A match made at Ryerson University

For some soulmates, it’s love at first sight. For others, what’s written in the stars falls to earth in its own time. Bailey Parnell and Hamza Khan first met when they started working together at Ryerson. Next, they became business partners and, this past winter, they were married. Now, in honour of their parents, and in memory of Parnell’s late mother, Brigitte Voigtlander, the couple are generously giving back to the place where they met by creating the Parnell-Khan Bursary for Equity-Deserving Students. 

“Both Hamza and I were first-generation students from working-class families where every dollar counted,” says Parnell, who earned her master’s of Communication and Culture in 2020 and completed her undergraduate degree in 2015 at the RTA School of Media. “Both our parents held education in high regard.” 

Khan first came to Ryerson in 2012 as a digital community facilitator for Student Life. As part of the inaugural creative unit within Student Affairs, Parnell was one of his colleagues. Khan is now both a Ryerson instructor and student, working on his master’s in Communication and Culture while teaching in the RTA School of Media and the Professional Communications program.  

Khan co-founded the marketing agency Splash Effect, and brought Parnell on board. Together, they had strong success with soft skills training and workshops. Parnell spun off this activity as its own endeavour - SkillsCamp - where she is now founder and CEO.

As Parnell and Khan continued to grow professionally together and find success, their personal relationship blossomed as well, which eventually culminated in Khan’s elaborate plan to propose.  

“He actually got me really good,” admits Parnell. “Clients often fly us out for speaking engagements, so I promise this was all very normal until the proposal. Hamza fabricated an entire conference with my sister in Banff, inviting him as a speaker, and arranging a photographer to take promotional shots for the conference,” she explains. “The photographer directed us to pose back to back, snapped a few pictures, and told me to turn around. When I did, Hamza was down on one knee.”

The rest, as they say, is history. The future however is still being written. And for Parnell and Khan, that future includes Ryerson University.

“Thinking of our own experiences, how bursaries and scholarships helped us, and about who our parents were and their barriers to accessing education, we want to try to break that cycle through this work,” says Khan. “For students at Ryerson who have the desire to pursue higher education and to improve their life in a holistic sense, we want to help remove financial barriers to allow them realize their potential. This is only the beginning of our journey to give back. As we grow, so too will our giving.”

The Parnell-Khan Bursary for Equity-Deserving Students supports students who self-identify as belonging to one (or more) of the following groups: an Aboriginal person in Canada, a person with a disability, a racialized person, a woman, and 2SLGBTQ+. If you are interested in contributing to the bursary, please visit the Parnell-Khan Bursary for Equity-Deserving Students’ online giving page. In the space to “Designate your gift,” please indicate the Parnell-Khan Bursary.