From fair trade coffee to socially responsible investing, entrepreneurs and business leaders in London and region are making a difference every day.
Richard Ivey School of Business students will learn from them to apply their business expertise during the Social Innovation @ Ivey forum on Wednesday, March 24.
The symposium will be held 1-6 p.m., with the keynote address beginning at 3:15 p.m. in Ivey Room 2R23.
The event will show students how they can champion, create and evolve their for-profit and non-profit ventures via advice from London-based social innovation leaders.
“By applying their leadership abilities and knowledge of business to socially responsible and sustainable ventures, Ivey students can become agents of positive change,” said Oana Branzei, Assistant Professor of Strategy and David G. Burgoyne Faculty Fellow, Richard Ivey School of Business, who is leading the forum.
The keynote speaker is Michelle Quintyn, President and CEO of Goodwill Industries Ontario Great Lakes, an organization that offers job training and placement services in London. She willl discuss balancing the social and economic value of social innovation initiatives. The forum will also include presentations from Michael Lewkowitz, founder of Igniter, and Steve Cordes, Executive Director of Youth Opportunities Unlimited.
Ivey students can also participate in one of five concurrent workshops on topics such as Social Innovation, Social Operations, Social Markets, Social Movements and Social Finance. Guest speakers include David Cook, Founder of London Farmers’ Market, and Melissa Abercromby, Director, Operations & Project Management, Youth Opportunities Unlimited.
The event will be co-hosted by the Centre for Building Sustainable Value and Ivey Connects. A focus of the Centre for Building Sustainable Value is to offer outreach initiatives that put research and learning into practice. Ivey Connects is a student-run group that aims to inspire students to contribute to the societies in which they operate.
