C.A.R.E.
Advocate
Advocate
Students, faculty, staff and alumni continue to be the strongest assets for the Ted Rogers School. At all levels, our community is made up of strong voices that champion equity, diversity and inclusion and through actions, demonstrate a clear conscience for transformative justice, decolonization and accessibility. Advocacy is a central part of the EDI culture and over 2023-24, we have persisted in our efforts to raise awareness of our communities' critical needs and create a sense of belonging for all.
The Ted Rogers Executive Education team developed the Elevate Black Leadership & Sponsorship program to support Rogers Communications Inc. in diversifying their executive team and to meet their Black North Initiative (external link, opens in new window) commitments. The curriculum was designed specifically to support the trajectory of Black senior managers and director-level employees to achieve VP+ level roles for Rogers Communications, and included course modules on topics such as financial analysis, technology infrastructure, customer market and change management.
For the second year, Treaty Relations In Business Education (TRIBE) organized the (PDF file) Reconciliation in Business Conference 2023 with the theme: Indigenous Worldviews: From the Classroom to the Boardroom. Building on the previous year’s conference, the event brought attendees together to discuss how to incorporate Indigeneity in classrooms and corporations. The event furthered the Ted Rogers School’s commitment to meet the Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action #92: Business and Reconciliation.
In celebration of Black History Month 2024, the Black Business Students’ Association (BBSA), in collaboration with Shoot For Peace, curated a photography exhibit on all floors inside the Ted Rogers School building. Featuring 15 powerful photographs taken by TMU students Aysha Addus, Sumeya Farah and Midyan Samson, the images portrayed facets of cultural identities across various Black diasporas. On subject matters of the migrant experience and the journey to self-identity, the images conveyed the untold stories that connect us to the places of our past and the points of our arrival, both literally and figuratively.
The Office of the Associate Dean, Engagement and Inclusion continued facilitating the Moccasin Identifier Project, an experience designed to educate the TMU community that TMU is within The Toronto Purchase Treaty No.13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and that we are situated on the traditional lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Ojibway, the Haudenosaunee and the Huron Wendat peoples. At the 2024 National Indigenous Peoples Day event, staff hosted a Moccasin Identifier table where participants grounded their knowledge of treaty recognition by stenciling a Wendat, Anishnaabe, Seneca or Cree moccasin on a 50ft mural. As an ongoing practice, the once-fully stenciled mural will be displayed inside the Ted Rogers School.
About the Moccasin Identifier: The Moccasin Identifier project has been developed by Carolyn King in partnership with Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and The Greenbelt Foundation, to promote public awareness of significant cultural historic sites and the ancestral presence of First Nations, Metis and Indigenous communities.
In April 2024, the Sports and Business Association hosted their inaugural Charity Volleyball event, "Serve for a Cause," in support of the Paralympic Foundation of Canada. The event hosted seven teams consisting of undergraduate and MBA students at TMU and raised $500 in support of the Association’s chosen charity.
The Anti-Black Racism Awareness Committee launched the new Dr. Alvin Curling Black Trailblazers Fireside Chat Series, with the first annual event taking place in Black History Month. The lineup of distinguished Black professionals included the Honourable Dr. Alvin Curling, Velma Morgan, Dr. Gervan Fearon and Dr. Wayne Purboo, who shared their insights, experiences and strategies for combating anti-Black racism.
The Women in Leadership Association (WiLA) organized its first in-person Re-Imagining Women in Leadership: Conference and MBA Case Competition. The event, also honouring International Women’s Day, provided a platform for attendees to hear panel discussions on Women in Leadership and EDI initiatives at Rogers Communications Inc., benefit from valuable networking opportunities, and to take part in a range of workshops related to women in leadership, including Mindfulness, Transforming Conflict to Create Belonging, and AI, Consulting and Leveraging Your Network.