About the course

As a humanities graduate student or early career scholar, your skills are in demand in today’s competitive job market and are highly transferable across many industries and roles. Find Your Inner Founder, hosted by the Federation and facilitated by Erica Machulak, founder of Hikma and the author of Hustles for Humanists: Build a Business with Purpose, teaches you how to position your skills to achieve meaningful employment and professional growth.

This interactive session offers a framework, reflection exercises, and actionable strategies to translate your strengths to new professional contexts and take agency over your career path. We’ll deconstruct three myths that hold humanities scholars back from thinking expansively about their options and work together to identify, refine, and communicate what you have to offer.

Ready to get started? 

Register

By the end of the course, you will:

• Recognize and translate the skills you already have.
• Identify a service you could offer by tomorrow.
• Communicate your value to a potential client or employer.
• Build relationships with clients, colleagues, and mentors.
• Workshop your ideas in a community of peers.

Course details & fees

Course dates: August 17 to August 28, 2026.

Enrolment fee: $600 CAD + GST (5%) per participant

Your fee includes:

• Four virtual live seminars (90 mins each)
• Six asynchronous lessons
• Facilitated peer learning community
• Exercises and creative prompts

This is a self-funded program and participants are encouraged to explore support from their institution. For guidance, review Hikma’s tips on how to ask for support.

Upon successful completion of the course, participants will receive a certificate of completion from the Federation. Participants will also receive an e-book copy of Hustles for Humanists, access to the Hikma Extended Learning Platform for 30 days, prep work to kickstart your reflection, and a worksheet to guide your next steps.