Women in Entrepreneurship: Leading Change
On Friday, October 15, 2021, the Sobey School of Business hosted the third annual Women in Business event, Women in Entrepreneurship: Leading Change.
During this full-day virtual event, faculty, staff and students came together to hear from diverse voices in a panel and Q&A and participate in one of three interactive workshops. After the workshops, keynote speaker Dr. Golnaz Golnaraghi spoke to the participants. The event finished with a virtual networking session.
“Women in Business 2021! What a momentous meeting of the minds; a bevy of beauty & brains, bonding & building the new frontier of ‘womenpreneurship’.”
Responsible Leadership Day
Circular Economy: The Economy For the Future?
On Friday, November 5, 2021, The Sobey School of Business hosted its third annual Responsible Leadership Day event, titled Circular Economy: The Economy For the Future?.
This combination virtual and in-person event began with a keynote speech from David Runnalls, Senior Fellow (Smart Prosperity Network) Distinguished Fellow (International Institute for Sustainable Development) and Officer of the Order of Canada, followed by panel discussion.
A Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Research Showcase followed, giving researchers the opportunity to present their research that is aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Finally, students teams from across Canada were invited to participate in a challenge called Rethink, React, Remodel, The Circular Economy Challenge.
“This event brings top Canadian economists and policy analysts together with top researchers, business leaders and students to discuss the challenges of today and work towards a more prosperous and inclusive future.”
A Year of Outreach for the David Sobey Centre
The David Sobey Centre for Innovation in Retailing and Services (DSC) is one of the Sobey School’s premier research centres. DSC has become a leading source for expertise in retailing through its dedication to unbiased research, unique innovations, and education programs and events for retail professionals as well as students.
During the period covered by this report, the DSC hosted numerous webinars featuring expert thought leaders and retail executives from major companies on topics such as omnichannel retailing, the future of E-commerce and retails route to net zero emissions. Other business engagement events included the Distinguished Retailer Speaker Series, a Retail CEO Summit and the Category Management Certificate Program. The Retail CEO Summit titled Create the Future Now: Leading Voices on the Themes That Matter in Retail Today was in the DSC’s inaugural exclusive thought-leadership summit featuring 23 CEOs and Presidents from major Canadian retail companies, to reflect on the future of retail.
The DSC also continued to celebrate its annual retailer recognition event by hosting their 5th Annual National Retail Innovation awards on October 28, 2021. This year’s award categories recognized retailers for their innovation in technology, sustainability, design and community service. The event featured a keynote address by Neil Hoyne, Chief Measurement Strategist at Google.
“Through retail-focused research, programs, and events, the David Sobey Centre has become the premier source of insights for retailers and those aspiring to enter the retail sector.”
New Events from Saint Mary's Entrepreneurship Centre (SMUEC)
SMUEC is a leading provider of university-based business support services in Atlantic Canada with the goal of helping our community’s business and student leaders thrive. SMUEC is the University’s hub for entrepreneurial activity and through this report’s timespan of January 2021 — April 2022 they introduced several new entrepreneurship-based events. Below is a selection of the highlights:
Circular Economy Challenge: The Circular Economy Challenge emerged from the Sobey School of Business’s 3rd Annual Responsible Leadership Conference hosted by the Sobey School of Business. This competition was created to empower the student participants to apply their knowledge gained from the conference to design and create a project or business idea to implement a closed economy within their institution.
March Madness Pitch Competition: Launched in 2021, the March Madness competition showcases post-secondary student pitchers throughout the month of March. Modelled after the NCAA March Madness basketball competition, 64 student entrepreneurs from across Canada each year will be selected to compete head-to-head in brackets as they strive to eventually be declared the best in the country. Partnering with Metronome United and Goodlawyer, the top four teams received a year membership to law service and $17,000 in cash prizes.
Access Ability Virtual Career Fair: An event for individuals who self-identify as living with a disability in the Atlantic Region. The event consisted of workshops, a keynote, and a virtual career fair which served to improve employability and present career options to the attendees. Bringing together caseworkers, employers, and the attendees, the event fostered a strong network for the employment of individuals living with disabilities in the Atlantic Provinces.
The Community Revitalization and Prosperity Network
Throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Sobey School of Business has been providing insight through our expert professors, research centres, and alumni. The culmination of those efforts is the Sobey School of Business Community Revitalization & Prosperity Network. The primary objective of the Network is to contribute to this recovery discourse by providing thought leadership on pressing issues to help businesses and communities recover from the global pandemic.
Through 2021 and 2022, the Community Revitalization and Prosperity Network brought forth several initiatives and events. Below is a collection of their highlights.
Sobey School Impact Speaker Series: Elevating Indigenous Businesses
On Friday, November 19, 2021, the Sobey School of Business Impact Speaker Series launched with its inaugural event, Elevating Indigenous Businesses. The Sobey School of Business Impact Speaker Series seeks to elevate diverse, intercultural perspectives of rising and global leaders, with the aim of inspiring reflection and action among our students, faculty, partners and community.
Elevating Indigenous Businesses was a celebration and exposition of Indigenous culture and business teachings. Faculty, staff, students and community members attended to experience Indigenous cultural elements and hear from panelists and keynote speaker, Carol Anne Hilton.
The Black Business Initiative Partnership Series
Alfred Burgesson BA’19
The Sobey School of Business Community Revitalization & Prosperity Network and the Black Business Initiative (BBI), the longest serving Black business development initiative in Canada, collaborated to host a pair of webinars subject of Black businesses.
The first webinar, Black Business Initiative Partnership Series 1: 25 Years & Beyond, focussed on lessons learned from 25 years of Black Business advocacy, including challenges inherent to Black Canadians that impede business startups and continued growth. Featured were BBI CEO Dr. Rustum Southwell, Cynthia Dorrington, President of Vale & Associates Human Resource Management and Consulting Inc. and Dr. Harvi Millar, Professor of Operations Management at the Sobey School of Business.
The second webinar, Black Business Initiative Partnership Series 2: Access to Capital Markets | Overcoming Barriers for Black Businesses, covered the systematic barriers Black businesses face in accessing capital compared to other ethnic groups. Moderated by Alfred Burgesson BA’19, founder and CEO of Tribe Network, speakers for the webinar were Craig Wellington, Executive Director of the Black Opportunity Fund, Matthew Martel MTEI’18, Chief Operating Officer of Black Business Initiative, and Dr. Mohammad Rahaman Associate Dean, Strategic Partnerships & Community Engagement, Canada Research Chair (CRC) in International Finance & Competitiveness.
Dr. Mohammad Rahaman
“As we rise from the ashes of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to ensure that the post-pandemic economic recovery remains inclusive and encompasses all facets of the society. ‘Elevating Indigenous Business’ and ‘The Black Business Initiative Partnership Series’ were attempts to recognize and celebrate the contribution of indigenous-and-minority-owned businesses in the Canadian economic landscape. ”
The Expert-In-Residence Program
In 2021, the Community Revitalization and Prosperity Network developed the Expert-In-Residence Program. The primary goal of the program is to give students access to some of Canada and Nova Scotia’s top business leaders. Executives are selected for the program based on their passion for entrepreneurship and their ability to provide students with a breadth of advice and information. Terms for chosen executives are one year in length.
The program intends to meaningfully engage alumni, business, and community leaders with Sobey School students and faculty through a series of activities to create a collaborative space for experiential learning and action-oriented research.
The current Expert-In-Residence programs and their inaugural executives are:
Executive-In-Residence, currently filled by Ian D. Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Clearwater Seafoods Limited Partnership
Alumni-In-Residence, currently filled by Bradley Farquhar BComm’08 and Joe Power BComm’11, Purple Cow Internet Co-founders and Saint Mary’s University alumni
As the Sobey School of Business was unable to host in-person events through the terms of the Executive-In-Residence and the Alumni-In-Residence, all three executives have agreed to continue with a second term through 2022.
Ian D. Smith
Bradley Farquhar BComm’08 and Joe Power BComm’11