Community Engagement
- Category: Community Engagement
The MBA Student Association (MBASA) at Telfer School of Management came up with an event that is the first of its kind – a small and medium-sized (SME) Consult-a-thon focusing on providing fast-paced, strategic solutions to businesses in the local community.
Revisiting Case Competitions Framework
Developing the Right Challenge
Due to the pervasive pandemic, today's SME enterprises confront some very genuine and severe issues that require innovative solutions. To be successful, both businesses and students require assistance and direction from local business community supporters.
With many local businesses showing interest in being part of the Consult-a-thon, the MBASA organizing team had to interact with each of the business owners to understand the cases better. Following a thorough brief, the team collaborated closely with the business owners and members of the MBASA’s executive team to co-create case documents that showed extensive, accurate, and up-to-date market information.
Intensive Case-Cracking
The Consult-a-thon included 4 teams composed of 4 students that would come to know of the businesses and the cases only during the event. The team then had to work on the cases provided by each participating business at different time during the event.
At the end their presentations, the panelists will provide feedback on the teams' presentations and insights on how to implement their ideas better.
For its first edition, the Telfer MBA students had the chance to work with dynamic local start-ups such as:
- Shyne Eyewear, a small Ottawa social enterprise run by Enactus uOttawa which manufactures and sells sunglasses and blue-light glasses created from 100% recycled materials;
- Ekidna Sensing, a biotech startup located in Ottawa that builds technology solutions for the legal Cannabis industry;
- Empower'em is a grassroots social enterprise focused on providing a community and support to women of colour in order to help them develop their leadership skills, build confidence and achieve their personal and professional goals.
All in for local businesses
Since it was not a traditional case competition, the panellists evaluated the ideas qualitatively, not quantitatively. The rubric focused on the clarity of identification and articulation of challenges, level of thorough analysis, creativity and feasibility to provide feedback, and recommendations to the participants.
A Successful Event
The event also got praises from the principal beneficiaries. “We needed a strategic direction and these presentations provided us with new creative ideas on how to tackle this problem. The recommendations the students provided were actionable and we are happy and excited about the entire event,” said Alexander Parsan, Project Manager at Shyne Eyewear, and Telfer BCom Accounting student.
Nicolas Boileau, CEO of Ekidna Sensing, also appreciated the outside expert view that the Telfer MBA students brought in. He looks forward to the next 6 months to one year to see where the company will move towards with the new ideas and strategy he collected over the weekend.
The committee is already planning the next edition of the event, which will take place in 2022 in a much bigger scale with even more local organizations. Any local businesses and students from all horizons with an interest in being part of this incredible initiative are invited to contact the MBA Student Association to discuss possible participation in next year’s competition via
- Category: Community Engagement
A new Telfer study shows that traditional families with businesses often treat their children differently based on gender, including in succession planning and entrepreneurial education. We talked to two women raised in entrepreneurial families to learn how gender bias can affect women’s careers and experiences in entrepreneurship. They also shared some advice for family businesses.
Emma O’Dwyer
Emma O’Dwyer, regional manager at Family Enterprise Canada, has seen bias first hand in her own family. She says she was not given support even though she earned “two MBA degrees from prestigious universities, gained outside experience, and built a professional network beyond the family business.” She often wonders if this stopped her from building the confidence to take a more entrepreneurial path.
O’Dwyer says that gender bias can damage both daughters and sons. “Today, I see that a lot of men who are expected to inherit the family firm or start their own business receive pressure to be successful.” She believes that “forcing sons to lead the family firm restricts their opportunities to gain experience outside the walls of the family business and develop the business knowledge they need.”
Susan St. Amand
Susan St. Amand is the founder and president of Sirius Group Inc. and Sirius Financial Services. Like O’Dwyer, St. Amand always had an interest in the business world. “My dad and a group of local entrepreneurs would meet for coffee every day, and I loved it when I was able to join them to hear their stories.” This led her to studying business.
Even though St. Amand gained experience and education in entrepreneurship, her brother was still the one expected to take over the business on her father’s retirement. “It was just not common for women to run or inherit a family business, so I was not considered.” This didn’t deter St. Amand from pursuing a career in a large finance organization, before starting her own business. But despite her success, St. Amand was often asked when she would sell her business and fulfil a more traditional female role.
Advice to families to challenge gender bias
O’Dwyer and St. Amand shared some suggestions to help families challenge gender bias and prepare the next generation to succeed in the family firm and beyond:
- Treat children as equally as possible and make sure the expectations and pressure are the same for all.
- Identify what the children need to do and experience, and what support they need to build their skills and succeed in any career.
- Great things come from failing and learning. Let the next generation try things, fail, learn, try again and repeat to succeed, within a safe environment.
- Your legacy as a family does not and should not be limited by the business, no matter how many generations it has existed. Let the next generation find their passion and explore the world outside your walls — you’ll be surprised what happens.
- Introduce children to role models and mentors across genders very early in life.
- Engage them in conversations about the business and about finances. Don’t assume children aren’t interested in numbers, investments or business because of their gender.
- Use stories to share knowledge and make information accessible.
- Teach children how to make decisions and take responsibility early on. Being comfortable with risk is critical to feeling confident and independent.
O’Dwyer reminds parents who run a family firm: “You play an important role in the success of the family and the business.” St. Amand highlights the need to question rigid norms: “Families are members of communities and communities share cultural norms that are embedded for generations. It takes strength and courage to be disruptive and time to evaluate the results.”
Susan St. Amand, TEP, FEA, ICD.D is the founder and president of the Sirius Group Inc. and Sirius Financial Services in Ottawa, and chair of Family Enterprise Canada. Learn more about her work with multi-generation families.
Emma O’Dwyer is a regional manager at Family Enterprise Canada.
- Category: Community Engagement
The escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic is putting unprecedented financial burdens on many uOttawa students, and lower income students are especially vulnerable. A special emergency fund has been established by the University to provide critical support now. We are asking alumni - if you can - to support uOttawa’s student emergency fund, or one of two Telfer-specific funds also set up to support our efforts in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
University of Ottawa COVID-19 Student Emergency Aid Fund
Created to help students who are experiencing emotional and financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students are dealing with unprecedented disruptions to their academic lives as they transition to remote learning, see local and summer jobs eliminated, and most had to leave their campus residence to minimise public health risks. Your emergency financial contributions help students University-wide to overcome distressing financial situations and help mitigate mental health issues. Students urgently need your support to remain focused on academic success now and in preparation for the Fall semester.
Telfer School of Management Wellness Fund
Our students physical well-being, emotional intelligence, and mental health are top priorities for the Telfer School. Students today are having to manage stressful situations in their lives that affect their physical and mental well-being. From raising awareness to providing counselling service and training, your support of this fund will help Telfer students cope successfully during their time of need to help them during the university career and beyond.
Dean's Strategic Priorities Fund
Immediate, accessible funds that our Dean can rapidly draw upon and meet crises like COVID-19 head-on. At Telfer, this means equipping our researchers to develop analytic models that will support the healthcare system to better plan and manage their capacity. It also means supporting research that will help us navigate the unchartered waters of our new work-life reality; working from home, coping with new job tasks or lack of childcare, and the impact it can have on employees’ mental health as well as the ways in which organizations can support their employees during these difficult times.
Interested in supporting a fund that you dont see here? click here.
To make your donation by phone, we invite you to communicate with Joella Gencher, Development Officer, Leadership Giving at
Thank you for your generosity!
- Category: Community Engagement
In an effort to keep the Ottawa community as healthy as possible and the coronavirus (COVID-19) from rapidly spreading, the University of Ottawa has implemented measures to maintain “social distancing”.
This is a tough time for all of us, and we can already see economic impacts on businesses, particularly smaller ones that you often see around your street corners. Small, local businesses may suffer during this time, but many of them have also found resourceful ways to support the Ottawa community, while maintaining their business financially. Several Ottawa businesses are “modifying their business practices, from rationing sought-after items to refusing to handle cash or limiting the number of customers allowed in stores.”
1. Creating Access to Food
Ottawa restaurant, Dreamland Cafe, located on Preston Street in Little Italy, has chosen to close their restaurant to the public. However, they stay open with special hours to make delicious meals ready for delivery or pickup at the back. Dreamland Cafe expanded their online menu (including homemade pasta sauce) and lowered their prices to help out during this financially difficult time. You can order from them using UberEATS, since Uber has decided to waive delivery fees to also assist the community during this time.
Like Dreamland, Luxe Bistro, located in the Byward Market, has taken a similar approach. They will be closed to the public, but are open for take-out by providing their food via UberEATS, DoorDash, and offering "drive-through" and personal home delivery service. They are even offering a few grocery staples to customers in order to keep grocery stores from getting too busy.
Although many food stores and restaurants made the difficult decision to close, La Bottega Nicastro did what they could before closing up shop. They donated over $1,000 worth of food to Operation Ramzieh, a crisis Relief team that has assembled to assist seniors and other vulnerable Canadians during the COVID-19 crisis.
Many other restaurants making an effort to serve the community with the availability of their food include:
- Lexington Smokehouse and Bar
- Sushi Umi
- Happy Goat Coffee Company
- Pure Kitchen
- OCCO Kitchen
- JOEY Rideau and JOEY Landsdowne
- Freshii Westboro
- Two Six Ate
2. Promoting Physical Activity
As we are all advised to stay inside, many gyms and fitness studios have closed in the city to help reduce the spread of germs. One Ottawa dance studio has come up with an idea to help citizens stay active, while participating in online live video dance classes. Dance Fusion Studio has emailed their dancers providing virtual classes via Zoom to help you “dance away in your living room” while you are staying inside.
In addition, popular Ottawa yoga studio run by co-entrepreneurs Amber and Jen, Pure Yoga, is hosting yoga sessions on their online platform, where they have over 150 classes available. During this time, they are offering the first two weeks free, and a discounted price using specific promotional code.
Other Ottawa fitness and wellness businesses that are adapting to these new circumstances include:
3. Supporting Hobbies
Wallack’s Art Supplies is a store on the corner of Bank Street full of art supplies for those of you who are painters, sketch artists, and do-it-yourself enthusiasts. They too have closed their store due to advice from public health officials, but their online store remains open with both pick-up and delivery options available.
Local bookstore on Bank Street, Black Squirrel Books, is putting together and delivering packages of mystery books for their customers. According to the Ottawa Citizen, “Customers can select any genre they’re interested in — mysteries, fiction, history, self-help, children’s books, etc. — or simply order a surprise box. With either option, customers have no idea of what specific titles they’ll receive.”
Many other local businesses have modified their business models to serve the many needs and interests of the Ottawa community, such as:
- West End Kids
- Ottawa Food Bank
- Masters n' Dogs pet shop
- Henry’s Camera
- Eliquo Training and Development Incorporated
4. Keeping Us Healthy and Protected from the Virus
Several local businesses are stepping up to the plate when it comes to staying healthy by using their existing resources. For example, Perth distillery, Top Shelf Distillers, has been producing hand sanitizer to combat the depleting amounts in stores. They launched a “crowdfunding campaign to fund the production, procurement and scale of batches of hand sanitizer as the already overwhelming demand grows,” which was extremely successful as they exceeded their fundraising goal in just one day, sharing their story on CTV News.
Another distiller contributing to sanitation efforts is Dairy Distillery in Almonte, located about an hour outside of Ottawa. The company is creating two products: a surface sanitizer, and a large format hand sanitizer with a pump. They wanted to share these products with members of the community, including health clinics, hospitals, veterinarian hospitals, and charities.
In addition, members of the University of Ottawa are finding a way to directly help healthcare workers stay protected from the virus. At Makerspace on campus, Midia Shikh Hassan, a manager at the university’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and Engineering Design (CEED), is using 3D printers and laser cutters to manufacture vital personal protective equipment. CEED can create 10 to 20 face shields every two hours, and plans to make even more equipment needed with feedback from physicians from The Ottawa Hospital.
You can support our local businesses by purchasing gift cards, shopping online, or ordering take-out or delivery items.
What local businesses have you noticed making a change during this time? Let us know some of your favourites and what they are doing to support the Ottawa community.
- Category: Community Engagement
The Employee Giving program is an annual initiative run by the University of Ottawa, which seeks to engage faculty, support staff and retirees in support of student-focused initiatives. These donations focus on enhancing the student experience with scholarships, financial aid and research programs. This year marks the eighth year of the campaign, in which the Telfer School saw its most successful participation rate to date.
The co-champions of the Telfer Employee Giving Campaign, Kimberly Duthie and Michael Mulvey, set out to obtain 101 donors this year, and they are proud to announce that they exceeded their goal with 109 donors! Not only did Telfer see the largest number of donors in 2019, it also represents a 60% participation rate, which is also a record number at the Telfer School. This means that, for the third year in a row, the Telfer School has the highest participation rate of any Faculty of the University of Ottawa.
We would like to thank our volunteers, without whom the success of the Employee Giving Campaign would not have been possible:
- Andrew Latty
- Sheetal Gandhi
- Carla De Ciccio
- Kathy Cunningham
- Linda Bellemare
- Alexandre Bélanger
- Margaux Carson
- Amanda Richardson
- Mercedes Zanon
- Jennifer Hyland
Finally, we would like to thank all the faculty members, support staff and retirees who participated in this campaign. You truly make a difference in the lives of our students.
- Category: Community Engagement
The 19th annual CASCO Gala took place on Monday November 26th at the Infinity Centre to a sold out crowd. This year, They were able to raise their largest total in CASCO history with a sum of $71,000.00. For more information about CASCO and the 19th edition of their gala, click on the links below:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cascotelfer/
website: http://www.cascotelfer.ca/#shapely_home_parallax-3
- Category: Community Engagement
On May 24, 2018, three speakers delivered powerful presentations on three unique topics at the Telfer School’s collaborative learning alumni event focused on Emerging Trends in Leadership and Management. The three presentations - cybersecurity, emotional intelligence and diversity & inclusion - were followed by a panel discussion and Q&A for all participants.
Here is a recap of some of the lessons learned from each session.
Diversity and inclusion in the workplace
Justine Hendricks (MBA 2004), Vice-President, Working Capital Solutions Guarantee and Bonding Programs at Export Development Canada
“You can be invited to the party, but not invited to dance”
When understanding the concept of diversity and inclusion, Hendricks is quick to assure us that she is not only talking about gender and ethnicity, but organizational needs to employ a compliment of employees with different professional backgrounds and mindsets which will allow for innovation in the workplace.
Hendricks continued her talk advising that diversity without inclusion is not enough, that inclusion is needed to be successful and that it is tough to achieve within an organization. Companies with inclusion are twice as likely to meet or exceed their goals, six times more likely to be agile and innovative and eight times more likely to achieve a better business outcome.
Throughout her talk, Hendricks repeatedly used the line “You can be invited to the party, but not invited to dance” as a metaphor otherwise saying that there is value in not only listening to employee suggestions but implementing them as well, which a lot of organizations tend not to do. There is value in performing a culture reset, measuring outcomes, setting targets and seeing if change is occurring in key areas.
Cybersecurity and emerging trends: Is someone going to hack my pacemaker?
Mari Teitelbaum (MHA 2010), Vice-President, Tech. & Chief Information Officer, CHEO
Cybersecurity is a very real matter, and public and private organizations consider it to be a priority. Although in the past it was possible to hack a pacemaker, today our knowledge of these possibilities for intrusion makes things much more complicated. Hackers must be more agile and creative and know how to exploit users. After all, as Mari says, the problem is a human one, and it is humans that open the door. Therefore, the solution lies in staff education and awareness.
Although major financial transactions are not occurring at CHEO and in the health sector, the confidentiality of patients and their medical records involves sensitive data that must be protected at all costs. Mari explains that many attempts to access the databases occur every day, but thanks to a prevention and risk management strategy, no intrusion has been possible at her organization.
It is essential to keep the risk in perspective, but the key resides in the concept of shared risk. When she needs to make a decision, Mari says that teamwork is crucial in developing her prevention strategy, and guidelines are made with the board of directors.
Integrating emotional intelligence to navigate through workplace conflict
Manali Haridas Scott, Spiritual Wellness Coach
Emotional intelligence starts with our own self-awareness. That is how Manali begins to explain the difference between intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ). Although both contribute greatly to each person's development, emotional intelligence is what enables us to face multiple challenges each day.
Manali has said multiple times that having continuous negative thoughts will negatively affect a person to the point of inhibiting the brain and its capacity for rational thought. Thus, it is important that we condition ourselves to think positively to maintain a balance and better ability to handle the unexpected and situations that require emotional engagement.
Her advice? Be open and curious, forget old emotional patterns and learn new ones. When facing failure, practise self-discipline and compassion, live in the present moment and move forward, and so on. In short, there are many pieces of advice, but these lessons can be summed up in five factors of success: resolve, record, reconcile, regroup and rejoice.
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- Category: Community Engagement
Join us and fellow alumnus Mathieu Cloutier (BCom 1991), Vice-President and General Manager of TANK for a Telfer School alumni social event. Come network with fellow alumni and gain valuable insight on TANK's success.
TANK is a leading Brand Performance Agency in Montreal who’s clients range from Pfizer to Corona.
We look forward to seeing you there!
- Category: Community Engagement
Polycycle, an initiative by the Telfer student club Enactus uOttawa, has been named the recipient of the $150,000 Community Legacy award through Aviva Canada’s Community Fund Program. The Community Legacy Award targets young social entrepreneurs who have ideas focused on the theme of creating a community legacy.
Aviva’s Community Legacy Fund targets individuals between the ages of 18 and 25 years old with a unique solution to tackling climate change or an idea that benefits Canada’s environmental legacy. Polycycle was one of five Community Legacy Finalists that received the most votes during the initial voting round. In the end, Polycycle was chosen as the winner of the Community Legacy Fund and were awarded $150,000 in funding to implement their idea within a two-year period.
Polycycle’s project focuses on reducing plastic waste through the collection, and up cycling of post-consumer plastic goods. The project utilizes special machines to shred, melt down, and remould plastic waste into a variety of consumer goods. The project also works with community members to ensure that social employment is an integral part of each system’s operation.
- Category: Community Engagement
For the 18th edition, the annual CASCO Gala brought together wonderful musical, fashion and dance performances, raising an impressive $63,506.67 for The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). “The success of the event comes from great collaboration, and we would like to particularly thank our title sponsor Fahel & CO, the Infinity Convention Centre for hosting our gala for the first time, Co-Founder Tuan Nguyen, and Amanda Richardson, our Faculty advisor at the Telfer School of Management” said Conor O’Doherty, President of CASCO, the Telfer School’s Student Charity Organisation.
“I am extremely proud of all the work everyone on CASCO has put into our 18th Annual Gala. Our cast managed to put together an incredibly impressive show at a brand new venue and our Executive team has worked for over 11 months to make sure this was one of our highest donations to CHEO”, added Conor.
For the past 17 years, CASCO has been a major event for the Telfer School of Management, which has raised more than $500,000 in funds to date. CASCO is entirely choreographed, organized and executed by like-minded Telfer School students. In recent years, students from other faculties have joined, as performers, in what became a spectacular show of talent and philanthropy that brings together over 500 people including prominent community leaders and ambassadors for CHEO.
In preparation for this event, CASCO students spent countless hours auditioning, choreographing, and organizing this annual gala show to raise money for CHEO. The Telfer School of Management and the wider University of Ottawa community remain very proud of students who decide to commit time and energy on this event every year for the positive impacts that they leave on our community
You can find photos from the evening on our Flickr page. Feel free to download and share with your friends!
- Category: Community Engagement
The Telfer School of Management’s undergraduate office is thrilled to announce the official launch of the Telfer Workshop Initiative! This initiative offers an overview of post-secondary education in management, as well as professional development training to students in grades 10 to 12, in secondary 4 and 5, and in cégep.
Offered free of charge during the school year (October – June), this initiative is organized in collaboration with our School’s dynamic professors, our current Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) students and alumni, our industry partners, and our Student Services Centre. The workshops have been designed to complement students’ curriculum, while allowing them to experience a taste of university studies.
We are convinced that these workshops offer an unparalleled opportunity for students to discover commerce, and for teachers to enrich their course content. If you are a teacher or guidance counselor and would like your class or school to participate in this innovative program, please contact
- Category: Community Engagement
A group of Telfer MHA students, participants in the University’s Centre for Global and Community Engagement, are putting their carpentry skills to the test. On Thursday, August 7, 2014, the student volunteers will install flooring in the community room at Lady Stanley Place, an OCH Lowertown community with 62 homes for about 100 residents.
The uOttawa’s Centre for Global and Community Engagement promotes and coordinates community initiatives implemented by groups of students and led by a student team leader. This is the second volunteer project between the Ottawa Community Housing and uOttawa.
Read an Article about this in LeDroit. (in French only)
- Category: Community Engagement
CASCO, a student charity organization at the Telfer School of Management, hosted the 8th Annual Moore Wrinn Financial Group Golf Tournament on Friday June 20. With a strong team effort made by the CASCO executives, they managed to raise $10,550 towards their cheque to present to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) at their 15th Annual Gala on December 1, 2014 at the Delta Hotel.
About CASCO
CASCO is a student-run charity organization at the University of Ottawa. Comprised mostly of students from the Telfer School of Management, the club strives to include as many students as possible from the university population – allowing them to apply business knowledge to raise both awareness and funds for charity causes and promote corporate social responsibility. Now entering its 15th year, CASCO has raised over $350,000 for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), helping to purchase new equipment and to provide assistance to families in need.
- Category: Community Engagement
In an initiative to engage with and give back to our community, the MHA student association volunteered at The Ottawa Race weekend on Sunday May 25.
Starting at 6:30 a.m., MHA students were helping fill hundreds of cups of Gatorade and water for the 7,000 marathon runners and spent the rest of the morning cheering on the race participants as they crossed the half-way point of the 42 km race.
Volunteering together was a great way to have fun as a class, build relationships and participate in our greater community. The Telfer MHA class will be volunteering again at the CHEO BBQ on June 14 (www.cheobbq.com).
- Category: Community Engagement
From March 9-14, 2014 Telfer BCom students will sleep outside to create awareness and raise funds for the homeless in communities across Canada. It is the fourth time that students of the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa will be taking part in 5 Days for the Homeless.
5 Days for the Homeless is a five-day charity campaign in which university students live "homeless" on campus to raise money and awareness for a local charity.
This year, the campaign will be held at 26 campuses across the country. To date, the national organization has raised over $1,212,000!
Show your support by stopping by Morisset Terrace March 9-15 and come say hi to our sleepers!
Below is a list of participants for 5 Days for the Homeless 2014:
- Aayush Shah
- Brianna Barry
- Brittany Blain-Wombolt
- Chloe Hutcherson
- Gina Chong
- Isabelle Leblanc
- Lama Kahiel
- Lawrence Quan
- Lukas Jeffery
- Natalina Tuy
- Stephanie Lorentz
- Category: Community Engagement
- Category: Community Engagement
Are you interested in getting involved in the community but don't know where to start? Come to the Volunteer Fair!
The Centre for Global and Community Engagement invites you to a Volunteer Fair on Tuesday October 29 from 10am to 3pm at the Jock Turcot University Centre (UCU). This is a one of a kind opportunity to meet around 30 organizations looking for volunteers in the National Capital Region, or abroad!
If you would like more information, contact Vanessa at 613-562-5945 or by email at
- Category: Community Engagement
From March 10-15, four Telfer BCom students, Ashley Rosa, Angelika Athanasoulias, Daniel Gauthier and Pierce Colley will sleep outside to create awareness and raise funds for the homeless in communities across Canada. In 2011, the campaign was held at 22 campuses across the country and broke records by raising over $220,000 nationwide and raised awareness for the issue of homelessness and youth at risk like never before.
- Category: Community Engagement
A little over seven years ago, students of Telfer’s Executive MBA (EMBA) program approached professor Guy Laflamme with the suggestion of working with charity organizations as part of their final team assignment. Since then, more than 50 charity and not-for-profit organizations have benefitted from the talent and dedication of uOttawa’s EMBA students. The success of this project has been a source of great pride for professor Laflamme, who has been working hard to educate students on the importance of corporate social responsibility in his Strategic Marketing Management course.
“I am trying to sensitize future business leaders about the importance of giving back to the community—making it part of business practices that are respectful of society and that recognize the role they play in the community,” says professor Laflamme. “An organization needs not only to achieve a maximum net profit, but should also be able to have a contribution towards sustainability and its people.”
Teams of students are asked to develop a marketing business plan for an organization of their choice. By working closely with the selected organizations, students are exposed to the challenges that charity and not-for-profit organizations face in terms of funding, awareness and resources. “It was the ideal way to learn about marketing—we learned the theoretical aspects in class and applied them in real-life practical situations,” says EMBA student Dr. Mamta Gautam, who worked with the organization ICAfrica. This local, not-for-profit non-governmental agency aims to provide microcredit loans and business coaching to entrepreneurs in Africa.
“The marketing plan that was provided to us by uOttawa highlighted areas of improvement that our organization should carry out, and one by one, we are working on improving those areas,” says Eugene Nzeribe, executive director of ICAfrica. “Our whole infrastructure has been re-organized in a more structured fashion. We have a strong board of directors whose individual talents are matched with tasks which are showing results in the quality of our fundraising activities and in terms of engagement response. It brought us in the direction that we needed to move forward.”
According to professor Laflamme, determining the value proposition is far more challenging in not-for-profit organizations than for, say … McDonald’s. Students are required to learn the do’s and don’ts of a consulting process while developing the courage to tell clients things they don’t always want to hear. “Students are at times faced with a dilemma of maintaining their intellectual integrity versus competing pressures from their clients. They need to be able to go in with a high degree of integrity and present what they feel is the right approach,” explains professor Laflamme.
However, despite challenges, the emotional connection students make with their organizations has them caring about the outcome. They truly want to see the organizations succeed. EMBA graduate Karen Kavanagh speaks of her experience working with the organization Operation Come Home: “I learned that it doesn’t take a lot of time or money to help others. It started as a project in school but ended up as a long-term friendship and dedication to be more connected with my community.”
Professor Laflamme’s EMBA students have helped several organizations across the nation’s capital including the Eastern Ontario Parkinson Society, the Ottawa Mission, the Canadian Film Institute and the Canadian Council for the Arts. “I am proud to nourish not only the brains but the heart and soul of our students and future business leaders,” says professor Laflamme.
Click here to read the original article in the Gazatte. [This link is no longer available]
- Category: Community Engagement
For their Consumer Behaviour class, around 50 students from the Telfer School of Management put together marketing strategies for the Festival franco-ontarien (FFO).
The students had to suggest a marketing communication strategy that would enable the festival to attract more people aged between 15-25 while retaining its current clientele.
Among the 11 student teams, three were selected to present their ideas in front of Sébastien Lorquet, President of FFO's board, Josée Vaillancourt, Secretary of the FFO board, Daniel Simoncic, FFO’s General Director and Nathalie Brunette, Communications Director of the FFO.
Congratulations to the winning team composed of:
Team 8 : Antoine Bégin, Julie Boucher, Vincent Labbé, Gabrielle Belhumeur et Alexandre Joubert.
The two finalist teams were composed of:
Team 7: Aymeric Anne Beard, Laurence Guimond, Laurent Rioux, Joëlle Thériault et Jade Thérien.
Team 4: Jennifer Nadia Capogreco, Isabelle Gagnon, Oubah Meraneh, Sonia Munezero, Gaël Narame.
The 38th edition of the Festival franco-ontarien will take place June 13, 14 and 15, 2013 at Major Park in Ottawa.
- Category: Community Engagement
On December 4, 2012, CASCO students took to the stage at the Delta Ottawa City Centre to raise a record breaking $45,080.61 for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). The theme of this year’s event was “Time Warp”, where all performances were focused around the 6 last decades.
In preparation for this event, CASCO students spend countless hours auditioning, choreographing, and organizing this annual gala show that focuses on the talents of Telfer School students, and raises money for CHEO as well as a CHEO family in need.
For the past 13 years, CASCO has been a major event for the Telfer School of Management that is entirely choreographed, organised and executed by like-minded Telfer School students. It is a spectacular show of talent and philanthropy that brings together over 500 people including prominent community leaders and ambassadors for CHEO. Among the attendees this year were Mayor Jim Watson, CHEO Foundation COO Kevin Keohane, CHEO Foundation President and CEO Fred Bartlett, Dean François Julien, Ottawa City Councillor Mathieu Fleury, Max Keeping and CASCO co-founders Alexandre St-Jean and Tuan Nguyen. This event is also an excellent networking opportunity for Telfer School students who will be graduating in the near future.
The Telfer School remains very proud of its CASCO students for the time and energy that they focus on this event ever year and the positive impact that they leave on our community.
- Category: Community Engagement
Jean-François Vincent-Rocan who is studying at the Telfer School of Management for the completion of his Graduate Diploma for Scientific Management and Leadership, as part of his PhD in Chemistry, entered the Walmart Green Student Challenge with another uOttawa student. Their innovative eco-friendly idea has enabled them to gain incredible support from the community and reach 3rd place in the contest.
However, the contest is not over and it is still possible to show support to the team by voting [This link is no longer available].
- Category: Community Engagement
Thank you to the following sponsors that made iSkate4CHEO possible: The Telfer School of Management, Aficionado, DocU Centre, Metro, GSAED, Long & McQuade, and Tannis. A special thank you to DJ Kee and our very own photographers: Michael Kim and Emily Direnzo.
- Category: Community Engagement
Three teams of students in Professor Garrick Apollon's ADM 3718 - Commerce international course worked on a term project aiming to convince Canadian companies to invest and to buy Haiti's fair-trade cocoa products to make chocolate and chocolate products. The students' challenge was organized according to the format of the television show, "The Apprentice." The students had to submit a written report and make an oral presentation to an evaluation committee. The committee members (on the picture) were Carlo Sévère, Minister-Counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Haiti; Carl Apollon, President of the Groupe Intercal; Frantz Liautaud, Haiti's Ambassador to Canada; Ms. Carré, Minister-Counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Haiti; Jennifer Williams, CEO, Camino; and Professor Garrick Apollon. Congratulations to the members of the challenge-winning team, which included students Asmaâ Alaoui, Soufiane Bakas, Julie Bédard, Chris Daccache, Reda Laalaj and Mehdi Rais!
As Professor Apollon explained, it is not common for students to be required to make a presentation before an ambassador and the CEO of a Canadian coop like Camino. "I was nervous for them and I am proud of their accomplishments and their work. I also want to express my deep appreciation to the judges, who generously gave more than half a workday to this Telfer School project," said Professor Apollon.
Inspired by his experience with Professor Adam Grant of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Professor Apollon decided to have his students work on a real project of a "social nature." Because the United States government recently announced that it will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Haiti through USAID for the development of Haiti's cocoa industry, it is realistic to think that the Telfer School students' project might have convinced Canadian businesses to invest in Haiti. The project also aimed to make Telfer School students aware of their power to change the world because all too often, people think that only charitable donations and humanitarian projects create lasting changes in developing countries like Haiti. However, the response is also in the promotion of responsible foreign investments and fair trade, and Telfer School students have the training to fulfil this mission.
- Category: Community Engagement
From March 11 to 16, five uOttawa students from the Telfer School of Management will take part in the second edition of Five Days for the Homeless to not only shed light on and experience the challenges faced by the homeless day in and day out, but also to raise funds for organizations that care for these individuals. Increasingly popular across North America, the event involves “living” on the University grounds under conditions that resemble those of the homeless.
