Ted Rogers MBA hosts Women in Leadership event in person for the first time

March 14, 2024

(From left): Ted Rogers MBA students Michelle Gomes, Thi Thanh Nhan Nguyen and Farwa Zehra

Students from MBA programs in Canada and the U.S. came together to exchange ideas on important business topics related to women in leadership at Ted Rogers MBA’s 4th annual Reimagining Women in Leadership (RWIL) Conference & Case Competition.

The event, which took place in person for the first time from March 1 to 2, 2024 at the Ted Rogers School of Management, was in collaboration with the student-run Women in Leadership Association (external link) (WiLA) and tied to International Women’s Day (March 8).

RWIL gave MBA students from programs in Rochester, New York, Montreal and Toronto the opportunity to hear from keynote speakers, participate in workshops, network with peers and industry leaders and compete in a case challenge.

"Reimagining Women in Leadership was a terrific event,” said Dr. Chris MacDonald, Graduate Program Director, Ted Rogers MBA Program. “I learned a lot, personally, and I was tremendously proud of all the good work done by the Women in Leadership Association and our own MBA program staff to organize the event."

Conference

This year’s conference had two keynote speaker presentations. The first was a Fireside Chat with Sundeep Sandhu, Vice President of Cyber Security and CISO Rogers Bank, Rogers Communications Inc., moderated by Cynthia Holmes, Dean, Ted Rogers School. The second featured Rachel Wong and Istiana Bestari, co-founders of Monday Girl, the first-of-its-kind digital networking platform in North America made for women, by women.

The conference also included speaker panel discussions on Women in Leadership and EDI initiatives at Rogers Communications Inc., and reimagining women in leadership.

In addition, participants were able to take part in workshops on socially relevant topics related to women in leadership, including Mindfulness, Transforming Conflict to Create Belonging, and AI, Consulting and Leveraging Your Network.

Case Competition

For this year’s RWIL Case Competition, the case was released to teams two weeks prior to the event. Each team had 20 minutes to present their solution to the challenge to industry judges, followed by a 10-minute Q&A.

A team from Schulich School of Business (York University) finished first in the competition, followed by HEC Montréal. Coming in third was a group from the Ted Rogers MBA program made up of Thi Thanh Nhan Nguyen, Farwa Zehra and Michelle Gomes. The first place prize was $2,000, the second place team took home $1,000, and the third place team received $600.

The Platinum Sponsor for the event was Rogers Communications Inc., with other supporters including the Ted Rogers School of Management Leadership Centre, DavidsTea and Monday Girl.