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- Category: Alumni in the Lead
The journey to success of Telfer School graduate Brennan Loh inspires how he supports and empowers the next generation of entrepreneurs.
No two paths to success are entirely the same. Yet some guideposts are more dependable than others. Brennan Loh’s entrepreneurship journey is a reliable route for any budding businessperson to follow.
The Telfer School graduate and top Shopify leader started early, made connections and seized challenges. This path has not only taken him to the pinnacle of Canadian business, but has also guided how he helps the emerging generation of entrepreneurs at the Telfer School through generous donations, purposeful involvement and volunteer activities.
Start your journey early!
Entrepreneurship has always been near and dear to Brennan. As a child, he was motivated to start businesses and create something from nothing. His natural inclination for entrepreneurship was partly the reason.
The other was the inspiration he received from his businessman father, who immigrated to Canada from Singapore. After losing his job, Brennan watched as his father took the risk of becoming an entrepreneur to support their family. It was a proud moment for Brennan, and one that helped catalyze the importance of fostering an entrepreneurial spirit not just in those that want it but who need it to survive.
Motivated to unleash his entrepreneurial spirit, Brennan joined the Telfer School in 2007. He was so eager to hit the ground running that he became a member of the Telfer School’s Entrepreneurs’ Club before he even began his studies. This early and enthusiastic start by the budding entrepreneur was a clear sign of things to come.
The Entrepreneurs’ Club offered Brennan a vibrant and welcoming gathering place, and put him in close contact with fellow entrepreneurs. It especially gave him learning opportunities that enabled him to dare boldly yet fail safely, without suffering significant personal or financial consequences. Brennan so enjoyed his membership with the Entrepreneurs’ Club that he served on its executive team for four years, two of them as president.
“The Entrepreneurs’ Club was a natural fit for Brennan’s entrepreneurial talents,” said Professor Stephen Daze, Dom Herrick Chair in Entrepreneurship at the Telfer School. “From an early age, he knew how to create value for sponsors and motivate team members; and he had a scrappy startup mentality—something that he has carried through to today!”
Make connections to discover opportunities
Entrepreneurial success is never a solo mission. Again, Brennan’s experience supplies a telling example. As part of a third-year course, he and two friends from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Engineering created a tech startup. They called it Avitu. When the school year ended, the entrepreneurial trio decided not to halt their enterprise but to keep their budding business active.
That summer, Brennan and his Avitu partners worked tirelessly out of a hot apartment before being given the opportunity by a uOttawa alumnus to use part of Shopify’s office space to run their company. The alumnus, Harley Finkelstein, a graduate of the combined law and MBA program, was chief platform officer at Shopify at the time.
Brennan took advantage of being in a shared space with Shopify to exchange best practices and discuss business strategies with Harley every week. The dedication and effort shown by Brennan and his business partners impressed Harley and the other Shopify executives so much that they offered them jobs within the company.
Seize challenges and reap the benefits
By the time Brennan graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing in 2011, he was already working over 40 hours per week at Shopify. The combination of school and full-time employment was demanding, but the valuable real-world experience he acquired only served to bolster his confidence and motivate him to take on increasingly greater challenges in the company.
In the decade since he joined Shopify, Brennan has helped the company grow from fledgling startup to e-commerce titan. His rise through the company’s ranks has been equally impressive—going from head of business development, to director of business development, to director of international markets. His varied and impressive portfolio of projects include Shopify media productions and Shopify Rebellion, the company’s e-sports organization.
Today, as the company’s director of brand and marketing partnerships, Brennan says his motivation stems partly from looking back with pride at successful projects he once thought would be impossible to achieve. Despite his impressive resume and achievements, he remains humble and prefers to operate under the radar. Case in point: in the years when he travelled frequently for the company, he would joke that few people at the Shopify head office knew who he was.
An inspiring journey that empowers a new generation
In keeping with his natural humility, Brennan is quick to acknowledge how much the generosity of others helped shape and propel his career. His professors, his classmates, and his colleagues at Shopify each gave him their trust and encouragement.
In turn, Brennan uses his journey to success as inspiration for how he supports and empowers the emerging generation of entrepreneurs at the Telfer School. To help budding business people start early, Brennan volunteers as an informal mentor, inspiring the next generation to seek out the opportunities that will shape their futures. To enable them to make connections, Brennan continues his work with the Entrepreneurs’ Club as an advisory board member. And to motivate and support emerging entrepreneurs, Brennan is a mentor at the Entrepreneurship Hub’s Startup Garage and an angel investor in the technology sector.
Most notably, Brennan funded the Loh Entrepreneurship Experience Scholarship to allow students to dare boldly. The bursary provides students from any faculty at the University of Ottawa with financial and mentorship support in their entrepreneurial journeys.
“We must give students opportunities to fail safely,” Brennan said. “I see encouraging a student to take four months to pursue entrepreneurship with a financial safety net and minimal opportunity cost to their formal education (in other words, letting them earn credits) as one of many possible solutions. I would love to see universities embrace innovative bets on fostering student entrepreneurship.”
As a result of this generous and intelligent contribution, the Telfer School named Brennan the 2021 Young Donor of the Year. The deserving honour is yet one more step along a career path worth following.
If you would like to support the student experience at the Telfer School of Management through a donation, click here to make a gift to the Telfer Nation Fund. For more information, please don’t hesitate to
- Category: Alumni in the Lead
Wiam Ben Karroum graduated from the Telfer School of Management with a double degree in Finance and Business Technology Management (MISA) in just April of 2021. She has already secured a full-time role at Deloitte on the Technology, Strategy, and Transformation team, after completing a co-op with the company during her studies.
Not stopping there, Wiam is also actively working with Forget For A Moment Foundation, which is focused on sensitizing healthcare facilities by bringing nature inside their walls. A registered charity since 2012, the foundation was started by uOttawa alumna Jeannine Lafrenière, who went through cancer herself and wished to see something other than magazines in hospital waiting rooms for patients, families, and staff working.
We met Wiam virtually to better understand how her extracurricular involvement in clubs like Women in Management Network (WMN) helped her get involved with the Forget For A Moment Foundation. Like many other Telfer grads, Wiam is now helping to build a Better Canada.
Why was it important for you to be involved in extracurricular activities when you were a student? What did you learn in your time volunteering with clubs?
“Getting involved in multiple student-led clubs at Telfer helped me develop myself personally and professionally. I had a chance to gain more leadership and communication skills and it gave me the opportunity to discover my interests and passions outside of taking classes! I fostered meaningful relationships with like-minded students that helped and supported my growth through the university experience and beyond.
I also launched the podcast “Words with WMN” during the pandemic! Being part of the Women in Management Network (WMN) allowed me to meet incredible women leaders and made me realize where we stand on the topic of diversity and equality today and how much work is yet to be done. I was able to give back to my community and be part of causes bigger than myself, which ultimately brought me to the Forget For A Moment Foundation.”
As a new grad, what was the best thing you took away from your Telfer experience?
“The best thing I took away from Telfer is my now refined ability to network and maintain genuine connections. Overall, I had a wonderful experience, from trying new things and exploring the community to being involved in clubs and the Profession of Management Consulting Program (PMCP). I learned the power of saying “yes” and continuing to get involved past graduating. Telfer made me realize I am interested in things I didn’t even know about so the curiosity and opportunities I took away are so important.”
Wiam actually joined the Forget For A Moment Foundation as a Campaign Coordinator in her last year of university, thanks to the suggestion from Omer Livvarcin, her professor of Digital Enterprise. Currently busy raising funds for the living wall in the Orléans Health Hub, the foundation works to finance the construction of natural structures inside healthcare facilities and to help pay for their first year of maintenance. And they’re not doing it just because plants look beautiful. Numerous studies have proven that simply looking at plants in healthcare surroundings helps patients, families, and staff reduce stress.
The Foundation seeks to give the sick, their relatives, their caregivers and staff, a natural, healthy, and delightful garden to provide a momentary break from their fear, pain, and stress.
Wiam is working with interested individuals and companies to join the partnership program or donate directly through the website. The Foundation has a goal of systematically including nature in the designs of 10 hospitals, long-term care facilities or nursing homes over the next decade.
Wiam’s passion for this cause shines brightly and it’s a perfect example of Telfer’s mission to create profound social change through the Better Canada initiative. In addition to this wonderful project, we also asked Wiam about her future:
What are your plans for the future? Anything in particular you are looking forward to?
“My plans are to continue working with WMN founders to expand the network and to be involved with the Forget For A Moment Foundation to grow it to a national level. I am also excited to start my full-time journey in Technology consulting!”
We are so proud of all Wiam’s accomplishments and we are so happy that her involvement in Telfer Nation was able to provide her with confidence and leadership skills to pursue non-profit work alongside full-time employment. We are also proud to see an alumnus connect with our mission to Build A Better Canada. We wish Wiam the best in her future endeavours.
- Category: National Indigenous History Month
At the age of 19, Audrey-Claire Lawrence (EMBA, 1997) started her teaching career in Rouyn-Noranda over 850 km away from Québec City where she has been living. Little did she know, this was only the beginning of a lifelong journey that would lead her to rethink Canada’s health and educational system.
Teaching in a remote region of Québec brought on a lot of firsts for Ms. Lawrence. Due to the lack of school past grade 6, Cree students were flown in from different communities in the James Bay area; ‘It was an interesting environment to be in,” remembers Lawrence. “The North was quite different then Québec City. At school, you could see kids were divided between Cree and Town Children, but the class they integrated very well.”
One day, a dentist sent by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (now Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs; Indigenous Service) came into her students’ class for what was presented as a routine visit for the Indigenous children. Lawrence (born Swaffield) was confused at the time, knowing there was already a dentist in town, but giving the official statement from the dentist, she sent in her first student. She was shocked when the young girl returned: “She came back green and looked terrible.” The dentist had explained that he needed to pull out 7 teeth to treat the young girl's cavities. After that, Lawrence immediately refused him permission to touch any more of her students and had the principal send the dentist away. “I simply didn’t understand the logic given how a local dentist could have taken care of the kids,” she added.
The consequence of this event sent Lawrence on a journey to understand the “system” regarding Indigenous relations in our education and health systems. Of Cree and Inuit Ancestry herself, she was already attentive to the Indigenous rights cause, but from that day, she knew she had to take a stand.
Starting On a Mission
After completing further degrees, Lawrence became an experienced facilitator, motivational speaker, and organizational development specialist. She has worked in management positions in government, education, and healthcare, most notably as Director of Educational Services at The Ottawa Hospital (Civic then) and as Director of Education for the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists.
She has also served in leadership positions in national, provincial, and local organizations involved with organizational development, libraries and concerns affecting Indigenous communities throughout Canada, including in Quebec, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. Author of several journal articles and study guides, Lawrence has presented at numerous conferences on cultural safety, humour in the workplace, stress and change management, and before retiring had her own consulting practice supplying facilitation and event services, customized to the needs of her clients.
In addition to her MBA from the University of Ottawa, Lawrence also holds an MA in Sociology and Organizational Behaviour from the University of Calgary, an Honours BA from McGill, as well as a Teaching Diploma in Later Childhood from MacDonald College. She is a Myers-Briggs Facilitator and has extensive experience in the provision of training and leadership programs.
Developing Critical Thinking Skills
Lawrence has extensive experience in policy analysis, report writing, and strategic planning. She attributes her success in these fields to her time at Telfer EMBA, which was known as the Faculty of Administration at the time.
“One of the classes I remember the most was held by Professor Raj Gandhi,” she recalled. “As he introduced his class on cost-benefit ratio, he said jokingly, that the biggest mistake we did was to put our money on an MBA when we should have bought a house. It’s a simple example, but it gets you thinking about how to develop your critical thinking as well as doing cost benefit analysis.”
Lawrence shared how the program helped her to further shape her skills: “My MBA helped develop my critical thinking as well as negotiations with teammates to get things done.” She noted that it helped one to be a system thinker so one can change the state of things: “When you have good people, but a lousy system, the barriers are too strong to do anything, the world is already too complex. When you get to fix the system, thinking and see what can be leveraged, that’s when change can happen.”
Lawrence is now a thriving member of the Telfer alumni community: “I enjoy seminars and the continuing learning opportunities offered by the University. I think I might be holding the record as the alumna with the longest time attending learning events” she said candidly. She continued: “If you have a good experience, it will build a lifelong learning objective, and I simply enjoy learning.”
The Career After the Career
Officially retired and living in Ottawa, it would be impossible to think that Lawrence would have left everything behind. She has been involved in the community through volunteer work at a few health and organizations and libraries, including serving as Chair of the Canadian Health Care Educators Association, the former President of the Ontario Library Board Association (OLBA), the former Chair of the Cumberland Public Library (now part of the Ottawa Public Library), and the Vice-Chair of the Southern Ontario Library Service Board and Volunteer Leadership Development Program (VLDP) of Volunteer Ottawa.
“I surely know how to keep myself busy. My husband would tell you that I’m spending more time volunteering now than I worked during my career,” exclaimed Lawrence.
Most recently, Audrey had served on the Public Witness for Social and Ecological Justice Committee. She now serves as the Indigenous Co-Chair for the All My Relations Circle for the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa for work on Reconciliation and has been on the Algonquin College Board of Governors since 2017.
Standing Up for Distance Learning in the Indigenous Community
Audrey has long been aware of the needs for financial support for university and college students and especially for Indigenous students, so she set up a special bursary for Indigenous learners at Algonquin College in 2019. Then upon hearing that there was no bursaries for online students, she recently in May 2021 established the Audrey Lawrence AC Online Bursary, the first bursary for learning distance which will be awarded to full-time and part-time online learners in financial need, following a second gift of $15,000 from Lawrence.
The Online Bursary will encompass two $6,000 bursaries for full-time learners, with one preferably directed toward an Indigenous student. Additionally, three $1,000 bursaries will also be awarded to part-time students.
As a former teacher to Cree students at the very beginning of her career, it simply seems natural for Lawrence to give back to the community and encourage distance learning: “As I went on through my teaching career, I’m glad I could count on correspondence courses (distance learning process at the time) to complete my degree. I am very sensitive to the needs of distance learners,” she said.
Audrey mentioned that even if it has been a few decades ago, the gap in providing essential services, such as education, to the Indigenous community is still very much a topical issue. “Over the past 20 years, not much has changed,” she said. “Gaps are being identified, but little is done to shorten them in the end. We bring infrastructure to the communities, but we do not take the time with them to ensure the facilities have operational support - and that’s a big issue.” She concluded: “Apart from the mea culpa, we need to learn from the past to make positive action and the most important thing to do is to ask the community what and how it should be done above all.”
- Category: Alumni in the Lead
The Dean’s Philos Award recognized individuals who have demonstrated outstanding philanthropic achievement and social commitment. This award was established in 2004 on the Telfer School of Management’s 35th Anniversary.
We’re both grateful to have grown up in, been educated in and live in a bilingual and multicultural country that has a deep Indigenous heritage. Because of our good fortune, we’ve long believed we have an obligation to give back to our community. When Dan was a student at the Telfer School in the early 1980s, the concept of corporate social responsibility made a lifelong impression on him. Later on, the Jewish principle of tikkun olam, which in Hebrew means repairing the world, became a beacon to guide our life together.
The idea behind tikkun olam is to do something small every day to mend the damage you see around you. While we’re fortunate to be able to contribute financially to causes we value, we believe our society sometimes pays too much attention to big donations. A million-dollar gift may get the headlines, but Canadians should also be excited by the idea of a million working people parting with some of their hard-earned money to fund causes and charities important to them.
Here’s what we mean. The Royal Ottawa Centre for Mental Health gives out Inspiration Awards each year. One winner a few years ago was a woman who had been treated at the Royal and decided to give back. A new Canadian who worked as a cleaner, she managed to volunteer her time and contribute $500 a year to the organization. Her shining example shows us that the truest measure of giving is not size but giving in a manner that is most meaningful and appropriate to the giver at that stage in their life.
This way of looking at giving is especially relevant to Telfer School students and recent graduates. Yes, you’re just starting out on your business careers and, yes, the coronavirus pandemic is playing havoc with the economy; yet you still can give even though you don't have much, if any, extra money. At the same time, the pandemic has laid bare many breaks in our worlds—small and large, figurative and literal—that cry out for repair.
Start simply, and start now, by finding time in your day for acts of kindness. And if you have options about how to handle a difficult situation, choose the kindest one. Adopt this attitude as you enter and rise in the business world. Show your best personal qualities—fairness, generosity and empathy—in your workplaces. Use them to make your organization more inclusive, your company’s relationships with customers and partners more rewarding, and your business’s operations more sustainable and responsible socially. Tikkun olam.
This is a summary of the interview conducted on September 16th, 2020 with Dan Greenberg and Barbara Crook.
- Category: Student Announcements
The evening of Monday, November 25th marked Telfer student non-profit organization, CASCO’s 20th annual gala. That’s a full generation raising over $600,000 in funds for the kids at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). This year, CASCO President, Michaela McLoughlin, and her hard-working team raised $62,005 for CHEO, funds that will go towards youth mental health initiatives.
The 2019 Gala theme of “The Ripple Effect” came to life at the event with inspiring dancing, singing, and modelling from University of Ottawa students who rehearse every weekend in the fall to prepare for this night. The theme of the gala was moving as each performance was connected to the overall idea that one small action can create a ripple effect that impacts others and can even change the world. The narrator of the show eloquently explained how values such as courage, perseverance, and love have been emulated by many influential leaders such as Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Terry Fox, Malala Yousafzai, Ellen DeGeneres and more.
The CASCO team’s involvement doesn’t end at its spectacular gala though. Students work throughout the entire year to put on unique fundraisers that lead up to the final event. These give students the opportunity to give back to the community while having fun at sports tournaments, paint lessons, bake sales, trivia nights, and more.
CASCO was founded in 1998 by Telfer alumni, Alexandre St-Jean and Tuan Nguyen to honour their friend, Eric Danis who passed away from Leukemia. Every year since then, Telfer students have put in countless hours of work and passion towards the cause, and they’re not done yet.
Congratulations to the entire CASCO team and cast on another successful year and gala!
- Category: Telfer Announcements
The Telfer Impact goes beyond the classroom. There are countless stories of students and alumni who have truly made a difference through their involvement, community engagement, entrepreneurial vision, and hard work. Over the last 6 weeks, we’ve shared some incredible stories of Telfer students developing into the next generation of leaders:
The CASCO Impact
20 years ago, two inspired Telfer students founded the non-profit organization, CASCO. Every year, Telfer students team up to host spectacular events that raise money for families at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). CASCO has donated over $560,000 to the cause ever since.
The Growcer Impact
After visiting communities challenged with food insecurity in Northern Canada, two Telfer BCom alumni, Alida Burke and Corey Ellis created a hydroponic system that grows produce in controlled shipping containers. From there, the business, The Growcer Inc. was born. Today, the company is part of Invest Ottawa’s accelerator program, and its systems are being sold across Canada, empowering communities around the globe to grow their own produce.
The PhD Impact
Telfer PhD candidate, Alex Chung researches the design of wearable technology that influences human behaviour change. As a result of the balanced program, Alex has been able to lead an active and fulfilling life, while impacting the future of wearable technology.
The Unscented Company Impact
BCom alumna, Anie Rouleau is living her dream, running her own eco-sustainable, B Corp certified cleaning product business, The Unscented Company (TUC). Through her innovative business model, Anie has caught the attention of the public with her Dragons’ Den deal to sell TUC products in 500 Canadian Tire stores across Canada.
The MBA Impact
After discovering the world of administration while working at Montfort Hospital, Mélanie Potvin decided to elevate her experience with an MBA in French at Telfer. Now she has the crucial knowledge and confidence in her leadership role as Project Manager for the Orléans Health Hub at the hospital.
These are just a few stories of the meaningful change that Telfer Students are creating. What will be YOUR impact?
- Category: Telfer Announcements
Over the past 20 years, CASCO, a Telfer student non-profit organization, has inspired the Ottawa community to give back to the families at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). Every year, a hundred students from the Telfer School of Management come together to host events to support and fundraise for CHEO. Through the hard work and dedication of the uOttawa CASCO team, over $500,000 has been raised for CHEO.
The CASCO non-profit organization was founded by two students in the BCom program at the Telfer School of Management in 1998. Their mission was to raise money for their friend who had passed away from Leukemia. Today, a fourth-year BCom student, Michaela McLoughlin, is running CASCO as this year’s president, with the help of 51 students on the executive team. Michaela joined CASCO three years ago when she discovered that the daughter of a family at work was being treated for brain cancer at CHEO. Since CASCO was an initiative that fundraises for CHEO, she decided to join so that she could make a direct impact.
CASCO’s mission for this year is to grow its presence in the Ottawa community. The executive team is working with CHEO to create more events to support the families at CHEO. The non-profit’s main event, the CASCO gala, features students from the Telfer School of Management in an evening of song, dance, and fashion. Telfer students, business professionals, and community members come together to support CHEO and see a year’s work come together on stage.
Find out more about the involvement of Telfer students in the student club CASCO, their impact on CHEO, and their pursuit of making an impact in the Ottawa community:
To find out more about the Telfer Student Experience: bit.ly/TelferImpact-Student-Experience
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Student Voices
The following article was written by a member of our student community. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Telfer School of Management. For more information or to flag inappropriate content, please