacher, and I too inherited this passion!). My job, combined with school and dance, taught me the critical lifelong skills of discipline, prioritization, and time management. I had to juggle multiple priorities to get it all done. Now, as a mom of two young children and leading a global start-up those skills have certainly helped to prepare me to function in these roles.
If you think back on leaders who inspired you in your career or leadership style, who were they and why were they inspiring?
I have been extremely fortunate to have worked with some amazing leaders in my career. I like to think I’ve taken something from each amazing leader I’ve worked with, to shape who I am today. For instance, at Maple, I learned about the tenacity and conviction it takes to build a successful company, as well as how it’s never too early to set up good structure and internal processes that enable scalability.
The leadership team at Maple were, and continue to be, relentlessly focused on improving healthcare access for Canadians and this came through in everything the company does.
I think it’s also important to recognize the role that external mentors, peers and industry success stories can play in shaping your leadership style. I have learned about how to tackle different scenarios as you build and grow a team, how to stay resilient when navigating a difficult corporate scenario and how to be authentic as a leader from my peers and mentors. I work hard to stay connected to my support network, as it helps a lot to have a community to stay motivated and learn from each other.
What motivates you every day?
I find it is important to have a strong connection to the mission/vision when you are building a start-up, this makes the difficult days more manageable. For instance, our mission at Future Fertility resonates with me because I feel it’s important to me to support women going through fertility treatments which are physically, emotionally and financially taxing. On those more challenging days at work, I think about the difference we’re making for families and individuals who are seeking to start their own families, and I stay motivated.
What do you want to change in the world and why?
At Future Fertility, we want to improve how fertility care is delivered around the world.
Fertility is a highly personal journey, and we believe in the idea of empowering patients with more information about their own personal health factors that might influence success. Right now, patients who are getting their eggs frozen or going through IVF don’t have access to any information about their egg quality – and we are working to change that by offering our AI tools to clinics and their patients. There’s a real opportunity to bring new technology and scientific advancements, and leverage AI in this industry. This is just the first step, we believe that AI can play a role at each major step in the process, and will help to inform better decision making and ultimately better outcomes for patients.
What is the purpose and vision of Future Fertility? And how has being clear about your purpose and vision benefited you and your company?
Our vision is to unlock the future of personalized fertility around the world.
I believe that if you don’t have a clear mission, vision, and purpose, it’s very difficult to get anything done, particularly in the start-up world. A vision and mission bring focus, specificity and a way to prioritize and organize everything in the business. Not only does ours help us to do this, we are fortunate that ours also inspires us, helping to recruit and retain talent, and sets an ambition that is big and aspirational, keeping people moving forward as they focus on executing day-to-day.
What one piece of advice would you give other CEOs and leaders regarding leading with purpose?
Increasingly, people want to make a difference - they want to know their work is connected to a bigger purpose. If you’re not leading authentically, with purpose, it will be harder to attract and retain top talent. I’m proud of our team here at Future Fertility - everyone plays a role in advancing our mission and vision.
What one question would you like to ask other purpose-led CEOs?
How do you continue to lead with and embed purpose in a larger-scale, more complex business?
One question from the CEO we interviewed before you, Jamie Marcellus, CEO of Novus Health.
How do you balance the drive for business results while focusing on purpose and the greater good?
By maintaining clarity around our vision, mission, and purpose, we ensure that every goal and decision aligns with these core principles. As a team, we regularly discuss and evaluate decisions to confirm they work in harmony and ultimately lead us toward achieving our vision and mission.
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