Despite being born overseas, my upbringing up until this point as largely revolved around a combination of both Canadian and American cultural practices and views of life. Taking this into account, my knowledge and understanding of sustainability and sustainable practices have vastly correlated with my education and the social and job-related roles that I have held. Within the context of these variables, I find myself taking a deeper look into the meaning of sustainability, especially when it comes to evaluating my view of both the individuals I interact with, along with the businesses I provide patronage to.   

What is your personal definition of sustainability?

In my opinion, while many may associate sustainability with the usage and application of natural resources, resulting in pollution and environment impacts, I define sustainability from a broader context. Sustainability for me is a combination of four major pillars: environmental, economic, social, and cultural sustainability—all of which require a delicate balance in decision-making to achieve the appropriate outcome. Therefore, it is imperative to look at sustainability holistically in each respective scenario, as certain cases may appear to have made adequate effort to uphold sustainable practices, but do not from a broader perspective.  

What role do you see sustainability playing in your professional career? 

As I can only assume would ring true with many of my fellow classmates and friends, I believe sustainability will play a significant impact within my professional career for the following reasons. Firstly, responsibility in corporate decision making, especially in Canada, has now become far more entrenched in not only improving the value created for shareholders, but ensuring that short-term decisions do not forgo long-term sustainability expectations. Secondly, from an innovative perspective, moving through my own professional career expectations, both consumers and regulatory bodies will likely tighten allowable business practices as time progresses. This alteration should be viewed in a positive light, as sustainability challenges will drive progress across all fields, necessitating the creation of new, possibly lucrative solutions to these issues. This will likely spur the development of new roles across various departments, industries, and organizations, favoring those individuals with expertise in sustainable business practices. Finally, as organizations favor leadership that aligns with their core objectives and firm values, as industries build a greater focus on sustainability, greater emphasis will undoubtably reflect on management preferences and hiring decisions.     

What sustainability projects have you been engaged in?

In my case, the following are a brief list of sustainability projects I believe align well with the core values and expectations of the program: 

• As a board member of Ivey’s Energy and Resource Club, my continuing role has been to harness and build connections within a wide array of energy and resource related sectors to design and create engaging events for current and future members. More closely associated with the expectations of the Sustainability Certificate, in combination with Ivey’s Social Impact Club, we anticipate future events dedicated specifically to corporate sustainability implementation, primarily through the usage of decarbonization.   
• This previous summer, I was granted the opportunity to attend and participate in Ivey’s Service Learning in Africa summer intersession course, a program dedicated to expounding on international business environment practices. During the 2-week educational period, emphasis was placed on motivating students to gain a deeper understanding of not only the case based method but integration of sustainability into future business related decisions.  

• During my time spent working at my local marina, I collaborated with several of my colleagues to improve the environmental conditions of several of the businesses core business practices.