In late October, Ivey hosted the 2nd annual Canadian MBA Leadership Conference (CMLC). The CMLC was an opportunity for leaders from MBA Associations across the country to meet and discuss issues that they are facing in their respective schools and learn what best practices are working elsewhere. Given the increasing convergence of global job markets, we focused this year’s conference on how the perception of Canadian MBAs can be enhanced in a global environment. Specific topics discussed were:
MBA Council’s Services
Managing the Transition Between Executive Teams
Improving the Canadian MBA Perspective
Internal Student Support & Communications
Outside Fundraising
Gaining Community Support
The conference was attended by 13 MBA schools from across Canada, with over 40 student representatives. The CMLC started off with a great Keynote Address by Tim Hockey, President and CEO, TD Canada Trust. Tim gave a captivating speech on Leadership and navigating TD through the last few years of economic turmoil. The opening night also featured a fantastic dinner at Asher’s Lounge in Spencer Hall (home of the Ivey MBA). At this dinner, participants got a chance to mingle with each other, as well as with Ivey’s Dean, Carol Stephenson, who welcomed them all to the event, and offered some great motivational words.
The conference kicked into full swing on Saturday with a quick ice-breaking game of “strategic Connect-4”. Once the participants brains were warmed up, we got settled in for a full day of idea generation! The day was nicely broken up with an excellent lunch at Ivey’s own DK’s Restaurant, and a great talk on Sustainability by P. Tima Bansal. Following that, the breakout groups returned to work for the last of the set sessions, and broke off according to interest in the “choose your own adventure” breakout session. It was a long, long day, but some of the ideas that came out of the breakout sessions were fantastic, and will be of great help to improve operations of Canadian MBAA’s!
Of course, what trip to London would be complete without a night out on the town (or two)! Ivey MBA students showed CMLC participants a couple great nights out, and judging by the pictures, a fun night was had by all. The feedback from participants was fantastic. It was a great event where MBA Executives got to network with other students, hear industry and academic leaders speak, and experience some of the aspects of the Ivey MBA Experience. For more information on the CMLC, have a look at the Ivey MBAA Website!
Prior to joining Ivey, Peter worked for two years as a financial analyst for TD Bank, and has a degree in Applied Mathematics. Peter is the President of the Ivey MBA Association which is tasked with running all non-academic operations in the MBA program. Peter is also a member of the Ivey Finance and Investing clubs, the Ivey Rugby Executive Committee, and plays on various sports teams including hockey, softball, ultimate and rugby. In May, Peter will be travelling to Russia to take part in Ivey’s LEADER project.