Kelsey Ramsden, MBA’04, is a savvy moneymaker recently named Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneur for the second year in a row by Profit Magazine. She credits her success – first and foremost – to her ability to play.
Andrew Steele, EMBA’11, is vice-president of Strategy at TVO, founding CEO of the Pecaut Centre for Social Impact and a former senior advisor to the Premier of Ontario. He is a turn-forward artist with a track-record of championing positive impact in six different industries.
Celeena Sayani, HBA’12, is one of the first Ivey Business School students to graduate with Sustainability Certificate degree. She is busy putting the social in intrapreneurship at LoyaltyOne.
What do these top social innovators have in common? One secret: They all harness the power of play to go way beyond business as usual.
On March 5, these leaders will share how they brought play back to their organization at the 5th annual Social Innovation @ Ivey Forum, in the BMO Financial Group Auditorium, Richard Ivey Building. They will explain how play stimulates independent thinking, creativity and confidence, and take us backstage to show us how they use play at work to transform everyday tasks into extraordinary impact.
The half-day event is organized by Ivey’ s Centre for Building Sustainable Value, with financial support from RBC Foundation, community support from Pillar Non-Profit Network, and provincial outreach to Ontario’s youth by the Natural Step. Activities include guest panels, live cases and workshops that reveal actionable links between play and success.
“Play is an invitation to engage more fully and meaningfully with our craft as leaders so we can make an even bigger contribution to society,” said Ivey professor Oana Branzei, organizer of the forum. “Think of play as daily practice so that each and every one of us can stretch beyond our comfort zone and live up to a greater purpose.”
Branzei said the event may finally give business a good name.
“This event will feature Canada’s top leaders in social innovation, many of whom are Ivey graduates,” she said. “Ivey is one of the world’s top business schools and a mecca for leadership, but many people don’t know that our mission is to create leaders who contribute to society.
“This event is a homecoming celebration of the many Ivey leaders who already make a positive impact on the well-being of Canadians and an open invitation to all leaders out there to do even more.”