Building A Better Society through Regenerative Ventures: A Conversation with Instructor Rana Kanaan

This fall, SCET will offer a new Challenge Lab, ENGIN 183C-001: Regenerative Ventures: Build Innovations for a Better Future, taught by Rana Kanaan, founder of Makai Labs and seasoned technology product leader with over two decades of experience scaling innovations from zero to billion-dollar businesses.

This course aims to present students with an opportunity to design startups “within a framework of environmental stewardship and social equity.” Today, the rapid development of technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing has exacerbated the divide between the economic opportunities they generate and the simultaneous decline in quality of life for many. 

 An engineer with a background in product building and entrepreneurship, Kanaan brings an equal amount of experience and enthusiasm to the classroom. She draws on a wealth of experience spanning early-stage entrepreneurial ventures and billion-dollar corporations, as well as a personal global journey that has uniquely positioned her to identify this paradox worth solving for the future.

Through this Challenge Lab, students will develop the mindset and skills to build ventures that are financially, ecologically, socially, and ethically sustainable, that “don’t just create wealth, but distribute it in ways that strengthen communities and build a more sustainable future.”

We followed up with Rana Kanaan to learn more about her journey, the importance of tackling this paradox, and what she’s most excited about as she prepares to teach the course this fall.

What Sparked Her Mission: Kanaan’s Journey

Kanaan’s upbringing and career are characterized by a global perspective. Born in Lebanon and raised in Toronto, Canada, Kanaan has also spent significant time in London, Hawaii, and Berkeley. Her unique experiences led her to wonder more about “how people can work and thrive where they are, and care for our differences.” Additionally, her experience in scaling products in entrepreneurial and large corporate settings has equipped her with a unique perspective to empower students to develop ventures tackling diverse issues, including economic diversification, the workplace, fintech, smart tourism, youth employment, and greentech. 

One experience that particularly catalyzed her dedication to regenerative ventures was her participation in TechWomen, a mentorship and exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, designed to provide opportunities for women in the Middle East and Africa. Kanaan describes being “blown away” by the sheer caliber and quality of her mentee’s work, and she was deeply inspired to continue her mentorship in a larger capacity, which eventually led her to UC Berkeley.

Tackling the Modern Paradox

The paradox is this: how is it that, in an age of unprecedented technological advancement and economic potential fueled by AI and innovation, the quality of life—and even our broader sense of well-being—can seem to be in decline? Having experienced this paradox personally, designing a course that placed values-based innovation and entrepreneurship at the forefront was of utmost importance to Kanaan. 

“I think my ‘why’ to design a course that lives true to the name—the word ‘challenge’—is that it’s a challenge for all of us. It’s a challenge that I have personally experienced. I graduated as one of nine women in my engineering class. The world has changed a lot since then.

“I’ve seen businesses succeed in painful ways and short-lived ways, and I’ve seen how people have done it very successfully in other countries that I would never have thought of. This collection of my personal and professional experiences, observations over a long period, and my curiosity is what led me to identify this paradox.

“That’s what inspired me—it’s kind of seeing both the greatness of the systems of entrepreneurship, but also experiencing a lot of those flaws.”

An advocate for innovating beyond “zero-sum” or “constraint” thinking, Kanaan champions a “regenerative” entrepreneurial mindset. 

For Kanaan, “regenerative” means building ventures that don’t just avoid harm but actively improve the systems they touch—economically, socially, and ecologically—creating compounding benefits rather than trade-offs.

“I wanted to see how we can tackle some of the biggest challenges that we all live with today, not from a constraint or conservation mentality, but from that entrepreneurial generative mentality to generate better quality of air, better quality of income, and better quality of life.”

Course Takeaways and Looking Ahead

Through this Challenge Lab, Kanaan hopes to instill in her students the notion that there is no one model that works, explaining that entrepreneurs “have to learn and work constantly by being creative and generative,” as well as “learn to listen better and faster.” 

“There’s no one idea that wins. There’s no one tool that solves everything. I would want people to remember that and to use that as a North Star, which is to stay curious and keep trying.”

Additionally, she emphasizes the importance of working cooperatively in interdisciplinary teams. She noted, “Who you work with and how you work is as important as what you work on, or maybe even more important than what you work on.”

When asked about what excites her most about the future opportunities created by the modern technological revolution, Kanaan shared that the sheer pace of change and the emerging passion and talent around these issues inspired her. 

“There’s so much increased passion around these topics: care for each other, care for the world we live in, care for the stuff that we can create, coupled with the passion for throwing yourself out into the unknown with unknown people, unknown environments, and unknown experiences. Today I see more of that than I saw even maybe even five, seven years ago, and it energizes me.”