Event Recordings

Future Proofing by Design: A Discussion with the Author

Design thinking is a human-centered methodology combining strategy and creativity. It provides the structure and tools to help organizations solve complex challenges, reinforce innovation, and strengthen team collaboration by fully understanding the needs and pain points of end users. Design thinking helps organizations future-proof themselves through the creation of better products, services, and policies.

Future-proofing is a continuous course of action that helps achieve resiliency and relevancy. It’s not a one-time fix and requires several different perspectives – both internal and external. Whether you’re engaging your teams, citizens, businesses, or other government departments, future-proofing by understanding end users is critical to defining (and meeting) their true challenges and achieving optimum results.

Hosted by the Smith Alumni Ottawa Chapter this discussion featured the author of Future Proofing by Design, Nilufer Erdebil, BSc’96, MBA’03, where she talked about the importance of designing for people first and how human-centered design can help organizations better meet the needs of end clients. The discussion was moderated by Kevin Horseman, MBA’01 and featured insights on how human-centered design can make a significant impact on the way services and policies are developed, and on how people work.

The Great Canadian Energy Discussion

In light of the accelerating energy transition, we discussed the tough questions:

• How does Canada chart a path of economic growth, secure energy, and environmental protection?
• Could Canada become a clean energy leader?
• What pace of decarbonization is possible?
• What policy choices should be made to achieve the best outcome?
• What could Canada’s future energy mix look like?

These are just a few of the important questions that Jackie Forrest, MBA’04, Managing Director, Energy Research at Arc Energy Institute; Janet Annesley, EMBAA’17, Chief Sustainability Officer at Kiwetinohk Energy Corp; Annette Verschuren, Chair & CEO NRStor and Dr. Warren Mabee, Associate Dean & Director, School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University, tackled.

Energy is important to every Canadian. This event hosted by the Smith Alumni Calgary Chapter brought diverse viewpoints, uncovered valuable insights, and shared a deeper understanding of the complexities and opportunities surrounding energy in Canada.

Indigenous Business: Its Role in Canada’s Economy

This event discusses recent actions to unlock capital for Indigenous groups, communities, and businesses have resulted in a future for Canada’s economy which invites Indigenous expertise, participation, and partnership. With an explosion of consortiums aimed at developing major infrastructure projects, commercial real estate, significant natural resource and renewable energy plays, and leading technology deployment, Indigenous-led companies are playing an increasing role in today’s economy and tomorrow’s future.

Hosted by Smith Alumni Chapters Calgary & Vancouver, the discussion was moderated by Luticia Miller, EMBA’22, CEO, NineIrons, and heard perspectives from Robert MacCuish, President & Chairmain, CanadianEagle, Brittanee Laverdure, EMBA’22, Regional VP, Indigenous Wealth, and Gillian Hynes, AMBA’17, Director, Reconciliation, Inclusion & Strategy, Rise Consulting, on engagement, partnership, and some critical cultural considerations to successful collaboration.

Going Green: Balancing Profit, Planet and People

This event discusses how businesses are using purpose to create deeper connections with consumers, do more for the communities with which they work, and attract talent. Clients and consumers are also asking more of the companies they choose to interact with in going beyond the traditional bottom line. But are we currently doing enough? Watch this discussion moderated by Dr. Jacob Brower, Associate Professor and Distinguished Faculty Fellow of Marketing at Smith School of Business, to hear perspectives from Eric Beynon, BCom’98, Founder, Sustainable Growth Co; Darren White, Senior Director, Business Strategy and Transformation, Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Ltd; and Kelly Thomson, BCom’16, Co-Founder of QUIL as they discuss how companies are working towards this achievement, what we can do to improve and how to move the needle on sustainability.

Reinvent Yourself for the Age of Crypto

This event hosted by Smith Alumni Analytics & AI Chapter explored how blockchain technology is on the rise and how we are seeing meaningful implementations in the public and private sectors. Tech and financial enterprises, such as PayPal, Square and Facebook, and governments, such as China and El Salvador are increasingly adopting this technology. As the technology matures, we will see more development of robust enterprise ready solutions from adopters and application leaders. This event brought perspectives from Dr. Erica Pimentel, Assistant Professor at Smith School of Business, Mat Balez, Founder Hello Bitcoin, Denis Suslov, CFO & Co-Founder TabTrader, and David Trinh, CTO, ENFOCOM on the opportunities and challenges we are and will continue to see as we witness the evolution of blockchain technology.

Lights, Camera, Action: The Business of Sports

This event hosted by Smith Alumni Toronto Chapter featured perspectives from Jock Climie, BA’89, LLB’94, Partner at Emond Harnden LLP, Erin Crowe, BCom’93, Executive VP and CFO at Senators Sports & Entertainment, Jacie deHoop, BCom’14, Co-founder at the GIST and Scott MacIntosh, MMA’16, Head of Sports Analytics & Business Development at SAP Sports Entertainment - North America as they discussed how the business of sports continues to change at an accelerated pace for the fans, players and organizations involved. We have seen all aspects of the sports industry shift - viewership, technology, fan experience, investor outlooks and athlete activism. As any prudent athlete and coach would do after the culmination of a season, we attempted to review the “game tape” over the past 24 months and dive deep into the intersection of sports and business. The goal to help draw insights and lessons in the areas of technological innovation, talent management and inclusivity.

Provoke! How Leaders Can Shape the Future by Overcoming Fatal Human Flaws

This event hosted by Smith Alumni Ottawa Chapter and Smith Business Insight features a discussion between Steven Goldbach, BCom’96, Chief Strategy Officer at Deloitte and co-author of the WSJ bestseller Provoke: How Leaders Shape the Future by Overcoming Fatal Human Flaws and innovation expert, TEDx and TEC speaker, Nilufer Erdebil, BSc’96, MBA’03. They discuss how the world is becoming harder and harder to predict; uncertainty abounds across issues related to business, government and society. While uncertainty has always been with us, it has snapped into focus with the pandemic and the impact of technological advances. Human beings are naturally wired to take a “wait and see” approach to managing uncertainty but it is the exact opposite of this instinct which is required to thrive in an uncertain future. The best leaders don’t wait for the future to arrive, they provoke it.

Turning the Great Resignation Into the Great Adaptation

This discussion moderated by Dr. Matthias Spitzmuller, Associate Professor & Distinguished Professor of Organizational Behavior at Smith School of Business, with perspectives from Humaira Ghiacy, BCom’09, Human Resources Professional, Kaanesh (Nash) Ghosh, MIR’14, HR Manager at Amazon and Hayley Rushford, BCom’15, a Calgary employment lawyer, as they discuss how businesses and employees are navigating the pandemic era and developing the new normal in organizational change, operations, and workplace culture.

Asia’s High Demand for Chinese Speaking Finance Professionals from North America

This event discussed how many financial institutions in Asia have a large part of their revenue generated from Greater China today and there is an increasing demand for Chinese-speaking finance professionals who are familiar with international markets and practices. Finance professionals who can bridge the East and West are in high demand. The speaker, Eric Sim, is the founder of the Institute of Life and former UBS Investment Bank MD and spoke to those that speak fluent Chinese and may want to pursue a career in Asia in the near future about what skills are required to do so.

Smith Homecoming Kick-Off Event

This event, hosted by Dean Costen features a performance and Q&A with Smith alum, comedian and keynote speaker, Joze Piranian (MIB’13), followed by a fireside chat with five-time Olympic medalist and three-time World Champion, Tessa Virtue, EMBA’22.

Alumni Town Halls with Dean Wanda Costen

In September we hosted three alumni town halls that featured an opportunity to get to know Dr. Wanda Costen who joined as our new Dean on July 1st. We learned about her journey to Smith, her early day findings, and what her vision for the future is. The following video is a highlight reel of the three events that were hosted by Catherine Bell, EMBA’02, Aziz Garuba Jr., AMBA’12 and Professor Wei Wang, PhD’06.

SBC Calgary & Vancouver - The Future of Supply Chain

This discussion brings Associate Professor Paul Roman and supply chain experts Reza Bafandeh, AMBA’16, and Jonathan Rosemberg, EMBAA’12 together for a conversation about how the pandemic has pushed each link of our supply chains to the brink of catastrophe as brick and mortar had to adapt to new channels, as factories ran out of essential parts, and as demand for some goods exploded with changes in consumer behaviour. With Just in Time (JIT) delivery being the preferred method to manufacture goods, the world supply chain came to a halt during the 2nd quarter of 2020. Twelve months later systems have not fully recovered and manufacturing lines are still stressed worldwide. From cars and computers missing semiconductors, to boats blocking shipping routes, or the lack of containers, the world’s supply chain is lagging world demand for goods.

SBC Toronto - The Board Experience: All you need to know

Whether you are an aspiring professional looking to join your first board, an experienced board member looking to transition to a corporate board, or a leader looking to gain insights on how to improve interactions with your board, this event will bring together seasoned veterans from the boardroom to share their experiences, knowledge and answer your burning questions. This panel discussion features our expert panelists with extensive board experience, Shan Atkins, BCom'79, Eva Mah Borsato, MBA'98, and Meghan Roach, BCom'05 and is moderated by Shawn Cooper, Com'87.

SBC A&AI – Transform your Business Using Analytics and AI

This virtual event focused on uncovering diverse analytics applications that have helped to transform businesses. It included a workshop featuring Pavel Abdur-Rahman, MMA’16 where he discussed how to drive successful analytics use cases. The discussion then continued with a panel featuring Pavel Abdur-Rahman, MMA’16, Masoum Mosmer, MMA’15, Tara Scott, MMA’17 and moderated by Hasham Javaid, MMAI’19 where they explored past analytics use cases and how they helped evolve their businesses.

SBC Toronto - Women in Leadership

This powerful and thought-provoking hour brings together three inspiring women to share their perspectives on the impact female leaders can have on their organizations and sectors. In addition to the discussion about how women can capitalize on the unique qualities they bring to leadership roles, panellists share how they have been, and continue to be, inspired by other female leaders, the stories that shaped their careers and how we, as women and allies, can collectively foster equitable and inclusive professional relationships and work cultures.

SBC Calgary - The Business of YYC

We spend an hour with Mr. Bob Sartor, President and CEO of The Calgary Airport Authority, discussing the business of an airport during COVID-19, the importance of Canada's national transportation network, and how the sector's recovery is vital to local and regional communities.

SBC Toronto - Leading Change: Considerations for Your Next EDII Initiative

This past year, organizations have made public commitments for creating more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces. It is the right thing to do morally, and it is also a strategic imperative. This panel discussion focuses on EDII, specifically examining case studies and examples of corporations who have implemented EDII initiatives successfully and made a positive impact.

SBC Toronto - Food for Thought

This panel discussion explors the innovation and adaptation underway in the grocery and food industries amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. How has supply and demand been impacted? How has this shifted the way retailers think about distribution and channels? What are the lessons learned and how could they apply to other industries?

SmithConnect - Virtual Steam Whistle

SmithConnect - Virtual GOLD